January 15th is the day that Northern Palm Beach County real estate brokers typically have a big Cheshire Cat grin on their faces. Last year, between the 16th of January and the 15th of February, the number of homes under contract in the area jumped 45%. That’s a huge amount of sales in a market where the median single family home price is right around $500,000.
The economy is booming, the stock market is at all time record highs, interest rates remain near record lows, buyers are lined up for the right opportunities, but that big smile is missing from many of those real estate faces this year. The reason is inventory, as there just are not many good properties on the market for buyers to select from.
The number of homes hitting the Jupiter real estate market has increased now for 4 straight months but those gains have been anemic. In fact, compared to last year’s inventory increases, the number of new houses hitting the market was down by a startling 61%. The number of options todays buyer has, is dramatically lower than it was last year. Never in modern history have we had fewer homes on the market as the real estate season kicks off.
Baby boomers are not moving as they have nowhere to go if they did sell. The current inventory shortage can only be described as severe and there is little reason to believe it is going to get better anytime soon. Pending home sales have been down for 9 straight months and now, when the board is set for sales to start rolling in, there is little out there to meet demand. Inventory is especially poor in the lower to mid-range price categories.
Some inventory is priced ahead of the market, as sellers believe prices are moving higher. With limited supply and strong demand one would think prices are climbing skyward but that just isn’t the case. On May 1st of 2018, the median price of a single family home in the Northern Palm Beaches sat at $498,500. Today, it sits at $499,000. Over the past 20+ months the median cost of a single family home in the Jupiter area has not moved. The same is true in the condo market where median prices back in June of 2018 sat at $247,000 and today sit at $248,000.
Keep in mind that each property plays by its own set of rules and many locations are more desirable than others. For instance, in the overall Northern Palm Beach single family home market, without Tequesta included, median prices were up in 2019 by about 4%. In Tequesta prices jumped 17%. Location, location, location. A hot neighborhood will have a completely different set of metrics than a cool one. Make sure you know the “temperature” of any home before entering into a buying, or selling, agreement. Seek education and make informed decisions.
Even though home prices in the Jupiter area are relatively unchanged over the past 20 months, affordability is still a big concern, especially at those lower and mid-range price categories. Buyers are very conscientious of price but are willing to reach for homes that have a high level of finish. Most buyers still do not want to settle on a home that needs a lot of work to bring it up to current standards. Current inventory is littered with homes in less than desirable condition.
With so many buyers looking for their dream home, and a huge shortage of dream homes, it’s a fantastic time to get your house sold for the very best price. When looking for a real estate broker, interview, ask a lot of questions, and get informed. Paradise Sharks LOVES to interview for the opportunity to earn your trust, your business, and your friendship. We are now in our 7th year here in Tequesta and have decades of real estate experience. Paradise Sharks has removed the middleman from the real estate transaction and offers our “let’s set a record price” marketing packages for total commissions as low as 4%. Most of our buyers get significant credits at closing as our little way of saying thank you. You can always pay more for real estate services, and receive less, but that just wouldn’t make any sense.
Fins up…..
#jupiterrealestate
The economy is booming, the stock market is at all time record highs, interest rates remain near record lows, buyers are lined up for the right opportunities, but that big smile is missing from many of those real estate faces this year. The reason is inventory, as there just are not many good properties on the market for buyers to select from.
The number of homes hitting the Jupiter real estate market has increased now for 4 straight months but those gains have been anemic. In fact, compared to last year’s inventory increases, the number of new houses hitting the market was down by a startling 61%. The number of options todays buyer has, is dramatically lower than it was last year. Never in modern history have we had fewer homes on the market as the real estate season kicks off.
Baby boomers are not moving as they have nowhere to go if they did sell. The current inventory shortage can only be described as severe and there is little reason to believe it is going to get better anytime soon. Pending home sales have been down for 9 straight months and now, when the board is set for sales to start rolling in, there is little out there to meet demand. Inventory is especially poor in the lower to mid-range price categories.
Some inventory is priced ahead of the market, as sellers believe prices are moving higher. With limited supply and strong demand one would think prices are climbing skyward but that just isn’t the case. On May 1st of 2018, the median price of a single family home in the Northern Palm Beaches sat at $498,500. Today, it sits at $499,000. Over the past 20+ months the median cost of a single family home in the Jupiter area has not moved. The same is true in the condo market where median prices back in June of 2018 sat at $247,000 and today sit at $248,000.
Keep in mind that each property plays by its own set of rules and many locations are more desirable than others. For instance, in the overall Northern Palm Beach single family home market, without Tequesta included, median prices were up in 2019 by about 4%. In Tequesta prices jumped 17%. Location, location, location. A hot neighborhood will have a completely different set of metrics than a cool one. Make sure you know the “temperature” of any home before entering into a buying, or selling, agreement. Seek education and make informed decisions.
Even though home prices in the Jupiter area are relatively unchanged over the past 20 months, affordability is still a big concern, especially at those lower and mid-range price categories. Buyers are very conscientious of price but are willing to reach for homes that have a high level of finish. Most buyers still do not want to settle on a home that needs a lot of work to bring it up to current standards. Current inventory is littered with homes in less than desirable condition.
With so many buyers looking for their dream home, and a huge shortage of dream homes, it’s a fantastic time to get your house sold for the very best price. When looking for a real estate broker, interview, ask a lot of questions, and get informed. Paradise Sharks LOVES to interview for the opportunity to earn your trust, your business, and your friendship. We are now in our 7th year here in Tequesta and have decades of real estate experience. Paradise Sharks has removed the middleman from the real estate transaction and offers our “let’s set a record price” marketing packages for total commissions as low as 4%. Most of our buyers get significant credits at closing as our little way of saying thank you. You can always pay more for real estate services, and receive less, but that just wouldn’t make any sense.
Fins up…..
#jupiterrealestate
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