Florida Housing Market – Aerial View of Miami Beach, South Beach – Courtesy: Shutterstock – Image by Mia2you
According to the most recent data from real estate services company Redfin, Florida is topping the nation in the increase of active housing market property listings. In cities like Cape Coral, the total supply of houses for sale increased more than 75 times faster than the national average between January and February.
According to Redfin, active listings—the overall supply of houses for sale in the United States, including newly constructed and previously owned properties—grew by 0.8 percent month over month in February on a seasonally adjusted basis, reaching the highest level in a year at 1,601,260. They were down 0.1 percent from the previous year, which was the lowest yearly fall in months.
Concurrently, February saw a 3.8 percent increase in new listings nationwide over January, marking the largest increase in six months and the highest level since September 2022. They saw their biggest yearly increase since May 2021, rising 14.8 percent year over year. All of this is welcome news for prospective homeowners who have been battling with price increases over the past few years due to strong demand and a record-breaking scarcity of available homes.
The number of active listings in the Sunshine State has increased significantly more recently than it has nationwide, which has led to a decrease in prices that hasn’t yet been matched by an increase in sales. According to a story by journalist Lance Lambert on ResiClub, Florida’s active real estate market had a 45.8 percent increase in February over the same month last year.
Between January and February, Cape Coral had the fastest-rising active listings nationwide, with a whopping 60.6 percent rise in total houses for sale. They increased by 52.5 percent in North Port and 25.5 percent in Fort Lauderdale.
In contrast, Raleigh, North Carolina (-24.4%); New Brunswick, New Jersey (-19%) and Nassau County, New York (-18.5%) were the metro regions that had the biggest reductions.
According to Redfin, the state with the most rise in active listings nationwide is Florida, which, along with Texas, is one of the states where the US has constructed the most homes. This increase in supply is mostly being caused by the advertising of condos for sale, as owners attempt to avoid increasing insurance and Homeowner Association (HOA) dues.
Due to the dearth of available houses, housing prices nationwide have stayed high even though national demand decreased slightly between late summer 2022 and spring 2023 as mortgage rates increased in response to the Federal Reserve’s aggressive rate-hiking effort to battle inflation. According to Redfin, the median price of a home in the United States as of February 2024 was $412,778, which is a 6.6 percent increase from the previous year.
In February of this year, there were 182,729 properties for sale in Florida, up 25.9 percent from the previous year, according to Redfin. Of them, 49,317 were recently listed, representing a 26 percent increase from the previous year. These homes’ median listing price was $407,500, which was significantly less than the national average but up 4.4 percent from February 2023.
Prices have dropped dramatically as a result of Florida’s home flooding, particularly with regard to condos. A Redfin survey released in late February stated that although listings increased and prices decreased, sales of condos in Florida decreased dramatically in January.
According to Redfin, Florida is now defying a nationwide trend in which housing market condo prices rose by an average of 8.4 percent year over year in the United States in January. Several of Florida’s largest metropolises experienced notable declines during this time frame; Miami reported a 2.5 percent fall and Jacksonville a 6.5 percent decline.
“Anytime prices decline, it’s an indication of a shifting market,” Redfin’s head economist, Daryl Fairweather, stated in a written statement to Newsweek.
“Rising HOA fees and insurance costs have made owning a condo less affordable, so buyers don’t want to pay as much for them,” she stated. Prices will eventually rise to the point that purchasers will consider Florida condos to be reasonably priced. But prices might continue to decline if insurance and other expenses continue to rise.”
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Born and raised in South Florida, Krystal is a recent graduate from the University of Miami with professional writing experience at the collegiate and national news outlet levels. She’s a foodie who loves all things travel, the beach, & visiting new places throughout Florida.