As Florida’s housing market finds its footing, sellers still face pricing realities

Florida’s housing market is settling into a period of measured stability, with pending sales on the rise and inventory levels flattening. Sellers who cling to pandemic-era pricing continue to face resistance from buyers navigating high “We’ve been up year over year for closed sales for eight straight months after a two- to three- year period — basically since rates went up — where we saw a decline in sales, and that halted about halfway through last year,” Brad O’Connor, chief economist for Florida Realtors, told HousingWire.

“That does tell me there’s additional demand. Even a half a point of interest rate [change] has been good for us, and just that much has allowed our market to stabilize and there’s been some growth there.”

O’Connor said Despite these changes, condo sales have risen year over year for eight consecutive months, O’Connor said. Condos, he said, sit at roughly nine months of supply, tilting into buyer’s market territory.

“The story about Florida last year and the year before was how fast our inventory was increasing, especially since sales were falling during that period,” O’Connor said. “What we’ve seen over the last eight months is the inventory has really flattened out — and in some areas it’s declining. This is where it really depends where in Florida you’re looking.

“Parts of our state that have built a lot of single-family homes — But 7% of properties have been relisted after being previously removed. O’Connor said that figure actually feels low, given the number of sellers who delisted last year.

“No one’s being forced to sell right now,” he said. “There are people who are trying to While in-migration has cooled from its post-pandemic peak, people continue moving to Florida from the West Coast and the Northeast.

“If interest rates were a little more favorable — they don’t have to be down at 3% like they were during the pandemic, but even like 5% — I think we would be seeing a lot more migration than we used to pre-pandemic into Florida,” O’Connor said. “Interest rates are key, of course, but the The coming months, he said, will be crucial in determining how well Florida’s market weathers recent interest rate increases tied to geopolitical turmoil and economic uncertainty.

“I think we just wait to see what happens with the