After several years of upheaval in the Northeast Florida Housing Market, January 2024’s market statistics seem to indicate a return to normalcy.
The median sales price for the six-county region dropped 2.2% to $375,000, while the median days on the market rose 24.4% to 56 days. Active inventory also increased, climbing 22.1% to 5,638 homes, a 5.2-month supply, and new listings skyrocketed 53.6% to 2,853 homes. These are all good indicators of a return to a balanced market and are a very good sign for buyers.
“During a typically sluggish January we have seen the market stabilization continue with a significant increase in new listings and inventory since December,” said 2024 NEFAR President Rory Dubin. “We’ve also seen days on the market increase with a slight reduction in the median sales price and decline in pending sales,” he said noting that both closed sales and pending sales dropped significantly from the month before. Closed sales weighed in at 1,081, a 30.6% drop while pending sales registered 1,284, a 7.3% decline.
“February is customarily a strong month for Northeast Florida and results this month will indicate if we are seeing normal seasonality or a greater overall shift in the marketplace,” Dubin predicted.
Other good news had to do with the January Home Affordability Index, which rose 3.7% to 70, indicating that it is slightly more affordable to live in the Northeast Florida region.
The Home Affordability Index measures housing affordability for the region. In other words, it measures whether a typical family earns enough to qualify for a mortgage on a typical home, based on current interest rates, median income, and median home prices. A higher number means greater affordability. This index measures affordability factors for all homebuyers making a 20% downpayment. An index of 100 is defined as the point where a median-income family has the exact amount of income needed to purchase a median-priced existing home. An index value over 100 means that the family has more than enough income, while a value below 100 means that a family doesn’t have enough income to qualify for a mortgage loan.
NEFAR’s market reports are available at nefar.com.
