Florida and Brevard July 2020 Real Estate Market Report

Existing home sales continued to rebound strongly throughout Florida in July. Closed sales of previously owned single-family homes were up almost 12 percent year-over-year, the best monthly performance we’ve seen for this property type since January’s nearly 18 percent increase.

New pending sales of single-family homes were also up big, by about 22 percent compared to July of last year. Coupled with the over 23 percent year-over-year increase in new pendings that we saw in June, all indications are that this wave of closed sales will continue on through the end of the summer and perhaps beyond.

Over in our other major property type category, condos and townhouses, closings were up by 6-and-a-half percent in July, marking the first year-over-year increase in this category since March. We expect we’ll continue to see growth in closed sales in this category as well in the coming months, since new pending sales were up 19 percent this July compared to last, and they were similarly up by about 20 percent year-over-year in June.

Year-over-year growth in median sale prices was up soundly for both property type categories in July, as well. The typical single-family home in Florida sold for $295,000, a more than 10 percent increase compared to July of 2019. And over in the condo and townhouse category, we saw a solid increase of nearly 12 percent in the median sale price, to $210,000.

Now, I should say that these year-over-year percentage increases are slightly overstated, in that many higher-priced market areas that are normally cooling down this time of year are unusually active since their peak seasons were pushed back. But most of these increases truly can be attributed to home price appreciation being driven by lower mortgage interest rates inducing greater demand. When rates go down, you can afford a higher-priced home but then again, so can competing buyers, so we’re definitely seeing prices getting bid upward.

While both property type markets performed well in July, there remains one stark difference between them, which is that we continue to face a serious shortage of single-family homes.

Single-family inventory continued to plunge throughout July, although this net decline of about 5,000 active listings over the course of the month was a stark improvement over the approximately 11,000 listing drop that occurred in June. One major reason for this deceleration is that the rate of new listings coming on to the market continues to improve little-by-little.

We’re still not seeing as many new listings as we’d like to, but it is notable that they were up year-over-year by just a bit over 1 percent in July the first time they’ve increased since December.

Still, we’re currently down to about 2-and-a-half months supply for single-family homes, so we remain in one of the strongest seller’s markets in recent memory. Condos and townhouses are more balanced at 5.6 months supply, statewide.

As always, it’s important to remember that market conditions can vary substantially at the local level.

A quick recap of the Brevard County Residential Report for July 2020

Closed Sales are up +22.2% for July 2020 in which the number of units closed was 1,204 compared to 985 in July 2019, with an increase in cash sales of +7.4% compared to July 2019.

New Pending Sales are up +14.2% and New Listings are up +5.5%.

The Median Sales Price for Brevard Single Family homes is up +9.2% to $266,333 compared to a year ago, which was $244,000.

Months Supply of Inventory is down -31.0% to 2.0 months, a decrease from 2.9 months in July 2019.

Traditional Sales are up +21.8%, with a median sales price of $269,000.

Foreclosure/REO Sales are up +40.0%, with 21 sales and a median sales price of $151,000.

Short Sale Closings are up +100.0% with 4 closed sales, and a median sales price of $132,500.

A quick recap of the Brevard County Townhouses/Condos for July 2020

Closed Sales are up +13.2% for July 2020 in which the number of units closed was 325 compared to 287 in July 2019, with an increase in cash sales of +21.3% compared to July 2019.

New Pending Sales are up +40.0% and New Listings are up +5.0%.

Median Sales Price for Townhomes/Condos is up +17.5% to $215,000 compared to a year ago, which was $183,000.

Months Supply of Inventory is down -21.6% to 2.9 months in July 2020 from 3.7 months in July 2019.

Traditional Sales are up +14.5%, with a median sales price of $215,000.

Foreclosure/REO Sales are down -75.0%, with 1 closed sales and a median sales price of $49,350.

Short Sale Closings are unchanged with 0 closed sales in July 2020 compared to 0 closed sales in July 2019.

Like what you see? Share this with a friend!