Popularity, home sales, mortgage rates up
Recent surveys have shown that the Sunshine State’s economy seems to be shifting as of early October, with single-family home sales up once again, and Florida hosting 6 of the top 20 fastest growing cities in the country – including Lakeland, Orlando, Tampa, and Miami. There has also been a noted uptick in unemployment and mortgage costs throughout the state, but economists reassure residents that while these numbers are higher, they are growing at a much slower rate than in previous years. These general stabilizations in the market are indicative of a healthy economy, and hopefully will forecast even more job growth in the coming years.
Florida’s economic change is underpinned by the huge influx of new residents in the last decade. With a population increase of 18.92% since 2010, Florida is counted among the fastest growing states in the nation. Such an increase in population can sometimes overwhelm the job market and infrastructure in a given state, but Florida’s unemployment has been at historic lows until just this month. On Friday, the state Department of Commerce reported that Florida had a 2.8% unemployment rate in September, up from 2.7% in August. While a general increase in unemployment is always considered to be a negative economic trend, Florida is still far better than the national unemployment rate of 3.8%. It is also worth noting that Florida’s job market far outpaces the national average, with Florida boasting 241,200 new jobs created during the past year.
Generally, these numbers mean that while more and more people pile into Florida, there is legitimate economic growth to support this population increase. Prices will always rise with more and more prospective home buyers, but it seems for the first time in years that Floridians are buying and selling homes at a higher rate for the first time since pre-Covid. Single-family home sales were up 6% in September, reversing a 12-month downward trend. But third quarter 2023 sales were still down 3.2% overall compared to the same quarter last year. Meanwhile, the cost of a mortgage keeps creeping higher, with a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage rate now averaging 7.63%. Florida Realtors® President G. Mike McGraw was quoted as saying, “The Florida market remains strong in the face of higher mortgage rates, and first-time buyers are finding greater selections and less competition than they’ve seen in years” – a refreshingly hopeful glance at the ever-changing economy of the Sunshine State.
LMA Newsletter of 10-23-23
