The weather isn’t the only thing that’s gotten colder at Brevard lately.
The real estate market is feeling the effects of the measures taken by the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates, according to the Florida Realtor Industry Data and Analytics Team.
Sales of closed homes in Brevard fell 13% in September with 879 homes sold this year, compared to 1,010 the previous year. Cash sales also fell just over 16%.
New pending sales are also down: down 30% from September to September. And new listings were also down nearly 15% on the month.
But there may be a bigger issue at play on the Space Coast.
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A newly released ranking, based on August data, shows Brevard County had the fourth most overvalued housing market of the nation’s 100 largest metropolitan areas. The rankings cover a range of housing, including single family homes, townhouses, condominiums and co-ops.
“We are seeing a clear shift in prices to reflect a buyers’ needs market versus a buyers’ want market,” said Stephanie Dandridge, property adviser at One Sotheby’s International. “This is still a stable pre-pandemic market. This is simply a re-education of sellers who understand that listings will now need to be priced fairly and moderately with competitive pricing in mind. “
Researchers from Florida Atlantic University and Florida International University found Brevard’s average home price of $369,143 in August was 60.42% above long-term price trends for home purchases on that August. market. The researchers said the “expected market value” for Brevard would have been $230,107.30.
James Ryan Reichel, an agent for Berkshire Hathaway HomeService Florida Realty in Melbourne, agreed the prices were crazy.
“It’s been a lot tougher lately, and I even had to lower the price of two houses to sell them,” he said, adding, “I’m glad the prices are coming down and becoming a bit more accessible.” .
The only markets more overvalued than Brevard were Fort Myers/Cape Coral (70.43%), Boise City, Iowa (62.66%) and Las Vegas (61.08%).
“I take that as a compliment,” said Jesse Gorrell, sales manager at Keller Williams Realty Brevard – Team Taranto. “The market has responded to extremely high demand with very low inventory levels. The market will do what the market always does, respond to demand or lack thereof.”
Additionally, six other Florida markets in the ranking were among the 25 most overvalued housing markets in the country.
They included Lakeland/Winter Haven (#6), Daytona Beach/Deltona (#7), Tampa/St. Petersburg/Clearwater (#9), Sarasota/North Port/Bradenton (#13), Orlando (#22) and Jacksonville (#24). Miami/Fort Lauderdale/West Palm Beach was the only one in the top 25, ranking 38th.
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But the latest data shows buyers may be looking for more realistic prices going forward as the Federal Reserve continues to battle inflation across the country.
“We’re seeing a shift with increasing inventory and slowing price appreciation,” Gorrell said. “Properties that were recently listed using market conditions pricing strategies three to six months ago have had to undergo price reductions to reflect current interest rates and demand. We are still at low levels. historically low stocks.”
If you’re already a homeowner, there’s good news in the data. As prices begin to return to reality, the median sale price is still up – very up, according to September data.
Brevard’s median selling price for single-family homes — the point at which half the homes sell for more and the other half sell for less — rose 13.6% to $362,540, an increase of $43,500 compared to last September.
Over the past few years, the inventory of Brevard homes has been around a month. It’s the number of houses available on the market, compared to the number of people looking to buy. Our local month’s inventory supply is up more than 81% year-on-year, nearly a full month’s supply gain from September 2021.
Traditional sales are down 12.7%. Foreclosure sales are down 66.7% And there was only one closed short sale on the books for September.
“We’re seeing ready and able buyers, but they’re being more cautious and not jumping on the first thing they see,” Dandridge said. “Agents now have to work to sell real estate, unlike the past two years.”
Reichel agreed.
“We used to have all these big investment groups coming in and grabbing every property to get their money’s worth, but now they’re playing a lot cooler,” he said. “I’ve even had an investment group pull out of a deal a week before closing.”
Additionally, the Florida Association of Realtors reported that, for the first nine months of 2022, there were 8,423 closed sales of single-family homes in Brevard County, down 7.0% from the same period. in 2021. But the median selling price rose 19.4% to $357,020.
The Realtors Group reported that there were 2,174 townhouse and condo sales in Brevard in the first nine months of 2022, down 15.6% from the same period in 2021. The price median sales increased 19.1% to $280,000.
In September alone, there were 204 townhouse and condo sales in Brevard, down 17.1% from September 2021. The median sale price rose 22.4% to $299,950.
Rob Lander is a veteran multimedia journalist for the USA Today network in Florida. Contact Landers at 321-242-3627 or [email protected]. Twitter: @ByRobLanders
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