The
housing
market
in
the
state
of

Florida
saw
higher
median
home
prices,
more
real
estate
listings
and
a
higher
number
of
active
listings
during
the
month
of
January,
according
to
data
released
Thursday
by

Florida
Realtors,
a
state-based
trade
organization
for
real
estate
professionals.

The
figures
in
each
metric
are
higher
compared
to
the
same
attributes
from
one
year
ago,
but
a
spike
in
interest
rates
have
also
had
impacts
on
the
state’s
real
estate
market.

“Mortgage

interest
rates
above
6%
continued
to
impact
potential
homebuyers’
purchase
power,
while
also
contributing
to
a
lock-in
effect
among
would-be
home
sellers
who
bought
their
homes
years
ago
with
a
mortgage
rate
of
3%
to
4.5%,”
the
association
explained
in
an
announcement.

The
hope
is
that
a
potential
cooling
of
interest
rates
will
contribute
to
a
stronger
market
in
2024,
according
to
Florida
Realtors
President
Gia
Arvin,
a
broker-owner
with

Matchmaker
Realty
in
Gainesville.

“We’re
seeing
positive
signs
that
for-sale

inventory
is
beginning
to
increase
in
many
local
markets
across
the
state,
which
should
encourage
buyers
who
may
have
been
waiting
on
the
sidelines,”
Arvin
said
in
a
statement.
“It
looks
like
mortgage
rates
may
be
starting
to
ease,
and
if
that
continues,
we
should
see
more
pent-up
demand
translate
into
closed
home
sales.”

Closed
sales
of
single-family
homes
grew
0.6%
from
the
same
period
last
year,
reaching
14,851.
Sales
of
existing
condominiums
and
townhouses
fell
1.2%
from
January
2023,
reaching
6,008
units,
according
to

Florida
Realtors
data
compiled
from
local
boards
and
associations.

Prices
also
continue
to
rise
at
a
steady
clip,
with
the
median
sales
price
for
single-family
existing
homes
reaching
$405,000,
an
increase
of
3.8%
from
the
same
time
last
year.
Condos
and
townhouses
saw
their
median
price
rise
to
$320,000,
up
3.2%
from
January
2023.

“While
sales
and
prices
remained
fairly
similar
compared
to
a
year
ago,
we
saw
significantly
more
new
listings
this
January,”
Brad
O’Connor,
chief
economist
for
Florida
Realtors,
said
in
a
statement.
“New
listings
of

single-family
homes
were
up
16.7%
year
over
year,
while
new
listings
of
townhouses
and
condos
were
up
by
31.4%.”

The
January
trends
are
largely
a
continuation
of
ones
observed
over
the
past
few
months,
O’Connor
said.
This
stems
from
“abnormally
low
numbers
of
new
listings
in
late
2022
and
early
2023,
mostly
due
to
how
fast
mortgage
rates
were
rising
at
that
time,”
he
added.

But
the
addition
of
new
inventory
has
also
pulled
the
Florida
housing
market
out
of
multiyear
lows.

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