Reversing an eight-month slump, residential real estate sales rose 3.8 percent in Southwest Florida in August.
The state picture
Statewide, buyers closed on 25,070 single family homes in August, up 8.2 percent. Condo sales grew 3.3 percent to 9,484, Florida Realtors said.
Homes throughout Florida traded for a median $225,000, 12.6 percent more than last year, while condos sold for $160,000, a 6.7 percent gain. The activity erased the 8 percent decline in sales in July, said Brad O’Connor, chief economist at Florida Realtors.
“August’s gains were broad-based, with 20 of Florida’s 22 metro areas experiencing a year-over-year increase in sales,” he said. “However, a single month’s worth of data is rarely enough information to make assertions about a market’s direction.
“In the present case, it’s possible that a number of sales that might ordinarily have occurred in July were pushed back into August. Basically, if you consider the data over July and August together, the net growth rate continues the trend we’ve been seeing all year of slow but positive growth in the single-family market.”
National shortage
Nationwide, Americans retreated from home-buying in August, as a worsening inventory shortage appeared to hurt sales and push prices higher.
Sales of existing homes slipped 0.9 percent last month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.33 million, the second straight monthly decline, the National Association of Realtors said. The monthly setbacks happened after a period of steady gains that have lifted home sales up 3 percent so far this year. Historically low mortgage rates have combined with an improved job market to bolster demand from possible buyers. But drastically fewer sellers are coming into the market. The number of properties for sale is dwindling despite buyer enthusiasm. Inventory has collapsed 10.1 percent from a year ago to 2.04 million homes.
“Inventory woes continue to introduce supply gridlock for home buyers,” said Ralph
McLaughlin, chief economist at the real estate firm Trulia. “Those who want to sell their home might not do so because finding another home is difficult.”
The decrease has meant that demand is greater than supply, prompting prices to rise, bidding wars to erupt and many would-be buyers to remain stuck in rentals. Those prospective home buyers are struggling to find attractive properties in their price range and may be delaying their purchases.
The median home sales price was $240,200 in August, a 5.1 percent increase over the past year. The increase means that many Americans must save more for a down payment, which has contributed to the ownership rate slumping to a half-century low.
Meanwhile, rental prices are starting to become more manageable after several years of out sized growth.
The real estate firm Zillow reported Thursday that rents rose 1.7 percent over the past 12 months to a national median of $1,405 a month. A year ago, rents were climbing at a 6 percent clip.
“Inventory woes continue to introduce supply gridlock for home buyers. Those who want to sell their home might not do so because finding another home is difficult.”
— Ralph McLaughlin, chief economist at the real estate firm Trulia
Herald Tribune September 23, 2016