Davidson Realty, Inc.

Jacksonville’s January Real Estate Trends – 4 Factors that Influence our Market

February 27, 2015

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Posted by in News, Northeast Florida Market Trends

“We learn something from everyone who passes through our lives…
Some lessons are painful, some are painless… but, all are priceless.” – Unknown

The Chief Economist for Florida Realtors, Dr. John Tuccillo spoke at the recent Northeast Florida Real Estate Symposium. I personally consider Dr. Tuccillo to be the absolute best in terms of forecasting our future local real estate market activity. While he doesn’t like to forecast the future, his “opinion” is that for 2015 we will experience a 10% increase in home sales activity coupled with an average price escalation of 4 ½ to 5%.

The factors he thinks influence our real estate market the most are:
1. Population growth – Florida is now the 3rd largest state and St. Johns County is the 2nd fastest growing county in Florida with 17.8% growth.
2. Employment growth – The Jacksonville metro area was highlighted on a Forbes list and the Milken Institute list for job growth.
3. Stock market performance – Dr. Tuccillo has a graph showing an incredible correlation of luxury home sales to stock market performance.
4. Mortgage rates and availability – The rates have remained low and there is some activity to help with mortgage availability.

We will have to see how 2015 develops, but we are already seeing an increase in sales activity this year in our office.

The Northeast Florida Association of Realtors provides great information every month on their website. The January market stats show an increase in pending sales of 17% over last January. The closed sales dropped 7% from last January. This drop in closings does not concern me because the distressed properties closings were down 24% and the traditional closings increased by 6%.

The median sales price in January of $145,500 is down from December but up 12% over last January. It is interesting to note that the lender-mediated median sales price is just under $80,000 and the traditional sales median price is $185,000. It will be very good for our market as these lender-mediated sales keep declining.

The inventory of homes for sale is down 11% from last January to 9,455 properties. There is a 4.6 months supply of inventory available. A 5 to 6 month supply is a balanced market.

It is not too late to buy raffle tickets for our cooler and cocktail drawing on March 7th. It is a marine grade cooler stuffed full of top shelf liquor. Tickets are available on DavidsonCares.com or email me at sdavidson@davidsonrealtyinc.com. All the proceeds benefit our local schools.

Please remember Davidson Realty or Davidson Property Management for any of your real estate needs in the First Coast. We have agents serving all areas of Jacksonville, St. Augustine and the beaches.

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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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