Low mortgage rates, low unemployment rates and strong demographics continued to reflect positive economic signs in Florida in August.
Statewide, sales of existing single-family homes totaled 11,279 last month and were closer to activity in August 2001 and 2002 - before the peak of the housing boom years - than the August 2006 figures, when 15,252 homes sold for a 26 percent decrease in the year-to-year comparison, according to the Florida Association of Realtors.
In the Jacksonville market, the numbers stayed low. Home sales were off 28 percent from last year and prices were down 6 percent. In condos, sales were off 15 percent and prices were down14 percent.
Florida’s median sales price for existing single-family homes was $231,900; a year ago, it was $246,800 for a 6 percent decrease. The median is the midpoint; half the homes sold for more, half for less. In August 2002, the statewide median sales price for single-family homes was $141,200, for an increase of 64.2 percent over the five-year-period, according to FAR records.
Sales of existing condominiums also decreased with 3,380 condos sold statewide compared to 4,522 in August 2006 for a 25 percent decline, according to FAR. The statewide median sales price for condos last month was $196,800, down 3 percent from August 2006’s condo median price of $201,900. NAR reported the national median existing condo price was $230,600 in July 2007.
