Florida Housing Report!

Florida’s housing market reported more closed sales, higher median prices, more new listings, and continued stabilization of inventory in January! According to the latest housing data released by Florida Realtors® closed sales of single-family homes statewide totaled 15,000 last month, up 10.2 % over the January 2013. Prices are increasing and equity is growing for home owners across the states, which is why we are seeing more homeowners listing their homes again. Listings for single family homes rose 13.8 % year-over-year, while new townhouse-condo listings rose 7.4 %. January, 2014 marked 26 consecutive months that we’ve seen increases in statewide median sales prices for both single family homes and town home-condo properties. The statewide median sales price for single-family existing homes last month was $162,500 & townhouse-condo properties was $131,000. The median is the midpoint; half the homes sold for more, half for less. Some interesting facts from the National Association of Realtors®, the national median sales price for existing single-family homes in December 2013 was $197,900; the national median existing condo price was $198,600. In California, the statewide median sales price for single-family existing homes in December was $438,040; in Massachusetts, it was $320,000; in Maryland, it was $255,183; and in New York, it was $236,875. It appears that the rate at which properties are coming on the market is closely matched by sales. In addition, rising prices have cut down on the availability of short sales and these have been dropping consistently. According to Freddie Mac, the interest rate for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 4.43% in January 2014!