April 24, 2012 (Shirley Allen)
Monthly sales of existing single-family homes and condominiums surged in Florida during the month of March, but the 30 percent jump in sales still couldn’t match last year’s numbers according to the latest data from the Florida Realtors®.
An estimated total of 28,382 existing homes and condos were sold in the Sunshine State in March. That was 30.1 percent higher than the 21,815 homes sold in February but still 8.6 percent lower than the 30,901 homes sold in March 2011.
Existing single-family homes accounted for 18,370 of the total sales in March. That was 28.7 percent higher than the 14,270 homes sold in February but was still 5.7 percent lower than the 19,480 homes sold in March 2011.
The median sales price for an existing single-family home in Florida increased 3.7 percent to $139,000 from $134,000 in February and was 10.3 percent higher than the median price of $126,000 in March of 2011.
The number of single-family homes available for sale continued to decline drastically from a year ago, falling 35.5 percent from 172,884 in March of last year to 111,461 last month.
There was a 5.9 months supply of homes available for sale compared to a 10.4 months supply in March of last year. On average, a single-family home in Florida took 120 days to sell in March, down from 126 days in March of last year.
John Tuccillo, Florida Realtors Chief Economist, stated, “The encouraging trends we’ve seen in the Florida housing market are continuing, with very strong pending sales and decreasing inventory. The large jump in median sales prices for both single-family homes and condos is a sign that buyers are now looking at higher priced properties, while it’s becoming tougher to find properties at the lower end of the market.”
Condominium sales accounted for 10,012 of the total sales in March, up 32.7 percent from 7,545 sales in February but still 12.4 percent lower than the 11,431 units sold in March of 2011.
The median sales price for a condo in March was $105,000, which was 10.5 percent higher than the $95,000 median sales price in February and 20.8 percent higher than the $86,900 median sales price for a condo in March of last year.
The supply of condominiums available for sale also declined drastically from last year with 59,284 condos for sale compared to 97,217 in March 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 44.2 percent. On average, condo’s in Florida took 130 days to sell in March, down from 137 days in March of last year.
Tags: existing homes, condos, sales, median home prices, florida
Source:
Florida Realtors®
