You should have warmed up from the unusually cold Florida winter. Now the question is, has the housing market unfrozen? The entire country has been gripped in an exceptionally cold and stormy winter, including sections of the south like Texas, Tennessee, Georgia and, of course, Florida. In January, more than 93 million people across the country were under windchill advisories as low temperatures stretched both north and south.
We don’t know yet what effect the cold Florida weather has had on the tourist season; it could work both ways. However, make no mistake about it, weather during the winter in the northern states has a profound effect not only on our tourist market but also on our real estate market.
The success of the Florida real estate market depends to a good degree on the northern markets and their ability to sell their homes. True, falling mortgage rates have encouraged home shopping activity in January, bringing buyers back in the market, but first they must get here, and many of our buyers are frozen in place.
Since last year was the worst year for existing home sales since 1995, anything will look good. It’s predicted that home purchases won’t return to normal levels unless mortgage rates fall further. A rate below 6% is a key level to attract more buyers and, despite the recent increase in activity, we are far from a healthy housing market. A lower mortgage rate will also likely attract current homeowners who want to move up or down but feel frozen, that word again, at their ultra-low mortgage rates.
On Anna Maria Island, the number of available listings compared to those pending are as follows as of this writing:
Anna Maria has 112 properties available and six pending. Listing prices range from a low of $895,000 to a high of $12,000,000.
The combined cities of Bradenton Beach and Holmes Beach have 217 properties available and 40 pending. Listing prices range from $100,000 to $31,750,000.
Cortez has 19 properties available and seven pending. The listing prices range from $595,000 to $1,900,000.
Keep in mind available and pending properties are just a snapshot in time. The figures can change daily and frequently do, nevertheless, it’s still interesting to see the movement of the real estate market.
The above numbers represent properties ranging from building lots, boat slips, mobile homes, condos, single-family homes and duplexes. And it clearly explains what a diverse area we’re living in with a wide range of price points and the choice of lifestyles available.
Listings are up and we’ve been waiting for that to happen so that’s the good news. Let’s hope when the thaw comes, so will the buyers. I’ll leave it to you to interpret these numbers however you like. Typically, the busy selling months are March, April and May before the real buyers go back north, so let’s assume our market is only experiencing a temporary pause.
The country is thawing out and we certainly are too. In our typically strong selling season, the time when lookers turn into buyers is still ahead. After the thaw, the statistics will tell the real story about the effects of the winter of 2024.
