According to market data provided the National Association of Realtors (NAR), existing home sale transactions dropped by 0.7% during the month of August 2023. On a year-over-year basis, sale transactions were down 15.3% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.04 million units.
Per Lawrence Yun, NAR’s chief economist, “Home sales have been stable for several months, neither rising nor falling in any meaningful way,”. He further stated, “Mortgage rate changes will have a big impact over the short run, while job gains will have a steady, positive impact over the long run. The South had a lighter decline in sales from a year ago due to greater regional job growth since coming out of the pandemic lockdown.”
Bucking the trend is the median existing home sale price. At $407,100, this is an increase of 3.9% year-over-year and the fourth time it exceeded $400,000. Prices increased within all four regions of the country.
Existing home inventory was down 14.1% year-over-year to 1.1 million units. Based on the current pace of sales, there is a 3.3-month supply of homes on the market at this time. The average marketing time for the month of August was 20 days, up from 16 days during the prior year.
Investors and vacation / second home buyers, purchased 16% of all homes sold in August.
The Florida Housing Market
Closed sale transactions across the state of Florida continue to decline on a year-over-year basis. During the month of August 2023 there were 33,364 sale transactions across all property types.
Median sale prices continued their rise for 2023 but is down slightly on a year-over-year basis. The median sale price of $381,000 in July 2023 is slightly less than the recent peak of $388,990 in June 2022.
Active inventory has also remained in a tight range since summer 2022. As of July 2023, active inventory was 97,565 units, up 8.4% year-over-year. Based on the current rate of home sales, there is a 3.1 month supply of inventory currently available for sale.
Closed Sales – August 2023
The number of closed sales transactions within the state of Florida has continued to decline on year-over-year basis. As of August 2023, the number of individual closed sales declined by 8.0% to 33,364 transactions.
Closed Sales – Month by Month
| Month | Closed Sales | % Change YOY |
| Aug 2023 | 33,364 | -8.0% |
| July 2023 | 31,862 | -7.3% |
| June 2023 | 37,964 | -8.7% |
| May 2023 | 39,267 | -10.2% |
| Apr 2023 | 34,906 | -20.1% |
| Mar 2023 | 39,016 | -17.3% |
| Feb 2023 | 27,514 | -23.6% |
| Jan 2023 | 21,825 | -34.7% |
| Dec 2022 | 27,994 | -36.9% |
| Nov 2022 | 25,210 | -37.7% |
| Oct 2022 | 30,298 | -25.1% |
| Sept 2022 | 29,654 | -28.5% |
| Aug 2022 | 36,263 | -16.5% |
Median Sales Prices – August 2023
Since the beginning of 2023, home prices in Florida have continued to make strong gains. During the month of August, the median sale price across all property types was $383,837 which is near the highest point during this year.
The recent peak occurred in June 2022 with a price of $388,990 and at this time, we are slightly below that level.
Median Price – Month by Month
| Month | Median Price | % Change YOY |
| Aug 2023 | $383,837 | 2.4% |
| July 2023 | $381,000 | 0.4% |
| June 2023 | $387,990 | -0.3% |
| May 2023 | $385,000 | 0.0% |
| Apr 2023 | $377,500 | 0.7% |
| Mar 2023 | $375,000 | 2.7% |
| Feb 2023 | $365,000 | 4.3% |
| Jan 2023 | $360,000 | 5.0% |
| Dec 2022 | $365,000 | 5.8% |
| Nov 2022 | $365,990 | 9.3% |
| Oct 2022 | $374,900 | 15.3% |
| Sept 2022 | $370,990 | 14.2% |
| Aug 2022 | $375,000 | 16.6% |
Active Inventory – August 2023
Active inventory across all property types continues to improve throughout the state and is currently at a high for the year. During August 2023, inventory is up by 9.4% year-over-year to 101,890 units. This represents an increase of approximately 50,000 units from the 46,944 active homes on the market as of the end of January 2022.
Active Inventory – Month by Month
| Month | Active Inventory | % Change YOY |
| Aug 2023 | 101,890 | 9.4% |
| July 2023 | 97,565 | 8.4% |
| June 2023 | 96,582 | 22.2% |
| May 2023 | 94,791 | 54.6% |
| Apr 2023 | 94,366 | 84.2% |
| Mar 2023 | 97,392 | 110.6% |
| Feb 2023 | 98,073 | 119.3% |
| Jan 2023 | 100,798 | 114.7% |
| Dec 2022 | 99,084 | 95.5% |
| Nov 2022 | 103,016 | 81.8% |
| Oct 2022 | 100,428 | 65.7% |
| Sept 2022 | 96,277 | 52.5% |
| Aug 2022 | 93,101 | 47.4% |
The South Florida Housing Market
The South Florida existing-home market continues the see increase median sales prices but declining home sales. Closed sales during the month were down 8.2% year-over-year to 6,935 units. The overall dollar volume also improved slightly by 0.6% to $4.8 billion.
The median home price across all property types for August 2023 increased by 9.4% to $465,000 year-over-year.
Inventory improved with approximately 24,000 homes across all property types available for sale within the South Florida area. New listings across the tri-county area were down by 6.3% to 9,780.
The Greater Orlando Housing Market
The greater Orlando existing home market also continued its trend of a slowdown in sales with rising prices. Closed sales of 3,479 during the month of August were down by 14% year-over-year along with the overall dollar volume sliding by 7.6% to $1.6 billion.
The median home price across all property types improved by 2.4% to $398,165 year-over-year.
Inventory levels dipped with 8,125 homes across all property types available for sale, down 4.4% from a year ago. New listings across the Orlando metro area were down by 8.7% to 4,510 units while new pending sales are down by 16% to 3,451 units.
The Tampa Bay Housing Market
The Tampa – St. Petersburg – Clearwater MSA also continued it’s downward trend with respect to sale transactions. Existing-home sales were down 7.3% year-over-year to 5,130 units while dollar volume slid by 0.2% to $2.4 billion.
The median home price across all property types for August 2023 improved by 2.4% to $378,990 year-over-year.
Active inventory levels have also declined, down 4.9% (year-over-year) with 10,738 homes across all property types available for sale. New listings across the metro area were down by 13% while new pending sales were down by 16%.
Are you thinking of selling?
Based on the most recent data, the current state of the residential market is changing fast. If you are a homeowner and are considering selling your personal residence, vacation home or investment property, now may be the perfect time to do so while prices are still strong.
Our team has assisted sellers not only throughout the state of Florida, but in most major markets nationwide. We take a highly methodical and deliberate approach when working with or clients and have specific strategies to help get the best value for the property.
To learn more about how we help our clients get the best possible price for their property, visiting our web site or contact us at info@quantumcos.com.
