Hopefully you’ve had a great 2022 so far! Today I’m here to share a few key statistics from last year’s market as well as some predictions for what’s to come this year.
According to the Northeast Florida Association of Realtors’ MLS, we currently have 1,826 single-family homes and 137 condos for sale. There are 4,334 pending sales for single-family homes and 342 for condos. As of December 2021, 2,652 homes and 377 condos actually sold. That shows that the market is shifting a little bit.
Some say that 2020 was the best year for real estate out of the last 15 years, so let’s look at a key stat from that year. In 2020, 27,619 residential homes and 3,256 condos sold. Those figures jumped in 2021 to 28,943 single-family homes and 3,802 condos.
The original list-to-sale price ratio is another key statistic to look at. This time in 2021, that ratio was, for many months, as high as 100% to 103% percent. In December of 2021, it only went down to 99.5%. That shows a very good year for sellers overall.
“Overall, I think that 2022 will continue to be a strong seller’s market.”
Have you heard that the Fed is considering pushing interest rates up just a little bit? Right now, rates are right around 3%, and they’re expected to rise to between 3.5% and 3.75% in the final two quarters of 2022. That’s not a drastic change, but it will add an average of $120 to a buyer’s monthly payment. Remember that as inflation increases, interest rates do as well. The Fed is also easing its bond-buying practice right now; buying fewer bonds means less cash flows into the economy overall.
Now let’s take a look at the absorption rate, or the speed at which the market absorbs the available inventory each month. Right now, we have 1.2 months of inventory, meaning that if no new homes came on the market, it would take about 1.2 months to sell out.
So what does this all mean for buyers and sellers? Well, with interest rates on the rise, the runaway prices we’ve been seeing over the last year and a half will start to taper. Mind you, rates will still be historically low—just five or six years ago, it was normal to see rates around 6% or 7%. Sellers will still be able to get great prices, though perhaps not as exorbitant as we saw last year.
Overall, I think that 2022 will continue to be a strong seller’s market. If you have any questions or need help buying or selling a home, give me a call or shoot me an email. I’d love to help you.
