Local Newsfor many people in Northeast Florida, according to a report released Monday by the Northeast Florida Association of Realtors .came in at $385,000 in February, 2.8% more than the previous month. In Duval County, prices went up nearly 9% from the previous month, while other counties saw decreases from historic highs.Closed sales climbed 31% and new listings jumped 23% as the spring buying season got an early start, NEFAR said.
“Coupled with the highest levels of inventory in many years, buyers have a lot more choices while sellers are still getting good offers,” NEAR said in a news release.The bad news for homebuyers is that NEFAR’s Home Affordability Index registered at 68 in February, a nearly 3% drop from January, which was a result of slightly higher home prices.
The Home Affordability Index measures whether a typical family earns enough to qualify for a mortgage on a typical home, based on current interest rates, median income and median home prices. A higher number means greater affordability. An index of 100 is defined as the point where a median-income family has the exact amount of income needed to purchase a median-priced existing home.
, the February 2024 median price of single-family housing was $348,025, an 8.8% increase from January 2024. The median days on the market in February dropped to 33, a 26.7% reduction from the month before. Month-to-month closed sales rose 21.7% to 736, pending sales dropped 24.5% to 632, and new listings skyrocketed 21.5% to 1,640. Active inventory for the county climbed 24.9% to 2,864 homes, a 3.9-month supply. In February, the Home Affordability Index fell 8.5%, to 75.