February 23, 2012 (Shirley Allen)
Monthly sales of existing single-family homes and condominiums in Florida increased in February but couldn’t match last year’s levels while home prices rebounded from the previous month’s decline according to the latest data from the Florida Realtors®.
An estimated total of 21,815 existing homes and condos were sold in the Sunshine State in February. That was 17.5 percent higher than the 18,007 homes sold in January but 9.0 percent lower than the 23,983 homes sold in February 2011.
Existing single-family homes accounted for 14,270 of the total sales in February. That was 18.5 percent higher than the 12,044 homes sold in January but was still 4.8 percent lower than the 14,997 homes sold in February 2011.
The median sales price for an existing single-family home in Florida increased 3.9 percent to $134,000 from $129,000 in January and was 7.2 percent higher than the median price of $125,000 in February of 2011.
The number of single-family homes available for sale declined drastically from a year ago, falling 34.0 percent from 177,338 in February of last year to 117,031 last month.
There was a 6.2 months supply of homes available for sale compared to a 10.8 months supply in February of last year. On average, a single-family home in Florida took 120 days to sell in February, down from 124 days in February of last year.
John Tuccillo, Florida Realtors Chief Economist, stated, “The overall picture that these statistics show is of a stabilizing housing market. While closed sales are down, so are listings and so is inventory. These are signs of a market that’s moving from being a buyer’s market to a balanced market.”
Condominium sales accounted for 7,545 of the total sales in February, up 26.5 percent from 5,963 sales in January but still 16.0 percent lower than the 8,986 units sold in February of 2011.
The median sales price for a condo in February was $95,000, which was 3.4 percent higher than the $91,900 median sales price in January and 15.9 percent higher than the $82,000 median sales price for a condo in February of last year.
The supply of condominiums available for sale also declined drastically from last year with 62,079 condos for sale compared to 101,077 in February of last year, a decline of 44.6 percent.
The sharp drop in available homes reduced the supply of inventory to 6.3 months, down from an 11.3 months supply a year ago, a drop of 44.6 percent. On average, condo’s in Florida took 124 days to sell in February, down from 131 days in February of last year.
Tags: existing homes, condos, sales, median home prices, florida
Source:
Florida Realtors®
