Florida Real Estate Market Report March 2020

by Bobby Freeman Realtor

Florida Realtors has just released its existing home sale statistics for the month of March, and I would like to say that you might find a couple of these numbers a little surprising, given the situation our country is in reading the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

Statewide, closed sales of existing single-family homes was up 6.4 percent versus last March, and the median sale price in this category rose to $275,000 year-over-year increase of 7.4 percent.

In the condo and townhouse category, growth in closed sales was a little less than we saw with single-family homes, but still solid at 4.7 percent.

The median sale price for condos and townhouses, however, saw its biggest year-over-year monthly increase since February 2017, rising by almost 11 percent up to $210,000.

Why such strong numbers during a month when the economy was clearly moving in the other direction?

A large share of home sales that closed in March actually went under contract in January and February particularly those sales that required financing.

To get a better picture of how the landscape in Florida’s residential real estate markets was changing in March, let’s take a look at new pending sales, which is the count of how many home sales went under contract during the month.

On the single-family home side, we had a year-over-year drop in new pending sales of about 23 percent, while over on the condo and townhouse side, we saw a decline of 35 percent compared to last year.

New pending sales were really the first metric to turn in a negative direction after the stock market began to fall in late February, as buyers increasingly became wary of making a commitment as large as a home purchase in the face of such sudden economic uncertainty.

On the supply side, new listings fell, as well, but not by as much as new pending sales. New listings of single-family homes were down 3.6 percent, while new listings of condos and townhouses declined by 10.4 percent.

The drops in both new pending sales and new listings point to a situation in which both demand and supply are in decline, at least in the short run. Other things equal, when demand falls, it exerts downward pressure on prices and leads to a decline in sales. With falling supply, however, we get a reduction in transactions, but also *upward* pressure on prices, as the number of available homes becomes scarce.

“I am seeing a lot more showing requests for my listings from serious buyers this month compared to last month,” says Jennifer McCoy, Broker/Owner of McCoy-Freeman Real Estate Group serving Florida’s Space Coast.

“Parts of Florida are starting to reopen and mortgage interest rates are still historically low,” says McCoy.

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

Closed Sales are up +9.3% for March 2020 in which the number of units closed was 985 compared to 901 in March 2019, with a decrease in cash sales of -2.1% compared to March 2019.

New Pending Sales are down -18.8% and New Listings are up +8.5%.

The Median Sales Price for Brevard Single Family homes is up +14.0% to $259,571 compared to a year ago, which was $227,700.

Months Supply of Inventory is down -20.6% to 2.7 months, a decrease from 3.4 months in March 2019.

Traditional Sales are up +10.4%, with a median sales price of $260,000.

Foreclosure/REO Sales are down -30.4%, with 16 sales and a median sales price of $149,750.

Short Sale Closings are unchanged 0% with 2 closed sales in March 2020 compared to 2 closed sales in March 2019.

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

Closed Sales are up +2.9% for March 2020 in which the number of units closed was 282 compared to 274 in March 2019, with a decrease in cash sales of -2.2% compared to March 2019.

New Pending Sales are down -26.3% and New Listings are down -4.8%.

Median Sales Price for Townhomes/Condos is up +10.8% to $205,000 compared to a year ago, which was $185,000.

Months Supply of Inventory is down -14.6% to 3.5 months in March  2020 from 4.1 months in March 2019.

Traditional Sales are up +4.1%, with a median sales price of $205,000.

Foreclosure/REO Sales are down -66.7%, with 1 sale and a median sales price of $160,000.

Short Sale Closings are unchanged 0.0% with 0 closed sales in March 2020 compared to 1 closed sale in March 2020.

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