Florida’s housing sector continued to mirror the national pattern in the year’s first quarter with higher inventory levels of homes for sale, median prices edging down and soft sales reflecting a buyer’s market in many areas.
Statewide, sales of single-family existing homes totaled 33,748 during the three-month period, a decrease of 26 percent compared to 45,844 homes sold during the same time a year earlier, according to the Florida Association of Realtors.
In the Jacksonville metropolitan statistical area, existing home sales were off 14 percent while the median price was up 1 percent.
The statewide existing-home median sales price was $237,000 in the first quarter; a year ago, it was $243,500 for a decrease of 3 percent. In 2002, the first-quarter statewide median sales price was $129,600, which reflects an increase of about 82.9 percent over the five-year period. The median is a typical market price where half the homes sold for more, half for less.
Looking to Florida’s existing condominium market, sales of existing condos also decreased during the quarter, with a total of 10,537 condos sold statewide compared to 15,031 in first quarter 2006 for a 30 percent decline, according to FAR. The statewide median sales price for condos remained flat at $210,800 for the three-month period; a year ago, it was $209,900.
The Jacksonville MSA reported 3,373 existing homes sold for the quarter, a decrease of 14 percent compared to the 3,903 homes sold a year earlier. The market’s existing-home median sales price increased 1 percent to $199,500; a year earlier, it was $197,100. A total of 385 existing condos sold in the market over the three-month period, down 23 percent from first quarter 2006, while the existing-condo median price decreased 7 percent to $152,300.
