***Published on 1st September 2024***  

August “answers ”  from the Resort Area Market... 

The August median home price was unchanged from July at $400,000  but remained down 1.1% from the January median price of 404,418, whilst the average days that a home takes to close was up by 2 days from July at 114  and 3 higher than 111-day average recorded in June.  The trend of rising inventory slowed in August, with the total number of listings at 3,162. Little changed from 3,157 in July, but it was above the 2,767 total listings recorded in January 2024.  Total sales during August of 326 homes were down 96 on the previous month and down 75 on the resort area closings recorded during June.  A home that closed during August did so at an average of 97.8%  of its final listed price, down from the July figure of 9.80%. The average days a home spent on the market was 73, which compares to 68 days in July and a 65-day average over the last 12 months.  In August, 324 homes were withdrawn from the market, 10 homes up on the July 314 total.  When reviewed against the current sales pace, the total number of available listings suggests a 9.7-month inventory level, which is up on the 7.7-month level in July but is little changed on the 9.8-month level recorded in the first month of 2024. 

Orlando..  

July’s interest rate stood at 6.6%, down from 6.7% in June.  The Orlando median home price for July was recorded as $390,000, down from $395,000 in June, which was the highest monthly median home price on record in the Orlando area.  Home prices were cited as the second most significant issue facing buyers in the market according to ORRA’s newest survey, with high interest rates being the number one concern. Overall inventory stood at 11,158, up 3.4% from June, when inventory was recorded as 10,796. This was the seventh month in which overall inventory levels have risen. The last time inventory was this high was November 2015, whilst inventory in July 2024 was 95.1% higher than recorded in July 2023.  Overall sales rose 2.0% from June to July, with 2,652 total sales during July, up from 2,601 in June.  Pending sales increased by 1.5%, with 3,940 in June and 3,999 in July.  New listings fell 1.8% from June to July, with 4,067 new homes on the market during July, compared to 4,143 in June.  Homes spent an average of 55 days on the market, up from 54 in June. This is 41% longer than in July 2023, when homes spent an average of 39 days on the market.  

Florida...  

Florida's housing market reported easing median sales prices and more new listings in July 2024 compared to a year ago, according to Florida Realtors®' latest housing data.  Closed sales of existing single-family homes statewide totaled 23,353, up 5.2% year on year. In contrast, existing condo-townhouse sales totaled 8,364, down 1.2% over July 2023, according to Florida Realtors Research Department data in partnership with local Realtor boards/associations.  July saw a 1.2% year-on-year decline in closed sales. The statewide median sales price for existing single-family homes was $416,990, the same as a year ago, while the statewide median price for condo-townhouse units was $315,000, down 1.3% from July 2023. New listings of single-family homes remained in line with what we would have expected in the pre-pandemic market, but there were 10.7% more new listings this July compared to last year's count. Meanwhile, 13.8% more townhouses and condos came onto the market during July compared to a year ago. The inventory of single-family homes continues to rise, but this growth has slowed over the last three months. Townhouse and condo inventory levels are now above where they were during the 2014 to 2019 pre-pandemic, post-Great Recession period. However, month-on-month inventory growth has flattened out over the past two to three months.  On the market's supply side, single-family existing homes offered a 4.6-month supply in July, while condo and townhome properties offered a 7.4-month level.  

U.S...

 According to recent National Association of Realtors data, existing home sales improved during July 2024, halting a four-month run of declines. Sales increased in three major U.S. regions, with the Midwest holding steady. On a year-over-year basis, sales rose in the Northeast and West but fell in the Midwest and South. Total existing home sales, which include single-family homes, townhomes, condominiums, and co-ops, rose by 1.3% from June to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 3.95 million in July. However, sales dropped by 2.5% from 4.05 million in July 2023 compared to the previous year. At the end of July, the total housing inventory stood at 1.33 million units, marking a 0.8% increase from June and a 19.8% rise from the year ago level of 1.11 million. The unsold inventory represents a 4.0-month supply at the current sales pace, a slight decrease from 4.1 months in June but an increase from 3.3 months in July 2023. The median price for existing homes across all housing types in July was $422,600, reflecting a 4.2% increase from the previous year ($405,600). Price increases were noted across all four U.S. regions.  Single-family home sales increased by 1.4% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 3.57 million in July, down 1.4% from the previous year. The median price for existing single-family homes was $428,500 in July, up 4.2% from July 2023. In July, sales of existing condominiums and co-ops remained steady at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 380,000 units, representing an 11.6% decrease from the one-year-ago volume of 430,000 units. The median price for existing condos was $367,500 in July, up 2.7% from the previous year of $357,900.  By profile, first-time buyers accounted for 29% of sales in July, consistent with June but slightly lower than the 30% in July 2023. The NAR's 2023 Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers, released in November 2023, revealed that the annual share of first-time buyers was 32%. All-cash transactions made up 27% of sales in July, down from 28% in June but up 26% a year earlier. Individual investors or second-home buyers, often involved in cash transactions, purchased 13% of homes in July, down from 16% in June 2024 and July 2023.  Distressed sales, including foreclosures and short sales, accounted for 1% of transactions in July, remaining virtually unchanged from the previous month and the prior year.

 Freddie Mac reported that the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 6.49% as of August 15, a slight increase from 6.47% the previous week but a decrease from 7.09% a year ago.   

Closing Numbers ... August 30th 2024… 

1 G.B.P…Buys  1.317 U.S.D                   -              1 U.S.D…Buys  0.758  G.B.P

1 EURO...Buys  1.108 U.S.D                   -              1 U.S.D…Buys  0.902  EURO

 1 CAN $…Buys 0.742 U.S.D                   -              1 U.S.D…Buys  1.347  CAN $

 1 BRL $…Buys 0.177 U.S.D                   -              1 U.S.D…Buys  5.629  BRL $

***

U.S Federal Prime Interest Rate = 5.5%