Jacksonville Real Estate Trends in January – Prices Increase and Inventory of Available Homes Decreases

“Talent is God given. Be humble. Fame is man-given. Be grateful. Conceit is self-given. Be careful.”  John Wooden
The Northeast Florida Association of Realtors market stats for January shows the same trends we have seen for the last few years. There were 2,105 pending sales in January up 1% over last January. We have averaged 2,426 sales per month over the last 12 months.
We had 1,526 closed transactions in January which is an 11.5% decrease from last January. One month of activity doesn’t worry me because we were up around 10% for October, November and December.
The median sales price of $204,060 is up 17% from last January but is lower than November and December median price following the similar trend we see every year. The average sales price is the same story. The $244,795 average sales price is up 12.5% over last January but down from the last few months.
The inventory of homes for sale is down 17.5% to 7,397 and the months supply of inventory of 3.0 months is down 23%. A 5 to 6- month supply is a balanced market so we are still in a market favoring the sellers.
We are still seeing prices increase, inventory of homes available for sale decrease and plenty of buyer interest. The buyer interest may be due in part to the continued population growth in Florida.
“Out of the 50 U. S. States, eight had populations that grew by more than 1.6 percent in 2016. Many of the fastest-growing states tend to have affordable, midsize cities with quality school systems, and low unemployment.” Florida ranked 4th with 1-year population growth rate of 1.82% behind 1- Utah, 2- Nevada and 3- Idaho from “The Fastest Growing (and Shrinking) States” 24/7 Wall Street.
Many buyers can buy homes without large down payments now. There are several loan programs that provide 100% financing including a new program from Bank of England. The buyers can negotiate seller concessions to cover most of their closing costs and get in a home if they have income and good credit scores. Some buyers get gifts from their parents to come up with down payment funds. If you know someone that might be interested in buying through one of these programs, give me a call and I will connect you with a great lender.
I am looking forward to March Madness, hence the great John Wooden quote and baseball spring training. I hope you enjoy the great weather of Northeast Florida. We truly live in paradise.