JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – After one of the worst years in decades for home sales in the Sunshine State, local realtors are reporting an uptick in activity to start 2025.
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News4JAX spoke with experts in the real estate industry who said:
- Home prices are expected to stabilize in 2025 and increase at a slower pace
- Mortgage rates are projected to remain elevated, around 6% or 7%, in the short term but may decrease as inflation eases
- Buyer activity is expected to increase as potential buyers become more realistic about interest rates and market conditions
Howard Flaschen, a broker at Round Table Realty in St. Johns County, has more than two decades of experience finding homes for families.
He notes there’s been a pickup in showings, inquiries, and offers since Jan. 1, adding that Florida remains a popular place to relocate, depending largely on price point.
“I’m seeing home prices below $350,000 struggling to find buyers,” Flaschen said. “A lot of those buyers are relying on all of the things causing affordability issues, which is not just mortgage rates being close to 7%, but also homeowners insurance is higher.”
However, he continued to explain that homes beginning at $500,000 and higher are getting “multiple offers.”
According to the Northeast Florida Association of Realtors, the median sales price for single-family homes in the six-county region increased by 2.3% in December 2024 compared to the previous month, reaching $400,000.
Coupling that with a decrease in the area’s active inventory of single-family homes (decreased by 4.5% to 6,883 properties in that same timeframe) could be a large reason why the market struggled so significantly in 2024.
Below is a county-by-county breakdown of single-family home prices and active inventory in Northeast Florida.
Duval County
- Single-family home median price: $339,000
- Active inventory: 3,376 homes
Clay County
- Single-family home median price: $370,950
- Active inventory: 1,041 properties
St. Johns County
- Single-family home median price: $546,500
- Active inventory: 1,702 homes
Putnam County
- Single-family home median price: $270,000
- Active inventory: 260 homes
Nassau County
- Single-family home median price: $495,000
- Active inventory: 428 homes
Baker County
- Single-family home median price: $296,250
- Active inventory: 76 homes
Mario Gonzalez, the president of NEFAR, said the region’s housing market is “already seeing increased activity” to begin 2025 and added that increasing inventory is a priority across Northeast Florida to give buyers a “wider selection to choose from.”
