All signs point to a great year for real estate in Northeast Florida in 2020. The Northeast Florida Association of Realtors market stats for December 2019 show sales, closings and prices are up for the month and year. The supply of homes on the market continues to drop.

Year over year numbers are:                     2018             2019           Change   

Pending sales                                            30,244           32,466          +7.3%
Closed sales                                              30,253           31,881          +5.4%
Median sales price                                $222,000       $233,990        +5.4%
Inventory of homes for sale                        9,181             7,602          -17.2%
Months supply of homes for sale                 3.6                 2.8            -22.2%

A study by ShowingTime indicates that buyer traffic has increased in all four major regions of the U.S. The South region saw the biggest uptick with 10.8% year-over-year increase in October. We are seeing increased buyer activity in Northeast Florida.

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Brian Buffini, a well-known real estate trainer and speaker, recently shared his real estate predictions for 2020. Buffini spoke about the positive fundamentals for the economy:

1. Very low inflation rate of 1.8%
2. Very low unemployment of 3.6%
3. High labor participation rate of 63.3%
4. High consumer confidence of 96+

Buffini agreed with Lawrence Yun, NAR’s Chief Economist, recap and predictions for the real estate market.

                                                          2018              2019                2020
   New home sales                      627,000         701,000           750,000

Existing home sales                     5.34M             5.46M               5.56M

Median price growth                     5.7%               4.9%                  4.3%

30-year interest rate                     4.7%              3.7%                 3.75%

As you can see, the prediction is for new home sales and existing home sales to continue to grow, price increases to slow down slightly and interest rates to stay low. All very good news.

The Northeast Florida Association of Realtors market stats for November 2019 also show positives for our local real estate market. Pending sales are up 6.8% year to date, closed sales are up 4.5%, median sales price is up 5.2% and the average sales price is up 3.5%.

The inventory of homes for sale in November is 8,427 which is down 15% from last November. This is the smallest amount of homes available since January 2018. There is a 3.1 months supply of inventory which is down 20.5% from last November.

We wish you a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! Thank you for all the past support and referrals and let’s make 2020 the best year ever.

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It looks like the strong real estate market in northeast Florida will continue through the summer. The Northeast Florida Association of Realtors market stats for June 2019 shows good buyer demand with 2,966 pending sales which is 11% higher than last June and 7% higher year-to-date.

Brian Buffini, a leader in the real estate industry for over 30 years, pointed out the four main indicators of the economy as it relates to real estate. The four indicators are jobs, interest rates, population and consumer confidence. All four are extremely positive right now.

Jobless claims are at a 50-year low. Mortgage interest rates are more than 0.5% lower than last year and very low compared to historical rates. The United States population is up 45 million people from 2000 to 2018 and consumer confidence is high.

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The Northeast Florida Association of Realtors market stats for May 2019 show increased pending sales and closings. Prices continue to rise, but at a slower pace than the previous few years. Home sales had weakened late last year when interest rates on mortgages spiked, but the declining rates and strong economy in Northeast Florida have the numbers outpacing 2018 year-to-date.

There were 3,114 contracts written in May which is up over 5% for the previous May and year-to-date. There were 3,091 closings in May which is up over 4% month-to-month and year-to-date. The median sales price of $232,000 is up 2% year-to-date. The average sales price of $276,429 is up 1% year-to-date.

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