Rising prices and lagging affordability continued to plague First Coast home buyers as the year 2021 heads toward its end.
In November, the median sales price of single-family homes in six Northeast Florida counties hit $350,000, a 4.3% increase from a month ago and a 22.8% increase from November 2020. Meanwhile, the region’s condominium and townhouse markets for November reflected a similar rising swell with a combined median sales price of $231,445, which is 4.4% more from October 2021 and a 22.2% improvement from November last year.
“As we wrap up this historic year in real estate, the trend of inventory shortages continues and will go with us into 2022. Active inventory is down, not only from this time last year, but also last month,” said Missi Howell, president of the Northeast Florida Association of REALTORS®.
Howell referred to a 1.3-month supply of single-family homes – an active inventory of 2,934 single-family units throughout the region in November – which is a 16.1% drop since last month and a 31.4% drop from November 2020.
Particularly telling was the rise of the average price per square foot in single-family housing to $183 – a dramatic escalation from $147 in November 2020.
“The price per square foot of single-family homes increased 24.5% from a year ago, but only .5% from last month, a welcome sign of stabilization,” Howell continued. “Prices are not expected to go down, but at least into the first quarter of 2022, wild price increases should remain in check unless we have an unexpected surge in demand as we saw during the first and second quarter of 2021.”
Northeast Florida’s affordability index for single-family homes dropped to 101 in November, a 3.8% decrease from October 2021 and a 19.2% decline from November last year. This is another indication that affordable housing is becoming more and more difficult to obtain as prices continue to rise on the First Coast.
In the single-family housing market, Duval County had 1.2-month supply of inventory of single-family homes in November, a drop of 40.9% from a year ago and an 11.8% decline from last month. County-wide there was an active inventory of 1,501 single-family units for sale with a median sales price of $312,750. Homes spent a median of 21 days on the market and sellers received 99.5% of their sales price.
In St. John’s County, the November median sales price was considerably higher, hovering at $479,000. Active inventory of single-family homes dropped 14.9% to 675 units – a 1.3-month supply. Homes spent a median of 24 days on the market and sellers received 99.7% of their listing prices. In the Ponte Vedra Beach North region of the county, — the least affordable in Northeast Florida with an affordability index of 25 — the median sales price was $1,430,875, a 13.6% leap from a month ago and a 27.3% increase from last year.
Clay County also experienced a rise in sales prices of single-family homes, boasting a November median sales price of $337,647, a 3.8% rise from October 2021 and a 32.4% climb from last November. With only a month’s supply of inventory, Clay County’s active inventory rested at 355 single-family homes. Homes spent a median of 15 days on the market and sellers received 100.2% of their listing prices with 31.9% closing over list price.
Active inventory in Nassau County was 205 single-family homes, a 2.3-month supply. The county’s median sales price was $385,995, and its affordability index was 91.5. Homes spent a median of 20 days on the market and sellers received 99.6% of their listing prices with 22.7% closing over list price.
Putnam County continued to be the most affordable area in Northeast Florida with an affordability index of 193. Putnam’s median single-family home sales price of $183,000, which represents a 4.7% drop from October’s median of $191,990. Putnam had an active inventory of 157 single-family homes, a 3.2-month supply. Homes in Putnam County spent a median of 35 days on the market and sellers received 97.6% of their listing price with 20.4% closing over the asking price.
NEFAR’s market statistics reports are available at nefar.com.
