Florida’s Housing Market: Median Prices Up, Supply Tight in March

Christina Pappas

 

 ORLANDO, FL, April 20, 2022 – Florida’s housing market in March and 1Q 2022 showed the impact of rising mortgage rates, increased home prices and a shortfall of for-sale supply, with fewer closed sales compared to a year ago, according to Florida Realtors®’ latest housing data.

 “Buyers and sellers in Florida in March continued to see rising mortgage rates, a very limited supply of for-sale homes and rising prices,” said 2022 Florida Realtors President Christina Pappas, vice president of the Keyes Family of Companies in Miami.

 “Housing affordability remains a challenge, and higher mortgage rates may mean some buyers who had previously qualified under a lower rate are forced to rethink their plans."

 “Now more than ever, consumers can benefit from the expertise of a local Realtor, who can guide them through current market conditions.”

 Brad O’Connor

 

Higher mortgage rates and less pandemic-driven buyer demand helped drive the drop in closed sales, according to Florida Realtors Chief Economist Dr. Brad O’Connor.

 He pointed out several factors that make it difficult to make exact comparisons between last year’s spring homebuying season and this year’s, now underway with the March data.

 “First, last year could really be considered our first spring buying season in two years, with the 2020 season having been snuffed out by the onset of the pandemic,” he said. “So there was an excess of pent-up demand there.

 "Second, the pandemic was still quite severe a year ago and was spurring relocations and second home purchases in Florida from out-of-state buyers. That’s still happening now, but not to the same extent.

 "Third, while our single-family inventory was severely depleted by the beginning of 2021, there was still some slack in our condo and townhouse inventory at the time. 

"That inventory cushion allowed for last year’s massive statewide boom in condo and townhouse sales.

"And last, but certainly not least, mortgage rates were still near record lows last spring. It simply can’t be understated how much these low rates helped fuel housing demand during the pandemic.”

 To see the full statewide housing activity reports, please visit the Florida Realtors Newsroom at http:// floridarealtors.org/newsroom and look under Latest Releases or download the March 2022 and 1Q 2022 data report PDFs under Market Data at: http://floridarealtors.org/newsroom/market-data.

 CONTACTS:

Marla Martin, Florida Realtors® Media Relations and Communications Manager, or

  Jeff Zipper, Senior Vice President of Communications and Marketing; 407/438-1400, ext. 2326 or 2314

 http://floridarealtors.org/newsroom.