The last twelve months have truly seen the orange county regain its crown as the capital of foreign investment. The National Association of Realtors 2014 showed Florida’s return to its former glory in a report that stated that between April 2013 and March 2014 Florida attracted more foreign investment than any other US state, accounting for 23% of all foreign property purchases.
Despite, the Sunshine State receiving this major foreign investment in both 2013 and 2014, it’s this year where the market has truly jumped forward. This can be seen by focusing on the year-on-year variations, which are shown prominently in statistics from June 2014, where closed sales of single family homes totalled 23,181, jumping by as much as 14.6% above the June 2013 figure.
Florida’s townhouse-condo market also saw a year-on-year jump in closed sales, up 3.1% compared to June 2013; yet it was the surge in the state-wide median sales price for townhouse-condos which really signified the sheer amount of growth, jumping 8.5% year-on-year to reach $141,000. The median sales price for single-family homes also soared by 5.2% from the previous year to reach $185.000.
The results seen in June reflect consistent growth and were by no means a sudden upturn in fortunes. This can be seen by looking at statistics from the previous month, May, where the state-wide median sales price for single family homes jumped by 4.3% and the closed sales of single-family homes also rose by 3.6% year-on-year totalling 23,013, just over 100 less than the amount of sales in June.
Most impressive though is the consistent rise of listings in this rebounding market. May saw new single-family home listings jump 13.1% year-on-year and townhouse condo listings rise by 3.9%, while new listings for single family homes in June rose by 12.4% year-on-year and townhouse-condo listings rose 3% in June.
This high number of listings, coupled with the high number of sales mentioned above, shows the soaring amount of demand for property in Florida. It shows that developers are building and investors are buying, producing a thriving rental market where single-family homes and condos are being used as holiday homes and living spaces.
The Insurance Information Institute has predicted that Florida will account for every 1 in 10 homes built in the US this year, as a response to demand in the market. According to their research 110,000 new homes will be built, making this the perfect time to acquire property in Florida while prices are rising, sales are booming and most importantly, developers are building.