Davidson Realty, Inc.

Florida Forecast Projects Strong Growth During 2015

January 23, 2015

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Posted by in News, Northeast Florida Market Trends

“Life is short, live it. Love is rare, grab it. Anger is bad, dump it. Fear is awful, face it. Memories are sweet, cherish it.” – Unknown

This quote gives us something to think about as we start 2015.

The Northeast Florida Association of Realtors market stats show continued steady improvement in 2014. It was not the same level of improvement we saw in 2013, but it was improvement all the same. The percentage change by categories were:

2013 2014
New listings 20.4% 6.5%
Pending sales 18.3% 10.3%
Closed sales 23.3% 6.8%
Median sales price 15.4% 3.6%
Average sales price 7.5% 4.4%

 

I would like to share with you a couple of excerpts from the latest Florida Forecast published in December 2014 by Dr. Sean Snaith’s group at the University of Central Florida. “While no official dating of the business cycle is done at the State level, I would suggest that Florida spent an additional 32 months in recession compared to the U. S. as a whole.” He goes on further to say that Florida’s recession lasted 50 months.

“In 2012 Florida finally got back up off of the canvas after being knocked out cold by that Category 5 recession and the economy grew at a modest rate of 2.2%.” The growth in 2013 was about the same. He goes on to address housing prices in the State having risen to $177,000 from a low of $122,200 after plummeting from their median price high of $257,800.

I agree with Dr. Snaith’s thoughts that 2015 through 2017 could be great years for our State. He is predicting Real Gross State Product Growth for 2014, 2015, 2016 and 2017 to be 2.6%, 2.7%, 2.8% and 3.0% respectively. Issues that will determine the strength of the housing recovery are the availability of mortgage credit, interest rates, and an increase in the percentage of consumer purchases to offset the
anticipated reduction in investor purchases.

The most positive statistic I have seen is the continuing decline in distressed properties. In December 2014, 23% of the inventory for sale was distressed compared to 36% last December. Of all the December closings in our market, there were 31% distressed compared to 38% last December and 60% in the worst part of the recession. This awesome trend has continued all year and I believe we will see the same in 2015.

Davidson Realty would love to assist you with any real estate needs in the First Coast area. We have agents that specialize in Duval, St. Johns, Clay and the beaches. Davidson Property Management is also available to assist you anywhere in Northeast Florida. Please let us know how we can serve you.

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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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