The median time from a real estate listing to a contract was a speedy 11 days in April, according to a Florida Realtors housing data report, and the trend is quicker than March and February of this year. Compare that pace of 35 to 40 days to contract in April during the usual market years of 2017 to 2019 (COVID impacted 2020 data).
“Florida’s housing data for April showed robust and fast-paced market conditions,” said Cheryl Lambert, 2021 Florida Realtors president, in a press release. “In our current market, a severe shortage of homes for sale coupled with intense buyer demand continues to push home prices higher. Hopefully, as we see more positive signs the pandemic is easing and our economy is improving, sellers who have been on the fence will be ready to list their homes for sale.”
It’s a seller’s market with single-family home sales, statewide in April, closing 33,264 homes and condo-townhouse sales totaling 17,330. Those year-over-year increases were 55.4% for single-family homes and 130.9% for condos.
The median single-family price across the state rose to $336,525, up 22.4% from a year ago, and condo-townhouse units moved up 19.6% to $250,000.
“One way we can get a better sense of the longer-term trend of sales growth is to instead compare this April’s sales figure to April 2019, which was a relatively typical year for the housing market,” said Brad O’Connor, Florida Realtors Chief Economist, in the same press release. “If you calculate the percent change of sales from April 2019 to 2021, you’ll find there was a two-year percentage increase of over 23%.”
“Our data shows Florida’s strong housing market is above the normal rate of sales growth, however, so this isn’t anything to be concerned about. In fact, in many ways, this is better for the long-term health and stability of the housing market,.” O’Connor added.
The supply of active listings dropped again in April with 1.1 months single-family home inventory and 2.3 months of condo-townhouses.
Freddie Mac reported for April that interest rates for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 3.06%, down from 3.31% in April last year.