JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The housing market continues to come back to reality as sales have been declining over the summer and more buyers are pulling out of pending sales.
The National Association of Realtors put out a report this week that shows contract signings on new homes fell almost 20% year over year from July 2021 to last month. In July, transactions were 19.9% lower than the July prior according to the Association’s pending home sales index.
Still, there are some signs the market is stabilizing after a summer of pullbacks -- because those contract signings were down 1% from June. However, the Southern region, which includes Florida and Georgia, showed the smallest drop in a lower percentage of contract signings. The West, Midwest and Northeast had steeper drops.
Jacksonville-based realtors are seeing some cases where buyers are pulling out of contracts.
“I had a friend of mine who’s also a realtor. And that happened to him once recently. He had buyers. They got into a contract and within 10 days they backed out of a contract. They used the inspection didn’t come up good and all that. But we assume that they were better houses they had seen and they decided to push forward with a better house,” said Jacksonville-based Realtor Emiliya Mustafaeva. “Because what we’re seeing now on the market is that there’s a big increase in houses. And it’s a buyer’s market and if there’s a little thing they just move forward with a different house.”
The market may be hitting a bottom for the time being.
“In terms of the current housing cycle, we may be at or close to the bottom in contract signings,” said National Association of Realtors Chief Economist Lawrence Yun. “This month’s very modest decline reflects the recent retreat in mortgage rates. Inventories are growing for homes in the upper price ranges, but limited supply at lower price points is hindering transaction activity.”
Local builders feel the outlook in Jacksonville will remain strong. In July, the North Florida Builder Association told News4JAX that local single-family homes should remain strong in sales for at least another couple of years.
However, there are struggles for large national builders who sell the massive subdivisions that are built in areas like St. Johns and Nassau counties.
As far as what you can do if you plan on selling a house?
“It may not be as easy as a year ago. You have to have it ready for inspection so you know what you’re going to be facing, and you can always fix it so when people are getting into contract with you, you’re ready,” said Mustafaeva.