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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The National Association of Realtors annual meeting in Washington DC just wrapped up and Dr. Lawrence Yun, chief economist at the National Association of Realtors made an interesting prediction of changing future migration patterns of buyers. “Because of significant differences in home prices between metro markets, he says there may be a steady shift in the relocation of people and companies into more affordable regions of the country. Housing affordability has been falling according to NAR’s Housing Affordability Index.” Florida Realtors

Another Florida Realtors article discusses the 2018 American Community Survey state-to-state migration flows. Florida had the most domestic in-movers, with 566,476 people moving from another state within the past year. The states with the next highest in-migration flows are Texas with 524,511 and California with 523,131.

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