Closed sales and the median home price both increased in the Florida to close out the year, according to a new report from Florida Realtors. Despite increases, both were restrained due to tight inventory, which is plaguing much of the country. 

There were 22,903 single-family home sales in Florida last month, up 2.6 percent from December 2016. Meanwhile the median home price statewide increased for the 72nd month in a row to $244,185 — up 8 percent from the same time last year.

The lack of inventory statewide is creating competition among buyers and driving up those prices, which works out for sellers, who last month received a median of 96.3 percent of the original listing price for single-family homes while sellers of townhomes received 95.1 percent.

It also means homes are flying off the market, with the median time to contract for single-family homes dropping nearly 9 percent to 41 days from 45 days in December 2016.

“The latest housing data shows that market activity in the final month of 2017 was remarkably normal. On a statewide basis, most of December’s housing metrics experienced similar year-over-year changes to those we saw the prior month,” said Florida Realtors Chief Economist Dr. Brad O’Connor. “The only major exception to this is that Florida homes selling in December largely spent less time on the market compared to those which sold in December of 2016, most likely due to Hurricane Irma effectively shortening the calendar year.”