South Florida housing Market Update [August 2024]

Hey, it's Andy with the Mandel team. And I'm here to bring you your August, 2024 housing market update.

As always, for the purposes of these videos, we're talking about single family homes only. So no condos, no townhouses, no 55 and over and no country clubs. Those are wildly different markets.

And we're talking about Boca Parkland and Coral Springs. Those are the areas where our team does the predominant amount of our business.

So I want to give you the leading indicator showing you what happened last month in July. So, you know, where the market is headed. Not where it's been.

A lot of times when you hear these stats from the national news media, they're talking about closed sales price, which is really indicative of what happened 30, 60, sometimes even goes under contract to when it sells.

I want to tell you what happened just last month in July. So, you know, where the market is headed. Not where it's been.

The first stat we like to look at is the number of new listings hitting the market that is up across all three cities, 3.

So supply is up a little bit at the same time, the number of homes going under contract coming off the market, that's unchanged. So with supply up just 3 percent and pending sales, the same as they were this time last year, that's not a significant difference. It's really not that much new listings.

So it's not like we're seeing this dramatic wave of homes flooding the market. It's about the same as it was last year, and home sales are the same as last year. So, you know, we should see a relatively stable price when you factor in supply and demand like that.

The next stat we like to look at is the number of days on market.

Now this did change from last year. Days on market across all three cities on average was 26 days. That's up from 19 last year. So it is taking a little bit longer for these homes to sell.

The next that we like to look at is the closed price to original list price.

So that factors in price reductions and that's down 0. So right now we're seeing 95 closed price, not necessarily to list price.

If the property has already been reduced in price, it might sell closer to that asking price. This just reflects sellers who wanted to start up here to leave room for negotiations or because they still thought it was 2021 and they're pricing their home really, really high. You know, they've come down. And the average sales price to list price in that instance will be closer, but from the original list price, 95.

The next stat we'd like to look at is arguably the most important that is the month's supply of inventory.

So what this stat shows is that if there are no more homes to hit the market, how long would it take at the current pace of sales for all the homes to go under contract?

A balanced market is somewhere between five and six months. Anything less than that is a seller's market. Anything more than that is a buyer's market. So right now in Boca, uh, We are at 4. So very close to a balanced market in Boca. Parkland's 3. Coral Springs, 3. So definitely still a seller's market in Coral Springs and in Parkland, but it's much closer to a more neutral market than we've seen over, you know, the last couple of years.

So we've been at around three ish months of inventory in Parkland and Coral Springs for a while now. That's really what we were at pre pandemic. So we're just getting back to a more normal, more balanced market, still slightly in seller's favor, but nowhere near what it was in the height of the market when things were just crazy during the pandemic.

So let's talk about what all this means.

So starting in August 17th, the market is going to change dramatically with all these new commission lawsuits.

This is a topic for a whole another day, but for sellers, the point remains the same. You need to price your property correctly. Otherwise it's going to sit on the market for a lot longer buyers. You do have a lot more to choose from now.

Then you used to have a couple of years ago and at the very end of July, very beginning of August. Interest rates got a dramatic shock and they came down about half a percent. We're now seeing interest rates in the low sixes, high fives.

So if you've put off buying a house because you know, you thought, "Oh, rates were too high. Prices were too high. I'm going to wait for rates to drop."

That just happened. It's happening now. Now is the time to revisit that.

If it's been a while since you spoke to your mortgage lender and got numbers run based on your, you know, what you can afford, it might be time to revisit that because you could probably get much more than what you could have were above 7 percent sellers.

This might mean that there's more buyers coming into the market when they start to realize that rates are a lot lower than what they thought they were.

I have people tell me all the time, "Oh, I thought rates were in the eights. I didn't realize they were in the low sixes."

Once they realized that, it might lead more buyers to come into the market that will potentially lead to increased competition.

I don't think we're going to get back to, you know, where there's 17 offers for every property in this crazy, crazy frenzy, but there will probably be more buyers coming into the market as more people realize that, you know, rates are lower, they can afford more, but we're getting into a slower time of year.

The end of summer fall prices do still tend to appreciate, but at a much slower pace than what you see in the spring and summer. So it's all about pricing. If you market your property correctly, just like our team would do. If it's not getting people through the door, it's likely a matter of price it's price or how the property presents either online or in person.

You still have to be pinpoint accurate.

With the way prices have gone, buyers are very skeptical about, you know, overspending for a house with today's prices.

Don't be that seller who starts way up here and thinks they're gonna set a record price and hit top, top dollar and still get multiple offers. Be realistic. The closer you price your house to where you know it will sell, where the comps say the property will sell, the more offers you're going to get the faster it's going to get and that is the way to generate that multiple offer situation and bid the price up and get the strongest terms possible.

So that's our advice for both buyers and sellers.

If you have any questions about this housing market here in South Florida, how do you navigate it? How do you buy and sell at the same time?

Whatever it may be, don't forget we got your back when moving in South Florida. Don't hesitate to give us a call.