South Florida Housing Market Update [April 2022]

Are we starting to see a real estate slow down? Just how crazy is this market? Hey, it's Andy Mandel with the Mandel team at Remax, and I'm here to bring you your April, 2022 housing market update. As always for the purposes of these videos, we're gonna be talking about single family homes only in Boca, Parkland and Coral Springs. Those are the areas where our team does the predominant amount of our business. No condos, no townhouses, no 55 and over and no country clubs. Now, when we do these videos, we like to give you the leading indicator, showing you what's going on in the real estate market, right now. So you can make an informed decision for your family.

When the news media gives you these stats, they're typically giving you sales prices that happened 30, 60, sometimes even 90 days ago. So we're gonna talk to you about what happened last month, so you know what's going to happen in the next 30 days. So the first stat we like to look at is the number of new listings hitting the market. In March of 2022, compared to March of 2021, that was down 16% on average between the three cities. Some of them more, some of them less, but on average 16% fewer listings hitting the market now, than there was last year. And we thought inventory was low last year. So we were at super, super low levels of inventory. At the same time, the number of homes going pending and coming off the market is also down 15%. So as to be expected, when there's fewer homes hitting the market, there are obviously going to be fewer that go under contract because there's just less available for sale. But supply and demand are both down at about the same percentage, which is good. The next stat we like to look at is the average days on market or how long it's taking for a home to sell. And on average, right now, that is seven days, so in less than one week, homes are hitting the market and they're going under contract.

Realistically, I see what's going on in the market right now, I'm feeling it. That's really, really long. What I think is happening, is a lot of people are doing what we do for our listings. You put the home on the market, you do no showings until the open house. You make everyone come to the open house. And so you rack up days on market, more than what it's actually there, because in reality, they're really only doing one or two days of showing for the open house. But it sits on the market for a little bit longer, while you wait to get to that open house. But on average, seven days, right now. The average sales price to list price, is the next stat that we look at. So this is pretty much a backwards looking, but just so you know, sales price to list price last month, was 100.7. So we are thinking that this is going to continue in the next 30 to 60 days. So if you're thinking about buying a home, you're gonna have to come in with a strong offer, because they're just selling for list price or above.

The next stat we like to look at is the average months supply of inventory. Now, this is the most important stat. We all hear supply and demand, supply and demand. There's not enough homes for sale, to match the demand of buyers that we have. So this stat shows, if there were no more homes to hit the market, how long would it take for all the homes on the market to sell. They say a balance market is six months of inventory. Anything less is a seller's market. Anything more is a buyer's market. Right now, on average, we're at 0.91 months of inventory. So, that is less than one month of inventory. We are still in a super, super strong seller's market. We've been in seller's market even before the pandemic. We were sitting at around four, three and a half months of inventory. But with less than one month of inventory, really nothing is gonna change here. It's still going to remain a seller's market. And 0.91 is the average. In Coral Springs, it's 0.52 months. There is half a month of inventory. Two weeks of inventory available in Coral Springs. It's just crazy, mind blowingly low inventory levels.

So, let's talk about what this means for you. If you're a buyer, you really gotta be ready to buy. You gotta be ready to write the offer. Come in strong with the best terms possible. Come in with your highest and best offer first. Because homes are still getting multiple offers and it's still a competitive seller's market. What we're recommending our buyers do, is think about if they really need to buy, you know, come in strong right now, because prices are continuing to go up. And so are interest rates. We are finally in an environment where interest rates are heading up. Since the beginning of the year, they're up a percent and a half. So you've now lost 15% of your purchasing power. You can afford 15% less home, for the same monthly payment because of interest rates. So if you wanna buy, buy now, before interest rates continue to go up. Lock in that payment now. You're gonna thank yourself in six months when the prices are even higher. And so are interest rates. Let's talk about what this means for a seller.

If you're a seller, this is when you gotta start putting your home on the market. We haven't had a rising interest rate environment in years, since 2018. So, at some point buyers who were approved at a 4% interest rate, they're not gonna be able to afford your house at a 5% interest rate, even at the exact same price. So we're gonna see fewer buyers being able to buy this house. So that means for you as a seller, you're gonna likely get less offers and you're not gonna be able to drive the same kind of terms that we're getting right now. So you might still get four or five offers, but instead of 17, 18 offers, you might not be able to get people to pay $50,000 above the appraised value. You know, all the good terms that sellers have been seeing over the last two years, that is going to start going away and not get as crazy for sellers, as there are less buyers because of interest rates. So, if you're thinking about putting your home on the market, sooner is definitely better than later. Take advantage of this market while it's still here.

Nothing is going to significantly change, but, there's gonna be less buyers as interest rates go up. So, that's our monthly market update for April of 2022. If you have any questions on how this affects you, your sale of your property or how we can help you buy a property, give us a call, shoot us a text, or send us an email. Remember, we got your back when moving to South Florida. See ya next month.