Drew Dixon
The shift toward a buyer’s market in home sales is continuing in the six-county First Coast region as single-family home sales declined in June, according to the Northeast Florida Association of Realtors (NEFAR).
There were 1,963 closed home sales last month in the region, a downturn in both the year-over-year and monthly comparisons. June’s figure is down by 2.2% from June 2024’s tally of 2,007 closed deals and is down 3.5% from May’s sales number, which came in at 2,035.
Home prices are declining as well. The median sales price for a home in Northeast Florida in June was $389,000, a 4% drop from June 2024, when that figure was $405,000. The latest median sales price held steady compared to May, according to NEFAR data.
“While it is a ‘balanced market,’ the seemingly seismic shift from the seller’s market during COVID has consumers realizing that conditions are considerably more favorable for buyers these days,” said NEFAR President, Mario Gonzalez.
Another element favoring home buyers is the number of houses for sale in the First Coast market, which has been climbing every month since December. There were 9,135 houses for sale in the six-county region in June, a 15.4% jump from June 2024’s figure of 7,918 and a 4.1% increase over May’s inventory of 8,778.
Given the factors leaning toward buyers, Gonzalez said sellers are becoming eager to get their properties on the market.
“Many sellers are taking advantage of current conditions and placing their homes for sale, assuming the conditions will continue to shift more and more towards a buyer’s market,” Gonzalez said.
The individual breakout data for each county for Northeast Florida showed mixed results.
Duval County, home to Jacksonville and the First’s Coast largest population, saw 995 home sales in June. That’s a 3.1% increase from a year ago when there were 965 homes sold. But it’s a 2.7% decline from May’s figure of 1,023 closings. The Duval County median sales price came in at $330,000 last month, a 2.9% decline from June 2024 and unchanged from May.
In Clay County, just west of Duval, home sales went up by 10.2% in June compared to last year. Sales rose from 264 in June 2024 to 291 last month. That’s also a 1% increase from May’s figure of 288. Clay’s median sales price of $365,000 last month was a 1.4% bump from June 2024’s price of $360,050. But it was a 1.1% decline from May’s price tag of $368,995.
St. Johns County saw a decrease in home sales, with 490 closed signings. That’s an 18.9% drop from June 2024 when there were 604 homes sold and a 9.1% dip from May’s figure of 539. The median price for a home in St. Johns was $577,750, a 0.4% decline from June 2024’s price of $579,950. But the median price for that county increased by 5% from May’s figure of $550,000.
Nassau County saw 125 homes sold last month, a 4.2% increase over the 120 houses sold both a year ago and in May. The median sales price in Nassau was $430,000, a decrease in both the annual and monthly figures. It was a drop of 8.4% from the June 2024 price of $469,495 and a 7.4% decline from May’s median price of $464,538.
Putnam County had 43 home closings last month. That’s a 7.5% increase from last year’s figure of 40, but a 17.3% decrease from May’s 52 homes sold. The median home sales price in Putnam was $350,250 last month, a 2.2% drop from June 2024’s price of 256,000 and a 5.1% decline from May’s figure of $263,750.
Baker County, the First Coast’s most rural county, had 19 home sales in June, a 35.7% increase from a year ago and a 46.2% hike from May. The median home sales price was $280,000 in June, a 31.7% decrease from June 2024 and a 3.7% decline from May.
