Living in Florida [the housing market is not dead]

A lot of people are talking about the market, especially here in Florida. There's people that are wanting to move here or invest in property here. So, of course, they're going to want to know what's going on. There's a lot of people with their opinions or predictions on what's going on with the market before living here or investing in property here. So, I'm just going to touch on that for a few, so stay tuned.

Alright. So, living in Florida, the market is not dead for those of you that are wondering. The way I see it, being in real estate for the past few years, just things keep on rolling, they're continuing to roll all throughout the year. So, I really don't see when the market is dead, but that's just my opinion.

So, let's talk about the different times, certain times of the year when it comes to buying and selling. Sales for primary residences that peak, they actually peak in the second quarter of the year, especially for those families that are looking to find a home before their children start school. School here in our area starts around the first or second week of August as they definitely want to try and seal a deal and close on a home before then, get settled in before the kids start school. And then there's still a lot of buyers that come to the area during the slower season. Such as, like, in October, November. So, the prices are still a bit high, but they do start to increase as we're going into December. And the good thing about looking for property in the off season, especially if you're looking for a vacation home, whether if it's something to live in, use a second home or just pure investment. It's a lot easier to look at these properties during the off season. You can actually get in there and tour the property for yourself instead of, you know, seeing a virtual tour going off of pictures becaus the vacancy might be a little lower. So, you'll be able to actually get in compared to the summertime or spring break time when you have to try and just jump in there during turnovers, between guests. So, you have a little short window to get in there when it's probably not even cleaned by the time you do get to see it. So, that's just a pro when it comes to buying property during these slower seasons to be able to actually get in there and see for yourself if you are in the area. So, there are new listings that hit the market daily. So, it's not like we're just at a standstill here in Florida. I'm sure everywhere has all the other states as well. It's just not all of them are selling within 24 hours like it was in late 2021 and early 2022 and prices were just up there. People paying so much money over asking price or even appraised value just to get the the property that they're wanting. And so, we're not seeing so much that these days and towards the end of the year. We were seeing a lot of price reductions because homes are sitting longer. So, after two to three weeks or so, there's a lot of, you'll see, you know, price reductions as you're looking at listings. There's more sellers that are offering concessions to help seal a deal with the buyers and make sure everybody's comfortable with a header submitting their offers. There are a lot of people that are even expecting a repeat of the 2008 recession. Maybe you feel that the market is going to crash. Unfortunately, I don't have a crystal ball, though I cannot determine what will actually happen. Again, there's a lot of predictions out there. But, in my personal opinion, I feel that the market will slow down, slowing down right now, not completely dead. But it's just slowing down due to the higher interest rates and higher insurance premiums and just the overall affordability. There's still a lot of people that are having a hard time recovering from COVID with, you know, employment issues and just a lot of changes when it comes to people's incomes and, you know, their family situation. So, there's people are still trying to recoup, not in a position to be able to buy at this time, even rent prices are pretty crazy these days as well. So, there's people that are having a hard time keeping up with rent.

Now that's, you know, again, there's several factors that go into people not wanting to purchase at this time. And then there are sellers that are wanting to kind of wait before putting their home on the market just to kind of see where the market goes. They're, you know, wanting it to heat up again like it was a year ago, 2021, early 2022, and they want people to overbid for their homes. So, that's kind of what a lot of the sellers I've spoken to recently are kind of waiting on. But I feel like the, you know, supply and demand will eventually balance out homeowners that purchased or maybe even overpaid within the last couple of years, they're going to need time for their property to appreciate. And then, of course, buyers are just going to want to wait until interest rate drop a little bit more to a comfortable range for them to be able to for their monthly payments.

Now, I can't speak for other states, but, again, the Florida market, it's always active, especially when there are so many investment opportunities around the state. A lot of people come here for vacations all year round. And there's also here in our area on the Panhandle, we have a very strong military presence. So, there are a lot of military families that are coming and going, PCSing in and out all year long. So, of course, that's going to continue the real estate business with a lot of the buying and selling needs of these families. There are a lot of, of course, military members that know they're going to be here for at least two to three years or more. So, of course, they're going to want to purchase instead of renting. And then, you know, some don't want to live in base housing, and some actually do. They save a bit of money until they are more comfortable with making that big purchase because purchasing a home is no small thing. It's a big deal, lots of money involved. But of course, with, you know, your militaries, you're using your VA benefits, there's zero down, but they're not everyone has VA benefits as that they're looking to do conventional or FHA. Of course, they're going to have to have some money to bring to the table and just again, a lot of people are still recovering from COVID and lots of changes going on and insurance premiums increasing. So, we've had a hard time with that, a lot of buyers being able to find something that they're comfortable with and not feeling pressured into purchasing in the current market. But again, I don't necessarily see a big crash. There has been a decrease in home prices, but that's just really the way I see at the beginning of the market kind of balancing itself out. But yes, so living in Florida, it's just a great place to be or even purchasing an investment property. So, you have a place to go whenever you come to visit and just have that of income.

So, we do still have a lot of people that are reaching out to us wanting to invest in property or they're even probably getting ready to move here too within the first or second quarter of 2023, and they're just kind of questioning it just to see what they're getting themselves into. So, if you have any questions outside of maybe what I've covered today, please feel free to call/text us at 850.320.7757 or email us at Admin@WhittemoreGroupRE.com

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