Florida’s Realtors Predict Price Increases Will Top 5 Percent

Single-family home market will perform better over the next six months than it did a year ago, according to the latest Realtors Confidence Index,

WASHINGTON – Nov. 6, 2015 – Most Realtors® remain "strongly" confident that the single-family home market will perform better over the next six months than it did a year ago, according to the latest Realtors Confidence Index, a survey of more than 50,000 practitioners.

And in a state-by-state comparison, Realtors in Florida have the highest expectation for home price increases. Job growth and low interest rates – the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage is holding below 4 percent – are helping to buoy demand, the survey indicates.

Nationwide, Realtors expect home prices to rise an average 3.2 percent over the next 12 months. However, "Realtors expect the recent strong price growth to moderate as rising prices have made homes unaffordable for many, with home prices almost on par with their levels prior to the housing downturn," according to the report.

The median price of all existing homes in August was $230,200, which nearly matches the peak price of $230,900 in July 2006.

Realtors in Florida predict that state home prices will rise 5-6 percent over the next 12 months – the only state where members expect an increase greater than 5 percent. In addition, only three other states' Realtors expect a price increase in the 4-5 percent range: Washington, Oregon and Colorado. Realtors predict a 3-4 percent increase in 19 states, and 2-3 percent increase in 27 states. No state predicted an increase less than 2 percent.

Survey respondents report that their biggest market challenges continue to be tight inventory, decreasing affordability, tight mortgage availability, and slow, excessively conservative appraisals.

Many respondents also express concerns over the difficulty to obtain financing for condo purchases, since many condos aren't eligible for FHA loans or ones backed by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac.

Source: "REALTORS® Confidence Index: Report on the September 2015 Survey," National Association of REALTORS® (Oct. 22, 2015)

© 2015 Florida Realtors®  All Rights Reserved. Reprinted with permission.