Jacksonville Housing Market Summary: 2006 Sales Down, Prices Up

Wondering why realtors are pushing a campaign to attract buyers to the Florida housing market? Here’s one reason:

Sales of existing single-family homes in Jacksonville and across the state fell in 2006 - while the median price kept climbing.

That’s never a good combination, as sales in the city fell 10 percent compared with 2005, while the median Florida housing price rose 7 percent to $200,600. Sales were even slower statewide, falling 28 percent from 2005.

Sales fell in all 20 of the markets tracked by the FAR, and in 19 of the 20 they fell by double digits. This shouldn’t come as a surprise, seeing that people are hesitant to take out mortgages with prices actually going up.

The National Association of Realtors reported that sales of existing single-family homes nationwide dropped 7.9 percent, but maintains the market should rebound in 2007.

“Home sales appear to have bottomed out, having reached a cyclical low in September of last year,” noted NAR Chief Economist David Lereah, who predicts that 2007 will represent a year of stability for the housing sector.

The sales numbers in Florida were even worse for existing condominiums.

Sales in Jacksonville fell 19 percent while the median price dropped 3 percent to $165,800. Across the state sales dropped 33 percent, while the median price climbed 1 percent to $211,300 and borrowers held off on home mortgage applications for this reason.