Drew Dixon
April was brutal for closed and pending home sales among most of the six-county area of the First Coast region, according to the most recent figures released by the Northeast Florida Realtors Association (NEFAR).
The largest and fastest growing counties along the First Coast all saw sharp declines in the number of homes sold in April compared to March. The six-county region witnessed a combined 5.8% decrease in closed sales falling to a total of 1,843 for the month. Pending sales dropped even more, with a decrease of 26.7% to 1,465, according to the NEFAR report for April.
The median price for a First Coast home did increase in April compared to March. The figure came in at $399,990, a 2.7% increase over the previous month.
Nassau County, which saw massive increases in home sales for the past few years since the COVID-19 outbreak, saw a 16.4% drop in closed sales compared to the previous month, coming in at 122 in April. Pending sales saw even more severe declines, falling by 24.3% to 112, the biggest decline in those combined factors for the month compared to any other county in Northeast Florida.
The median price for a Nassau County home did jump, though, increasing by 11.5% to $484,995 for the month.
Even St. Johns County, one of the fastest growing counties in the U.S., is struggling in home sales as well. St. Johns had a 4.9% decline in closed sales falling to 485 while pending sales dropped by 20.9% to 409. But the median price in St. Johns County reached new heights, with an 11.4% month-over-month increase to $600,000.
Clay County’s home sales were also walloped with a 16.2% decline in closed deals, falling to 217, and a 20.6% drop in pending sales, decreasing to 196. The median price for a single-family home in Clay saw a nominal increase of 1.1% compared to March, up to $352,000.
Duval County, the largest populous county on the First Coast, was not free of market challenges, either. The home to Jacksonville had a 2.6% drop in closed sales, with a total of 964. Pending sales were hit hard in Duval with a 31.6% fall from March coming in at 704. Duval County’s median price for a single-family dwelling saw a slight drop falling from $346,000 in March to $345,500 in April.
Putnam and Baker counties each saw modest increases in closed sales while they also saw decreases in pending sales.
While there were at least some drops in the actual figures in sales in each Northeast Florida county in April, the inventory of homes for sale is jumping significantly. There was a 54.3% increase in the number of houses newly listed on the market in April compared to the same time a year ago. The 3,750 new home sale listings in April is also a 4.8% increase compared to March.
The sluggish figures are consistent with another market analysis for the entire state of Florida. The “Elliman Report” released last week showed similar housing sales decreases across the state.
