In September and the third quarter (3Q) of 2023, Florida’s housing market continued to show signs of stabilization in statewide median prices and improving inventory levels (active listings) compared to a year ago, according to Florida Realtors’ latest housing data.

“Florida continues to draw new residents, and the dollar volume of single-family home sales in September was up 14.1 percent year-over-year to $12.2 billion dollars,” said 2023 Florida Realtors President G. Mike McGraw, a broker-associate with LPT Realty in Orlando. “Over that same timeframe, closed sales of single-family homes rose 6.1 percent. The Florida market remains strong in the face of higher mortgage rates, and first-time buyers are finding greater selections and less competition than they’ve seen in years.”

September 2023: Last month, closed sales of existing single-family homes statewide totaled 21,335, up 6.1 percent year-over-year; existing condo-townhouse sales totaled 8,387, down 0.2 percent over September 2022, according to data from Florida Realtors Research Department in partnership with local Realtor boards/associations.

3Q 2023: Statewide existing single-family home sales totaled 66,450 for 3Q, down 3.2 percent from 3Q 2022. Statewide existing condo-townhouse sales totaled 26,129, down 5.8 percent year-over-year. Closed sales may occur from 30- to 90-plus days after sales contracts are written.

Florida Realtors Chief Economist Dr. Brad O’Connor said he sees some increasingly positive signs as the market enters the fall season.

“In September, closed sales of single-family homes were up for the first time compared to a year ago, rising by over 6 percent,” said O’Connor. “Closed sales of townhouses and condos in 2023 have been converging with their 2022 levels as well. We were still down in September year over year, but by a fraction of 1 percent.:

While higher mortgage rates continue to challenge buyers, they’ve been rising “at a much slower pace than last year,” O’Connor added.

In September, the statewide median sales price for single-family existing homes was $409,243, up 1.3 percent from $403,880 one year earlier. For condo-townhouse units, the median price was $324,990, up 5.8 percent from $307,250 recorded in September 2022.

In 3Q 2023, Florida’s single-family median sales price was $414,000, a 1.0 percent increase over the second quarter of 2022. The 3Q condo-townhouse median sales price was $320,545, a 5.8 percent year-over-year increase. The median is the midpoint; half the homes sold for more, half for less.

“So far in 2023, new listings have been at their lowest level in several years, but in recent months, the level of new listings has been a little closer to pre-pandemic levels than it was earlier in the year,” said O’Connor. “In fact, new single-family listings in September exceeded the number of new listings in the same month in 2019 (pre-pandemic) for the first time this year. The same is also true if we compare this September’s new listings to those of last year, amounting to a year-over-year increase of 8 percent.”

The end result, O’Connor said, is more active inventory at the end of September than at the beginning, and a slightly higher inventory of single-family homes year over year. However, he added, “Florida is still pretty far below the pre-pandemic level of inventory at this time in 2019.”

On the supply side of the market, Florida had a 3.2-month supply of single-family existing homes in September, a 28 percent year-over-year increase. For condo-townhouse units, the state had a 4.1-month supply in September, for a 78.3 percent year-over-year increase.