First Coast housing sales smash 2020 records
Image via AP. Florida home sale contracts fell in larger populace counties in Florida for December.

Home for sale in Surfside
The average price for a home for sale in Northeast Florida jumped to $309,000 in 2020.

Despite an economically debilitating coronavirus pandemic, First Coast home sales shattered several records in 2020, according to Northeast Florida Realtors Association data released this month.

The region saw 34,932 homes sold in 2020, a new high and an increase of 8.2% over 2019.

The average price for homes on the First Coast skyrocketed to $309,001 per unit, and several months saw that figure surpass $330,000. Prior to 2020, the average price for a home in the region never exceeded $300,000.  The average price for a home in 2019 was $276,377.

A major factor in driving that average price up was a severe drop in inventory in homes for sale. At year’s end, there were 4,549 residential properties for sale in the area. That’s a staggering drop of nearly 50% as 2019 ended with 8,569 homes for sale.

“2020 was a wild ride in many areas, and that certainly included housing sales,” said NEFAR President Missi Howell. “Despite the coronavirus raging throughout a large chunk of the year, and Realtors working under substantially different protocols as a result, the end result was a clear demonstration from buyers of the vital importance of housing.”

On a monthly level, December reflected the robust seller’s market in Northeast Florida. There was a bump in homes sold last month for a total of 3,187 residences purchased. That’s up from 2,680 in November. It’s also a 15.2% increase over home sales in the region for December 2019.

The average home price spiked to $330,000 again in December. That price was $331,242 for the average house, up from $317,602 in November and a 14.6% jump from December, 2019.

The amount of homes being sold for more than the original asking price was 18.6%, which is a 55% increase from December, 2019.

Houses are not remaining on the market for very long on the First Coast, either. The average number of days between listings and sales was 52 days. That’s 26.8% quicker than a year ago when residential properties were on the market for an average of 71 days.

Drew Dixon

Drew Dixon is a journalist of 40 years who has reported in print and broadcast throughout Florida, starting in Ohio in the 1980s. He is also an adjunct professor of philosophy and ethics at three colleges, Jacksonville University, University of North Florida and Florida State College at Jacksonville. You can reach him at [email protected].


3 comments

  • Sonja Fitch

    January 23, 2021 at 2:50 pm

    Either it was good or it was bad! Half the sales sounds bad to me! Just saying!

  • voncile1963

    January 24, 2021 at 10:10 pm

    People leaving those BLUE locked down states in droves for the FREEDOM of Florida, and giving Florida potential for more House seat allocations when the censes data comes out!
    Thank you Gov. DeSantis!

  • DisplacedCTYankee

    January 25, 2021 at 10:02 am

    Sounds like this was written by a real estate weenie. I hate the use of the word “homes.” Should be “single-family detached houses,” “condominium apartments,” etc. Anything but “homes” Home is where you live.

Comments are closed.


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