At the end of 2024, Florida's housing market experienced a uniform growth in single-family inventory levels across most counties, with increases ranging from 25% to 35%. Active listings for condos and townhouses also saw positive growth statewide, though some areas reported higher increases than others.
"In 2024, several challenges weakened demand for housing in Florida, including the fact that mortgage rates remained elevated along with property insurance rates," said O'Connor. The state's housing market faced disruptions from hurricanes such as Debby, Helene, and Milton.
Additional challenges included a slowdown in domestic in-migration and job growth. International buyer demand was tepid, and issues like reserve requirements affected the condo market. December saw strong existing single-family home sales but ended the year with nearly 253,000 closed sales—1.9% below 2023's total and the lowest since 2014.
Condo and townhouse sales reached over 94,000 in 2024—a decline of 10.5% compared to the previous year. "Multiple factors were responsible for the underperformance of this category throughout the year," O'Connor stated. He noted that concerns about insurance coverage led to hesitation among buyers. The I-4 Corridor between Tampa and Orlando was an exception where sales grew.
New listings for single-family homes increased by 9.5%, reaching over 360,000 in 2024 compared to low levels in 2023. O'Connor mentioned that changes were consistent across counties: new listings rose while closed sales declined.
The annual count of new condo and townhouse listings rose by more than 11% from the previous year due to a surge early in the year. "That increase is not much larger than the 9.5% increase we saw for single-family homes," said O'Connor, suggesting that fears about reserve requirements were exaggerated.
Inventory levels at year's end were slightly above pre-pandemic averages (2014-2019). "Inventory is still largely moving along an upward trajectory so we should continue to watch it as we move into the spring buying season here in Florida," he added.
The median price for single-family homes remained stable at $420,000 by year's end—up by 2.4%. For condos and townhouses, it was $320,000—a decrease of 0.8%. Despite fluctuations in mortgage rates remaining high relative to recent years, prices stayed above those seen in previous years.
"It will take significantly more inventory to threaten large gains in price appreciation between 2020 and 2022," according to O'Connor. The market showed modest declines overall but little change regarding home prices despite challenges persisting into early months of this year.
Interest rates are expected to influence market performance going forward; however many challenges from last year remain relevant within Florida’s housing sector heading into future months.