Despite another active hurricane season, Florida’s housing market thrived in 2005, registering a record year in terms of closings and median price for sales of existing single-family homes statewide. Led by the Jacksonville area, Florida came close to reaching the 250,000 mark for annual sales, according to the Florida Association of Realtors, with a total of 248,565 homes sold - a 2 percent increase over the 242,597 homes sold the year before.
And the prices of those homes keep rising.
Statewide, the median sales price rose 29 percent to reach $235,100; in 2004, it was $181,900. In 2000, Florida’s median sales price was $115,900, which represents a gain of 102.8 percent over the five-year period, according to FAR records.
The Jacksonville area was the bigger gainer among the state’s larger metropolitan statistical areas, reporting double-digit gains in number of sales and median sales price in 2005 compared to the previous year.
With a total of 18,101 homes sold last year, the figure was 13 percent higher than the area’s 2004 sales activity, when 16,050 homes changed hands. The median sales price rose 17 percent to $186,300; the year before, it was $158,600.
Many housing industry insiders predict that the housing sector will see another historically strong year for sales in 2006, with mortgage rates expected to gradually trend upward to 6.7 percent during the second half of this year and a return to a normal rate of price growth. Realtors anticipate another positive year for home sales in Florida.
Last year’s average of 5.87 percent for a 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage was only slightly higher than the 5.84 percent average rate for 2004. FAR’s sales figures reflect closings, which typically occur 30 to 90 days after sales contracts are written.
Another large Florida MSA reporting higher sales in 2005 compared to a year ago was Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, where 53,183 homes sold for a 12 percent gain. The market’s median sales price rose 26 percent last year to $201,700; in 2004, it was $159,900.
In the state’s smaller markets, the Ocala MSA reported 6,118 homes sold last year, a 6 percent increase over the 5,754 homes sold the previous year. The median sales price rose 30 percent to $142,000; the year before, it was $109,600.
“Over the past year, we’ve seen an influx of investors coming into the area, especially out of South Florida,” says Wilbur Van Wyck, president of the Ocala/Marion County Association of Realtors and broker-owner of Coldwell Banker Riverland Realty in Dunnellon. “In our market, buyers are getting a lot more home for their money. Our median price is still one of the lowest in the state and that, combined with the other wonderful attributes of this community, have attracted a lot of people to the Ocala area.”
Among the state’s smaller markets, others reporting increases in home resales for 2005 compared to the previous year include: Tallahassee, where 5,258 homes changed hands for a 22 percent boost; and Gainesville, where 3,993 homes sold for a 20 percent increase. The markets’ median sales price also rose last year: in Gainesville, 11 percent to $179,200; and in Tallahassee, 10 percent to $167,600.