The spring real estate market is in full swing and homes are going up for sale – but they’re staying there for longer in a handful of US cities.
In a smattering of metro cold spots – dotted throughout Texas, Florida, Louisiana, New York and West Virginia – homes are staying on the market for an average of more than 60 days, according to new data from Realtor.com.
Across the board, homes spent a median of 50 days on the market in March.
‘Some of these markets are perennially slow-moving,’ said Danielle Hale, chief economist at Realtor.com. ‘They tend to be smaller markets that are not on the radar of most buyers.’
In all of the areas where homes were spending longer on the market, there was also a notable increase in inventory year-on-year, according to data for March.
Huntington in West Virginia had among the coolest property markets in March, with homes remaining up for sale for an average of 66 days
Housing inventory surged by 130 percent in Punta Gorda, Florida. And in Cape Coral and Naples, both also in Florida, inventory was up 101 and 82 percent, respectively.
The areas with stagnating markets also often offer more affordable options, with nine out of the twelve metros boasting median list prices below the national average of $424,900.
For example, the most budget-friendly among them, Huntington, West Virginia, has a median list price of just $179,950.
Interestingly, eight of the twelve metro areas are located along the Gulf of Mexico, making them prone to storm-related risks. Some are still dealing with the aftermath of hurricanes and soaring interest costs as a result.
‘In some cases, homes in these areas are at risk of flooding and other hazards, leading to rising insurance costs,’ said Hale.
According to real estate agent Karen Brown of Michael Saunders & Company on the Florida Gulf Coast, Punta Gorda is suffering in the wake of Hurricane Ian in 2022.
‘Cleanup efforts are ongoing, and residents are still navigating insurance claims,’ Brown told Realtor.com.
1. Lafayette, Louisiana
Median days on the market in March: 69 (tie)
Median home list price in March: $259,250
In Lafayette, Louisiana, homes were on the market for a median of 69 days
2. Punta Gorda, Florida
Median days on the market: 69 (tie)
Median home list price: $419,000
3. Brownsville, Texas
Median days on the market: 68 (tie)
Median home list price: $308,000
In Brownsville, at the southernmost tip of Texas, on the northern bank of the Rio Grande, homes were on the market for a median of 68 days
4. Utica, New York
Median days on the market: 68 (tie)
Median home list price: $239,900
5. New Orleans, Louisiana
Median days on the market: 67
Median home list price: $329,000
6. Crestview, Florida
Median days on the market: 66 (tie)
Median home list price: $644,000
7. Huntington, West Virginia
Median days on the market: 66 (tie)
Median home list price: $179,950
In Huntington, West Virginia, homes were on the market for a median of 66 days
8. Waco, Texas
Median days on the market: 66 (tie)
Median home list price: $345,000
9. Longview, Texas
Median days on the market: 64 (tie)
Median home list price: $305,500
10. Naples, Florida
Median days on the market: 64 (tie)
Median home list price: $849,000
In Naples, Florida, homes were on the market for a median of 64 days. The median house price was significantly higher than elsewhere on the list
11. Cape Coral, Florida
Median days on the market: 64 (tie)
Median home list price: $474,100
12. Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Median days on the market: 64 (tie)
Median home list price: $305,000
In Baton Rouge, Louisiana, homes were on the market for a median of 64 days
Home prices have doubled in less than ten years in 68 of the 100 largest cities in the US, a sobering new study shows.
And in some major American cities, the cost of the average property has doubled in as little as five years.
In Detroit, home prices were half of what they are now as recently as 2019, data from real estate marketplace Point2 reveals.
Home prices in Miami and Tampa, Florida, have doubled since 2018, as they have in Baltimore, Maryland, and Spokane, Washington.
Buyers in Irvine, California – the most expensive housing market in the study – have seen average home prices double from an already steep $750,000 to $1.5 million in just seven years.
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A storm of high inflation and interest rates, tight supply and surging demand has meant that the national median home price has yo-yoed toward around twice what it was a decade ago.
The cost of the average home in the US has gone up from around $200,000 to around $400,000.
According to Point2, a common home appreciation theory is that residential properties tend to double in value in about 10 years.
In the so-called ‘Motor City’ Detroit, one of the reasons that house prices have risen twofold in half this amount of time is because they have been historically low compared to the national average.
House prices in the city have been among the fastest-growing in the US in recent years, as the city bounces back from the mortgage crisis which left some homes virtually worthless.
Less than two decades ago, one in five houses stood empty in the city with foreclosures mounting and properties on deserted streets being sold for $1.
The crisis and the demise of the big carmakers – which had previously made Detroit an industrial powerhouse – drove millions from their homes.
But as the car industry – this time with a focus on electric vehicles – begins to pick up speed again, house prices have risen rapidly.
House prices in Detroit have been among the fastest-growing in the US in recent years, as the city bounces back from the mortgage crisis which left some homes virtually worthless
At the start of 2019 you could buy a home in Detroit for $40,000, according to Point2.
Now, according to listings website Realtor.com, the median home listing price in the city is $89,900.
Despite the short-term price surge, Detroit still remains among the more affordable of the major cities in the US.
Detroit was lagging behind other cities in terms of house price growth, according to CoreLogic chief economist Selma Hepp, so some of this growth is catch-up.
Similarly, data shows that prices also doubled quickly in Spokane, where not that long ago, in March 2018, a home cost just $184,500 – compared to $371,000 today.
Spokane has seen house prices surge as Americans have moved to the city amid investor interest and urban revitalization efforts.
And some people who fled to so-called pandemic ‘boomtowns’ such as Boise, Portland and Austin, later moved to Spokane in search of cheaper housing – which has driven up prices further.
Prices also doubled quickly in Spokane, where not that long ago, in March 2018, a home cost just $184,500 as compared to $371,000 today
According to Point2, home prices have accelerated just as dramatically in Miami, as well as in Tampa, amid a surge of new residents.
The past six years were enough for homes to double in cost to about half a million dollars in both cities.
Prices in all five of the largest markets in Florida – including Jacksonville, Orlando, and St. Petersburg – have doubled in just six to eight years.
Arizona is in a similar position – with seven large cities doubling in price between six and seven years.
Prices increased twofold in booming Scottsdale, where the average home costs a huge $837,500 compared to $416,000 at the end of 2017.
Phoenix has also seen a surge in home prices – which local incomes can barely keep up with.
Home prices have surged dramatically in Miami amid a surge of new residents
House prices in Tampa, Florida, have doubled in the last six years according to Point2
It comes as separate data shows the US housing market gained a huge $2 trillion in value in the last year alone, amid a historic shortage of homes for sale.
Soaring mortgage rates mean many Americans locked into lower deals have stayed put, leading to a significant inventory shortage.
This, in turn, has meant home values have continued to rise, pricing many Americans out of the market entirely.
While mortgage rates had been slowly declining in the first months of this year, the average 30-year fixed rate deal is beginning to creep up again.
Following data released earlier this week which showed inflation remains stubborn, the average 30-year mortgage deal rose to 6.88 percent, according government-backed lender Freddie Mac.
America has a record number of ‘million-dollar cities’ – where the average house price now exceeds six figures, new data shows.
In total 550 US cities have an average property price of $1 million or above, up by 59 from this time last year.
The data from property portal Zillow lays bare how red-hot America’s real estate landscape remains after years of consistent growth.
California alone counts 210 ‘million-dollar cities’ – the highest of any US state and an increase of 12 from last year.
It was followed by New York, New Jersey and Florida which count 66, 49 and 32 respectively.
California alone counts 210 ‘million-dollar cities’ – the highest of any US state and an increase of 12 from last year. Pictured: a San Francisco home on the market for $1.49 million
In total 550 US cities have an average property price of $1 million or above. Pictured: a San Francisco home on the market for $1.49 million
The growth of luxury real estate has largely outstripped the general housing market, Zillow’s research shows.
While typical US home values have grown 4.2 percent compared to last year, those in ‘million-dollar cities’ had seen an average year-on-year increase of 4.6 percent.
New Jersey has experienced the biggest increase in cities where home values are over $1 million. It added 14 to its state in the last year.
Meanwhile New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles and Boston were the four metro areas with the highest amount of ‘million-dollar cities.’
It comes as America’s so-called ‘frozen’ property market shows signs of thawing as the number of new listings advertised on Zillow increased 20 percent between January and February.
Soaring mortgages have created a ‘lock-in effect’ as homeowners are reluctant to trade in the cheap 30-year fixed deals they secured before rates started rising.
Data from Government-backed lender Freddie Mac shows the average rate on a 30-year fixed mortgage is now 6.79 percent.
This is more than double where they were three years ago when they were hovering at 3.17 percent.
New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles and Boston were the four metro areas with the highest amount of ‘million-dollar cities.’ Pictured: a $1 million home currently for sale on Zillow in Boston, MA
An LA home for sale for $1.49 million on Zillow
The New York metro area had the largest amount of ‘million-dollar cities.’ Pictured: a $1.5 million apartment for sale in Manhattan’s Lenox Hill
It means a buyer purchasing a $400,000 property today faces monthly payments of $2,474. This analysis assumes a 5 percent downpayment.
However, had they bought in March 2021, this figure would be just $1,637 – a difference of $800 per month.
Yet a recent report by Zillow suggested housing activity was starting to uptick again.
Homes that sold in February spent an average of 17 days on the market – slower than during the homebuying frenzy of 2021 and 2022 but still much faster than pre-pandemic.
Experts are divided over where the housing market is now headed after they have remained surprisingly resilient.
Last week Shark Tank star Barbara Corcoran predicted even the smallest drop in mortgage rates would cause property values to shoot up.
She told Fox Business: ”If rates go down, just another percentage point, prices are going to go through the roof.
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‘Everyone will come out and buy. There are probably 10 buyers on the sidelines [for each home on the market] waiting for interest rates to come down,’ she continued. ‘So everybody’s going to charge the market.’
Contrastingly, analyst Meredith Whitney recently told DailyMail.com that prices would soon fall as more and more Baby Boomers start to downsize -and free up inventory.
Whitney – who earned the nickname the ‘Oracle of Wall Street’ after accurately predicting the 2008 financial crash – said: ‘Around 90 percent of housing stock is owned by over 40s while 74 percent is by those over 50.
‘It makes logical sense that lots of these owners will start to downsize in the next decade. That’s almost 35 million homes – it’s a huge number to go through the system.
‘My advice to homeowners is: if you want to sell, you’re better off doing it sooner than later.’
Through the first two-and-a-half months of 2024, Volusia County has already seen the sale of at least 41 luxury homes for $1 million or more.
That number already exceeds the 38 million-dollar-plus homes sold during the first three months of last year.
Most, although not all, high-end homes in Volusia County are purchased in cash, according to Realtors. A few deals involve financing, but not as much as for homes sold for less than a million dollars. That’s why luxury home sales are not as affected by high interest rates as properties listed in lower price ranges.
Here’s a look at the top luxury home sales in Volusia County so far this year.
1. 1316 N. Peninsula Ave., New Smyrna Beach
SALE PRICE: $7.4 million
DATE SALE CLOSED: Feb. 7, 2024
DESCRIPTION: Built in 2005, this 3-story riverfront home has 5 bedrooms, 7 baths and 7,439 square feet of living space on a 0.41-acre lot. The open-concept floor plan includes floor-to-ceiling windows in the grand living area and panoramic views of the Indian River and surrounding landscape. The home includes a gourmet kitchen and a separate combination kitchen/family room. Outside, it offers an expansive terrace along with a pool, spa, covered patio and a dock and boat house with a boat lift. The property also includes an attached 2-car garage.
WHO HANDLED THE DEAL: The listing agent was Loretta Burn of Haven Waterfront Real Estate in Edgewater. The buyers were represented by G. Scott Yurchison of Collado Real Estate in New Smyrna Beach.
2. $5.18 million: 700 N. Peninsula Ave., New Smyrna Beach
SALE PRICE: $5.185 million
DATE SALE CLOSED: March 1
DESCRIPTION: Built in 2009, this 5-bedroom, 6-bath house along the Intracoastal Waterway offers 5,120-square-feet of living space and a 3.5-car garage. It sits on a half-acre lot with 57 feet of frontage along the river as well as a dock. The backyard includes a covered lanai and an outdoor kitchen as well as an infinity pool and spa and a view of the Ponce Inlet lighthouse located just a mile to the north.
WHO HANDLED THE DEAL: The listing agent was Realtor Terri Jackson of The Keyes Company in New Smyrna Beach. The buyers’ agent was Pat Collado, the broker/owner of Collado Real Estate in New Smyrna Beach.
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3. $3.6 million: 175 Ocean Shore Blvd., Ormond Beach
SALE PRICE: $3.6 milllion
DATE SALE CLOSED: March 15
DESCRIPTION: Built in 1987, this 4-bedroom, 5-bath oceanfront home was the longtime home of the late Hawaiian Tropic founder Ron Rice, who died in May 2022 at the age of 81. The massive three-story house offers 12,400 square feet of living space and sits on a full acre that includes 200 feet along the beach.
The home includes a room that Rice used as a discotheque modeled after the famous Studio 54 in New York City. The mansion’s crowning glory is its huge indoor pool adorned with statues of winged fairy nymphs that connects to one of the property’s two outdoor pools.
WHO HANDLED THE DEAL: The listing agent was Bill Navarra, the broker/owner of Realty Pros Assured in Ormond Beach. Navarra wound up representing both the Ron Rice Estate as well as the buyers, a couple from the Carolinas whose son plans to relocate from South Florida to live in the house.
4. $3.4 million: 357 N. Beach St., Ormond Beach
SALE PRICE: $3.4 million
DATE SALE CLOSED: March 4
DESCRIPTION: Built in 2012, this 4-bedroom, 4.5-bath riverfront home offers 6,813 square feet of living space. It sits on a 0.67-acre lot that includes 150 feet along the Halifax River as well as a refurbished dock. The backyard includes a pool and spa. The view from the house includes the river as well as the Granada Bridge.
WHO HANDLED THE DEAL: The listing agent was also the property’s seller, Janelle Mertins, a Realtor and former owner of Pegasus Realty & Associates in Ocala. Mertins bought the home two years ago as a vacation getaway. The buyers’ agents were Matthew Renshaw and Ann Alexander, both with Realty Pros Assured in Ormond Beach.
5. $3 million: 1000 Sudbury Lane, Ormond Beach
SALE PRICE: $3 million
DATE SALE CLOSED: March 15
DESCRIPTION: Built in 2021, this 5-bedroom, 6.5-bath custom home in Ormond Beach’s Plantation Bay community offers 5,835 square feet of living space and includes a four-car garage. It overlooks a golf course. The 1.03-acre property includes a pool, an outdoor kitchen, and a full bath. The house includes an additional apartment suite.
WHO HANDLED THE DEAL: Realtor Debbie Spelman of Venture Development Realty (based at Plantation Bay) represented the sellers. Her colleague at Venture Development Realtor, Realtor Carol Paquette, represented the buyers.
550 Island Drive hit the market asking $39 million. It’s since been discounted to $32.5 million.
Brown Harris Stevens
An affordable shelter in the land of pastel polos and big bleach-blonde blow outs? Go fish. But for home hunters dead set on targeting pecunious Palm Beach, there is some relief in sight.
“We’ve had this frenzy of prices more than doubling over the last four years,” said Jonathan Miller, CEO of appraisal firm Miller Samuel. The good news? “Now we’re seeing pricing stabilize.”
It’s not that prices are dipping, exactly. There are far too few properties on the market for that to happen. But the onslaught of northeasterners, who swarmed South Florida during the pandemic in search of suntans and tax breaks, has slowed. As a result, buyers may find they have a little more to work with.
Roll your golf cart over to 550 Island Drive on Palm Beach’s Everglades Island to see the theory in action.
This roughly 5,000-square-foot home listed with Brown Harris Stevens in April 2023 for $39 million. Built in 1955, it has seven bedrooms, five bathrooms and a covered loggia with a fireplace overlooking a backyard with an infinity pool that borders 150 feet of waterfront.
Today, the owners are seeking just $32.5 million. That sounds swell until you realize that it sold for just $9 million a decade ago.
From here, cruise up North County Road to the historic home at 245 Dunbar Road, which hit the market last March asking $28 million, also with BHS. Featuring a large-for-the-area lot and a five-bedroom, five-bathroom main house, it’s a character-filled charmer. The verdant backyard, swimming pool and a four-bedroom, four-bathroom guest house are gravy. But more recently, its ask was slashed to $26 million.
The question becomes: With supply relatively low and demand relatively high — inventory is still down about 50% from pre-pandemic levels, according to Miller’s Q4 Douglas Elliman market report — why are we seeing price relief in the first place? The answer, according to Douglas Elliman broker Cara Coniglio McClure, boils down to sentiment.
The “emotional component” that drove the market throughout the peak of the pandemic “has been taken out,” she said. “Now, it’s shifted to just a normal, healthy market where the buyers have a little bit more power.”
McClure’s listing at 266 Alhambra Place in West Palm Beach is further proof.
The newly built contemporary-style home spans 6,200 square feet and has four bedrooms and 4½ bathrooms plus a guest house with an additional bedroom and bathroom. It was listed pre-construction in March 2022 for $6.5 million, but has since been reduced to $4.45 million.
Similarly, her 4,400-square-foot listing at 3101 Washington Road in West Palm Beach hit the market in late January 2023 for $7.5 million, but is now asking $6.9 million.
The three-bedroom, 3½-bathroom home dates to 1920 but has been fully updated with a kitchen with a Wolf range and quartz countertops, a backyard with a pool and a barbecue area, and a separate guest cottage with a bedroom and a full bathroom.
“Both listings were priced at the height of the market, and so there was a little bit of aspirational pricing,” said Lisa Wilkinson, McClure’s partner at Elliman. “I wouldn’t really say that our market is falling, it’s more that houses that were put on in the middle of COVID have had to adjust.”
While stabilizing home prices don’t answer the inventory problem, a wave of roughly 600 condos that will hit the market over the next four years in the area could. New condo buildings like Olara and Shorecrest — now selling units from $2 million and $1.3 million, respectively — are part of the large-scale redevelopment of West Palm Beach. However, don’t expect that supply to soak up the demand, said Holly Meyer Lucas, a real-estate agent with Compass.
She points to the thousands of people who followed high-paying jobs to the Sunshine State over the past few years.
“The people who relocated here are here to stay,” she said. “The people that are here right now — the teachers, the nurses, the everyday Americans that live in Palm Beach County — if they are still renting and they have the ability to buy, they have to buy something.”
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Florida’s population has boomed over the past decade, with nearly 3 million people moving to the Sunshine State from 2010 to 2020, according to moveBuddha. And as people flock to the state’s various cities, home prices have shot up, too.
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MoveBuddha identified the fastest-growing cities in Florida, as well as how much home prices have risen in these cities in recent years.
Here’s a look at the Florida cities where home prices have increased by more than 50% from 2020 to 2023.
1. Naples, Florida
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Population growth from 2010 to 2020: 53.7%
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Average home value in 2020: $359,706
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Average home value in 2023: $594,043
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Increase in home value from 2020 to 2023: 65%
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2. Estero, Florida
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Population growth from 2010 to 2020: 63.2%
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Average home value in 2020: $321,867
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Average home value in 2023: $527,221
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Increase in home value from 2020 to 2023: 64%
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3. West Palm Beach, Florida
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Population growth from 2010 to 2020: 17%
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Average home value in 2020: $245,472
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Average home value in 2023: $389,511
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Increase in home value from 2020 to 2023: 59%
4. Jupiter, Florida
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Population growth from 2010 to 2020: 11%
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Average home value in 2020: $437,570
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Average home value in 2023: $688,457
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Increase in home value from 2020 to 2023: 57%
5. Fort Myers, Florida
6. Homestead, Florida
7. Avon Park, Florida
8. Sarasota, Florida
9. Bradenton, Florida
10. Lake Worth, Florida
11. Venice, Florida
12. Boca Raton, Florida
13. Fort Pierce, Florida
14. Port Saint Lucie, Florida
15. Cape Coral, Florida
16. North Port, Florida
17. Ocala, Florida
18. Ponte Vedra, Florida
19. Punta Gorda, Florida
20. New Port Richey, Florida
21. Delray Beach, Florida
22. Brooksville, Florida
23. Port Charlotte, Florida
24. Englewood, Florida
25. Miami
26. Brandon, Florida
27. Boynton Beach, Florida
This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com: 27 Florida Cities Where Home Prices Are Skyrocketing
The average house price has risen almost 50% on a national basis since the start of the pandemic. But that’s too broad a blanket and doesn’t account for regional variation, Capital Economics’ property economist, Thomas Ryan, suggests in a new note.
It’s housing markets across the South that Ryan predicts will continue to “lead the pack” in terms of appreciation. Home prices rose 74% in Miami, 71% in Tampa, and 62% in Charlotte since December 2019, just months before the onset of the pandemic. It’s reflective of a “boost to housing demand from strong economic in-migration,” Ryan wrote. And to his point, home prices in San Francisco only rose 29%, 30% in Minneapolis, and 33% in Washington, D.C.—slower than Southern metros, but much more rapid compared to pre-pandemic norms.
And he doesn’t see that changing anytime soon. “The rise in house prices in Southern metros has been even larger, whereas prices in most major and midwestern metros have increased by less,” he wrote.
Home price appreciation seems to be returning to a pre-pandemic pace, but Ryan thinks Southern metros will “continue to outperform over the next few years,” and there are a few reasons why.
First, employment growth in the South isn’t weakening because of its thriving job markets, he explained—partly because of more favorable taxes and regulations for companies. (None other than Elon Musk switched where SpaceX is incorporated to Texas; Ken Griffin’s Citadel moved its headquarters to Miami, though he’s claimed it wasn’t because of low taxes.)
But more so, people with a newfound ability to work from wherever are choosing to move to cities in the South because they are cheaper. Dallas and Atlanta saw their home prices appreciate above the national average too, and yet their average home values are considerably lower than, say, Los Angeles or San Francisco (both of which are considered to be within the top six major metropolitan areas). Dallas’s average home value is roughly $308,000; Atlanta’s is around $390,000. Meanwhile, Los Angeles’ average home value is almost $954,000, and San Francisco’s is about $1.2 million. That’s not accounting for higher mortgage rates, and therefore higher monthly payments.
“Miami aside, mortgage payments on a new loan for the average-priced home are fairly low as a share of income in Southern markets compared with the rest of the country,” Ryan wrote.
Strong employment growth and home prices that aren’t out of whack relative to local incomes will keep Southern markets above the rest. Home prices in Western and major metros were already unaffordable, and high mortgage rates aren’t helping—plus, competition isn’t so stiff in the South because supply isn’t as tight, Ryan argues.
“A lot of homebuilding took place in Southern metros following the pandemic, as developers reacted to changing migration trends,” he said. “That’s the reason why active home listings—which have been suppressed nationally due to mortgage rate ‘lock-in’—have recovered much faster.”
As Fortune has previously reported, Texas’s top three housing markets (by starts) built 300% more homes than California’s, despite having a smaller population, for several reasons, including migration, employment, land accessibility, and less-stringent regulation. Still, more supply and less competition typically means lower and slower home price growth, but that’s a near-term view, Ryan wrote. Over the next few years, demand will actually be the strongest in Southern metros, eventually “outweighing rising supply,” and will push home prices up. Nevertheless, it’s important to emphasize that home price appreciation, while really good for homeowners, technically only makes it more difficult for renters to become homeowners in an already unaffordable housing market.
But Southern markets’ gain is the major six markets’—Los Angeles, San Francisco, Washington, D.C., New York, Boston, and Chicago—loss, according to Capital Economics, which expects those cities’ home-price growth to “remain sluggish.” Home prices in Midwestern markets, on the other hand, can expect a “mini-rival” or “a turnaround,” but not enough to keep up with Southern metros.
Florida is leading the rise in active property listings across the country, according to the latest data from real-estate services firm Redfin, with the total supply of homes for sale in places like Cape Coral climbing more than 75 times faster than the national average between January and February.
Active listings—the total supply of homes for sale, including new builds or previously existing homes—have grown by 0.8 percent month over month on a seasonally adjusted basis in February in the U.S., hitting the highest level in a year, according to Redfin, at 1,601,260. Compared to a year before, they were down by a modest 0.1 percent, the smallest annual decline in months.
At the same time, the number of new listings climbed by 3.8 percent at the national level in February compared to a month before—the biggest increase in six months and the highest level since September 2022. They were up 14.8 percent year-on-year, for the largest annual gain since May 2021. This is all good news for aspiring homebuyers who have been struggling with skyrocketing prices in the past few years, driven by high demand and a historic supply shortage.
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In the Sunshine State, active listings have grown much faster than in the rest of the country in recent months—causing a drop in prices that hasn’t been met with an equivalent growth in sales as of yet. Journalist Lance Lambert wrote for ResiClub that active listings in Florida were up 45.8 percent in February compared to a year before.
Cape Coral saw the fastest increase in active listings in the entire country from January to February, with the number of total homes for sale climbing by a staggering 60.6 percent. In North Port they jumped by 52.5 percent and in Fort Lauderdale by 25.5 percent.
By comparison, the metro areas that saw the steepest declines were Raleigh, North Carolina (-24.4 percent); New Brunswick, New Jersey (-19 percent); Nassau County, New York (-18.5 percent).
Florida, one of the states which has built more homes in the country together with Texas, has seen the highest increase in active listings in the U.S., according to Redfin. The listing of condos for sale is particularly driving this jump in supply, as owners try to escape rising Homeowner Association (HOA) fees and insurance costs.
While national demand fell modestly between late summer 2022 and spring 2023 as mortgage rates climbed in reaction to the Federal Reserve’s aggressive rate-hiking campaign to combat inflation, home prices across the country have remained high due to the lack of properties for sale. As of February 2024, the median price of a home in the U.S. was $412,778, up 6.6 percent compared to the previous year, according to Redfin.
According to Redfin, there were 182,729 homes for sale in Florida in February, up 25.9 percent compared to the year before. Some 49,317 of these properties were newly listed, up 26 percent year-over-year. The median listing price of these homes was $407,500, up 4.4 percent compared to February 2023 and slightly lower than the national average.
The flooding of homes, especially condos, in Florida has caused prices to drop significantly. According to a Redfin report published in late February, sales of condos in Florida fell significantly in January, even as listings jumped and prices fell.
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Florida is currently going against a national trend which has seen condo prices increase by an average 8.4 percent year-on-year in the U.S. in January, according to Redfin. Within this same period, some of Florida’s major metros saw a significant drop, with Miami reporting a 2.5 percent fall and Jacksonville a 6.5 percent decline.
“Whenever prices fall, it’s a reflection of a changing market,” Daryl Fairweather, Redfin chief economist, told Newsweek in a written statement.
“Rising HOA fees and insurance costs have made owning a condo less affordable, so buyers don’t want to pay as much for them,” she said.” Eventually prices will hit a point where buyers do think Florida condos are good value. But if insurance and other costs keep rising, prices may keep falling.”
Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Thousands of wealthy retirees are ditching Florida and now choosing to spend their golden years in Appalachia instead – but not everyone is happy about it.
With its warm weather and low tax burden, the sunshine state has long been known as the retirement capital of the US.
Yet Southern Appalachia, known for its stunningly beautiful views, is increasingly giving Florida a run for its money, Wall Street Journal reported.
The population in counties in southern Appalachia designated as retirement or recreational areas grew by 3.8 percent between April 2020 and July 2022 – more than six times the national average, according to Hamilton Lombard, a demographer at the University of Virginia.
But while older populations are attracted by cheaper living and housing cost, lower crime levels and pleasant weather with fewer hurricanes, some locals are furious about the impact this influx is having on property prices, traffic and even restaurant bookings – with one resident saying ‘they should go back to where they came from’.
Southern Appalachia is becoming a thriving retirement community due to an aging and affluent population, but some local services are struggling to keep up
Helen (right), born and raised in Dawson, is not pleased with the influx of transplants moving to her rural neighborhood
Pictured: A map of Southern Appalachia in relation to the rest of the United States
Ed Helms, 75, and his wife moved from Panama City Beach, Florida to a gated community, half of it in Dawson and half in a neighboring county, to escape natural disasters, congestion, and the rising cost of living.
‘Our property insurance was going sky high,’ Helms, who worked in mergers and acquisitions, told the Wall Street Journal.
‘We got tired of being unable to find a place to sit in restaurants. Everything was getting out of reason. We wouldn’t go back for anything.’
People like the Helms are often referred to as ‘halfbacks’ – a nickname for those originally from the Northeast and Midwest who moved to Florida before eventually settling somewhere in the middle.
The trend back in the early 2000s and then slowed during the recession – but has now picked up again in earnest.
Gayle Manchin, the The Appalachian Regional Commission’s co-chair and wife of Democratic Senator Joe Manchin, told WSJ she believes the pandemic has fueled the retirees’ interest in moving back to more isolated, nature-filled areas.
According to Lombard of the University of Virginia, who has been tracking the pattern, an average of 328,000 individuals from other regions of the country have relocated to the five-state region of Georgia, Alabama, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee annually since 2020.
The Georgia county of Dawson has proven particularly popular, reporting a 12.5 percent population increase from 2020 to 2022, according to estimates by the U.S. Census Bureau.
But this huge influx has put enormous pressure on local services, leaving some lifelong residents like Helen Anderson unimpressed.
Anderson was born and raised in Dawsonville, Georgia, her family making ends meet by farming chicken and selling moonshine from the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains in Atlanta.
‘They ought to go back where they come from,’ she told the Wall Street Journal when discussing the newcomers.
Manchin told the WSJ that demand for affordable housing has skyrocketed as more workers are needed to serve the influx of halfbacks.
The migration of these wealthy retirees has spread governments thin as they trying to extend healthcare, housing, and other services to its citizens, she added.
But chairman of the Dawson County Board of Commissions Billy Thurmond noted that some of people who stop him to complain about the traffic and development are ironically the same people who moved to the county in recent years.
‘People who have moved here now want us to put up a gate and stop anybody else from moving here,’ he told WSJ. ‘It doesn’t work that way.’
County Manager Joey Leverette said medical calls to eldercare facilities in the county are also taking up resources. For that reason, county officials are considering splitting up staff to dedicate some to just emergency calls, freeing up teams to respond to fire calls.
‘It’s a game changer,’ Leverette told WSJ. ‘If we don’t get the funding, we’ll just have to keep plodding along as best we can.’
An average of 328,000 individuals from other regions of the country have relocated to the five-state region of Georgia, Alabama, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee annually since 2020
The population in counties in southern Appalachia designated as retirement or recreational areas grew by 3.8% -more than six times the national average -from April 2020 to July 2022
The demand for affordable housing has skyrocketed for the influx of new workers serving the halfbacks moving in
County Manager Joey Leverette said medical calls to eldercare facilities in the county are taking up resources
Retirees are leaving Florida in droves due to increased cost of living, natural disasters, and congestion
Southern Appalachia has been known for its rural and serene nature
The U.S. Census Bureau has projected further development for the county, according to a piece that the weekly Dawson County News recently shared on Facebook.
One person commented: ‘The entire south and southern living is being ruined.’
Linda Bennett, 81, has lived in Dawson County. Now that she is widowed, she resides in a home close to Georgia Route 400. She cherished being in the country, but she worries that North Georgia will never be the same with so many newcomers.
‘It has grown so much; it is just unreal,’ she told WSJ. ‘With all the houses and apartments they’re building, it’s not going to get any better. How could it?’
After her husband died, Delaware native Karen Rickards, 73, moved from Tallahassee, Florida to Dawson, Georgia.
A halfback herself, she is wondering how much more growth Dawson County can handle.
‘They are building house after house after house,’ she told WSJ. ‘Atlanta’s moving up here, no doubt.’