Florida Realtors Chief Economist: Hurricane Helene disrupted the state’s RE market last month. Still, statewide inventory rose YoY for both Sept. and 3Q.
ORLANDO, Fla. – In September and the third quarter (3Q) of 2024, Florida’s housing market continued to show improving inventory levels (active listings) and signs of stabilization in statewide median prices compared to a year ago, according to Florida Realtors®’ latest housing data.
“Florida continues to attract new residents and the increase in active inventory we’re seeing means more housing options for those buyers,” said 2024 Florida Realtors President Gia Arvin, broker-owner with Matchmaker Realty in Gainesville. “As we hopefully continue to see lower mortgage interest rates, that – along with more available inventory – will also result in increased affordability for buyers who have been waiting on the sidelines.”
September 2024: Last month, closed sales of existing single-family homes statewide totaled 18,721, down 12.3% year-over-year; existing condo-townhouse sales totaled 6,655, down 20.7% over September 2023, according to data from Florida Realtors Research Department in partnership with local Realtor boards/associations.
The statewide median sales price for single-family existing homes in September was $410,000, about the same (up 0.2%) from $409,243 one year earlier. For condo-townhouse units, the median price was $314,000, down 3.4% from $324,990 recorded in September 2023. The median is the midpoint; half the homes sold for more, half for less.
Hurricane Helene did disrupt Florida’s housing market for at least six of the 20 business days in the short month, according to Florida Realtors Florida Realtors Chief Economist Dr. Brad O’Connor.
“That said, the National Hurricane Center was remarkably consistent in its forecasting of Helene, and the cone largely focused in on the Big Bend area the entire time, keeping the worst of Helene off the highly populated West Coast of the peninsula,” he explained. “That allowed the real estate market in much of the peninsula and the western Panhandle to essentially operate in a close-to-normal fashion as the storm approached. And, while the surge was significant in the Tampa Bay area and certainly caused damage near the coast, Helene’s central hurricane-force winds missed all of the state’s major population centers, minimizing power outages and inland structural damage, as well.”
Home sales in September 2023 were unexpectedly strong, O’Connor said, which factors into the drop in the year-over-year comparison. “We can look back to 2018, 2019, and 2022 to see that it’s common for sales to drop off a good amount from August to September, but that didn’t happen last year,” he noted. “Still, housing demand in Florida and across much of the U.S. has remained relatively weak for much of 2024.”
3Q 2024: Statewide existing single-family home sales totaled 64,749 for the 3Q, down 2.6% from 3Q 2023. Statewide existing condo-townhouse sales totaled 22,917, down 12.3% year-over-year. Closed sales may occur from 30- to 90-plus days after sales contracts are written.
In 3Q 2024, Florida’s single-family median sales price was $414,990, again, about the same (up 0.2%) as 3Q 2023. The 3Q condo-townhouse median sales price was $314,000, down 2% from the same quarter a year ago.
O’Connor said, “Good news came late last month in the form of the Federal Reserve finally announcing its first rate cut. The market actually started pricing in this shift in Fed policy a few weeks in advance, so the average national 30-year fixed mortgage rate spent much of September at its lowest point since the beginning of 2023, just above the 6% mark. This stimulated some buyer demand, particularly in the single-family segment of the housing market.
“New pending sales of single-family homes in September were actually up year-over-year by 1.9%,” he said. “On the townhouse and condo side of things, new pending sales did not have the same luck; however, the 16.3% decline was still an improvement over last month’s decline of 20.5%.”
On the supply side of the market, Florida had a 4.6-month supply of single-family existing homes in September and in 3Q 2024, which was up 43.8% year-over-year. For condo-townhouse units, the state had a 7.4-month supply for both September and in 3Q, up 80.5% year-over-year.
© 2024 Florida Realtors®
