Davidson Realty, Inc.

Jacksonville Real Estate Trends in June – Have you ever wondered if you can use funds in your IRA to buy a home?

July 27, 2018

 | 
Posted by in News, Northeast Florida Market Trends

An article in USA TODAY by Matthew Frankel gives a good and simple answer. “First-time homebuyers can take out as much as $10,000 from their traditional IRA penalty-free, although it will still count as taxable income. And if your spouse also has a traditional IRA, they can take out $10,000 as well.

 

Furthermore, the homebuyer doesn’t necessarily have to be you. You can use the money to help your child, grandchild or parent buy a home as well. The IRS has a liberal definition of what a “first-time” homebuyer is. Basically, you must not have owned a principal residence within the last two years.” A Roth IRA can be used also, but the rules are slightly different.

 

Our local real estate market is still looking strong in the Northeast Florida Association of Realtors market stats for June. There were 3,868 new listings in June, an increase of 13.4% from last June and 8.1% year to date, which is very positive since the homes available for sale have been very low.

 

The inventory of homes for sale of 8,923 is down 3.5% from last June but is higher than the last 8 months. The months supply of inventory crept up to 3.6 months from 3.5 months in May. We are still in a seller’s market since a balanced market is 5 to 6 months of inventory, but it is great to see more new listings.

 

There were 2,873 closings in June which is about the same as May. We are even with where we were year to date last June for closings of 14,582 in 2018 compared to 14,630 in 2017.

 

Pending sales were down a little in June. We had 2,647 contracts written which is down 3% from last June, but we are up 4% year to date. There was a slow down in contracts written the last two weeks of June, but we saw contracts pick up dramatically again right after the 4thof July holiday.

 

The median and average sales prices continue to climb and are both higher than in the 2005 peak market. The median sales price of $234,900 is up 10% over last June and 11% year to date.  The average sales price of $282,008 is up 10% from last June and 10% year to date.

 

The price increases seem to be encouraging many homeowners to take out home equity lines of credit and cash-out refinancings. New home equity lines in the first quarter are up 14% from the same period last year. Cash-out refinancings is when the mortgage is replaced with a larger mortgage and the owner can pocket the difference, have hit their highest level since the housing boom.

 

Sales are strong, prices continue to increase and inventory is still low but slightly better in June. Our local real estate market is looking good. Please let me know if I can help in any way with buying, selling or renting a home and I will take great care of any referrals you have.  Enjoy your summer!

, , , , , , ,
(0) Comments
  • Print
  • Digg
  • Sphinn
  • del.icio.us
  • Facebook
  • Mixx
  • Google Bookmarks
  • email
  • LinkedIn
  • StumbleUpon
  • Twitter
  • Yahoo! Bookmarks
  • Yahoo! Buzz
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.

Comments are closed.

Davidson Realty