Davidson Realty, Inc.

Jacksonville Real Estate Trends for March 2014 – Pending Sales up 11% Over Last Year!

April 25, 2014

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Posted by in News, Northeast Florida Market Trends

“The strength of the team is each individual member. The strength of each member is the team.” ― Phil Jackson

This quote is true in sports and in business. Our team has shown so much strength lately. It is unusual in our industry to find a team that supports each other to make sure the customer is taken care of no matter what.

In reviewing the Northeast Florida Association of Realtors market stats this month, I want to focus on pending sales, closings and inventory. There were 2,333 contracts written in March which is 15% more than last March. The last time we had that many pending sales was for a period of 3 months in 2005 which was at the very peak of the market. The first quarter pending sales are up 11% over the first quarter last year.

Closed sales for March were 1,781 which is 2% less than last March, I decided to look a little deeper to see why pending sales were up and closings were down. Lender-mediated closings were down 5% from last March, so less distressed closings accounted for some of the reduction in closings. I looked at what was happening at Davidson Realty and realized 42% of our pending sales are new construction which always take several months to build and close. I also noticed that many of our contracts have a closing date 60 days or more from the contract date. For the first quarter in the NEFAR stats, closings are up 4% over the first quarter last year.  I don’t believe closings will track with pending sales like we have seen in the past due to the amount of new home sales.

The inventory of homes available for sale continues to decline. There are 9,441 homes in active status in the Multiple Listing System in March which is 3% less than last March despite a 12% increase in new listings for March. There are 27% fewer lender-mediated homes in inventory than last March and 11% more traditional listings. This is a very good sign since distressed listings have a median sales price of $90,000 and traditional properties have a median sales price of $202,000. There is only a 4.9 months supply of inventory available and 5 to 6 months supply is a balanced market.

Pending sales are up and closings will follow. Inventory continues to stay low. We are still selling a lot of new construction. I believe the housing market will have a strong 2014.

Baseball is back and the Atlanta Braves are in first place for now. Life is good. If we can assist you with any of your real estate needs, please let me know. Remember that we can help you any where in northeast Florida. Our team of over 50 agents come from all over the first coast.

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About the Author
Sherry Davidson
President of Davidson Realty

Since launching Davidson Realty in 1989, Sherry Davidson has built the firm to include nearly 60 agents and exceed $100 million in annual sales. She is known throughout the First Coast as an authority on all things residential real estate, having served on the Board of Directors for Northeast Florida Association of Realtors, Florida Realtors® (a division of the National Association of Realtors), and Builders Care (charitable arm of Northeast Florida Builders Association).

Thanks to Sherry’s leadership, Davidson Realty has been recognized as one of the state’s Best Companies to Work For (Florida Trend Magazine), as well as one of the region's Best Places to Work and 50 Fastest Growing Companies (Jacksonville Business Journal). Get to know Davidson Realty’s talented team of agents by clicking here or call us at (904) 940-5000.

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