JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Low mortgage rates and strong demand to buy a house are feeding the housing market’s steady boom.
“The inventory has to be created somewhere so the builders are really benefiting from the lack of resale inventory and all the land that Jacksonville has to offer,” said real estate agent Cole Slate.
The housing industry made another huge splash.
According to the National Association of Realtors, sales of new single-family houses jumped 12.4% in November.
That’s the fastest pace in seven months.
Sales continued rising in every region of the country, except the Midwest. The South saw a nearly 3% spike last month.
Slate says he is seeing it here in Northeast Florida.
Slate says four counties in this area: Duval, St. Johns, Clay, and Nassau are feeling the demand in a particular way.
That big change is noticed through permits pulled for new homes being built.
According to the Northeast Florida Builders Association, through November 2020, 11,343 permits were pulled. Through November 2021, there were 14,700 permits.
That’s a difference of 3,357, which is a 29% increase.
“It is a lot,” Slate says, who owns Slate Real Estate in St. Johns. “What’s going on with the lack of inventory right now the demand for our area is not going anywhere.”
Mortgage rates are expected to be higher next year as the Federal Reserve phases out of the bond purchases it’s been making every month since the start of the pandemic.
“I don’t think that will do anything to the demand of the Northeast Florida real estate market, but it might take a hit on peoples buying power price points,” Slate said.
Those in the hunt for a new house should be prepared to remain in a competitive field for the time being.
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