If the Jan. Fla. real estate market was “normal,” today’s market is even better in the four metro areas tracked by realtor.com’s Recovery Report. The U.S. report declined slightly this week, however, largely because new listings dropped below Jan. 2020 levels.
For the first time, all Florida metro areas tracked by realtor.com’s weekly recovery index were in positive territory. Jacksonville was the only city in last week’s report that scored below 100, the level considered normal based on early 2020 sales before the pandemic hit. This week, Jacksonville scored 100.5.
Nationally, realtor.com’s Weekly Market Recovery Index declined by 0.9 points, resulting in an overall index reading of 104.8 for the week ending Aug. 15. The slight drop was a result of the new listings component falling below its pre-COVID baseline (January 2020 growth) despite increased buyer demand.
Realtor.com says new listings remain on the right trajectory, but growth is variable week to week, and increases will be key in the weeks to come.
Nationally, the Las Vegas-Henderson-Paradise, Nev., metro area showed the strongest improvement compared to early 2020 numbers, with a score of 126 – a 0.2 point weekly increase. At the bottom of the list at No. 50, the Milwaukee-Waukesha-West Allis, Wisconsin, metro area scored only 90.1 – a 0.4 week-to-week decrease.
Florida metro area rankings and scores
18. Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach – 106.7, up 4.5 points week-to-week
21. Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater – 105.7, up 0.1 points week-to-week
29. Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford – 102.2, down 1.4 points week-to-week
34. Jacksonville – 100.5. up 3.4 points week-to-week
Realtor.com cited listing price growth – based on advertised homes on realtor.com’s website – as this week’s most remarkable feature, with a year-to-year 10.1% increase – the biggest one since January 2018.
“With supply and demand moving in opposite directions, sellers are clearly gaining the upper hand,” says Javier Vivas, director of economic research for realtor.com. “Buyers hoping to close on a home this year should expect some hot competition, especially if they are looking at more affordable or entry-level housing.”
Other report findings
- At 10.1% over last year, the increase in listing prices is the first double digit pace of growth since January 2018.
- Total inventory was down 36%. While sellers are returning to the market, buyers increasingly outnumber them, causing overall levels of inventory to see sharp declines compared to last year.
- New listings on realtor.com’s website declined 11%.
- Time on market is 4 days faster than last year.
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