How’s the market??? We are seeing some trends emerge in 2024 as we enter our Spring Market. It looks like Seller’s are realizing this is no longer the hyper-active Sellers Market that we were experiencing from 2020-2023. Price matters. The condition of your property matters. Buyers have choices as they enter our housing market. We had our 5th month in a row with under 1000 sales in Brevard County. We also had more prices changes in February than any other month in the last few years. Let me know how you feel about our housing market as we are winding down the 1st quarter.
Here are the numbers:
Brevard County
Active inventory 4,069
Sold Property 995
Months Supply 4.09 months
Average Price $428,843 2023 $394,322
Median Price $352,500 2023 $339,900
List/Sale ratio 6.5% of list price
Average price per SqFt $235.67 SqFt
Days On Market 59.76 DOM
Property selling in less than 7 days 225 (22% of the sales)
Property selling over $1M 38
Highest price sale $3.550M in Melbourne Beach
Home sales under $200K 29 Homes
Cocoa Beach & Cape Canaveral
Condos
| A: Price range $115K to $2.1M | S: Price Range $120K to $690K |
Active inventory 242
Sold condos 39
Months supply Months 6.21 months
Average Price $350,153 2023 $412,021
Median Price $335,500 2023 $350,000
Average price per square foot $294.79 SqFt
Days On Market 72.92 DOM
Condos selling under $200K 6
Best selling complex Harbor Isles with 4 sales ($350K, $355K, $370K, and $398K)
Single Family Homes
| A: Price range $559K to $5.250M | S: Price Range $400K to $1.250M |
Active inventory 45
Sold homes 8
Months supply 5.62 months
Average Price $836,250 2023 $561,228
Median Price $770,000 2023 $475,000
Average price per square foot $440.06 SqFt
Days On Market 64.5 DOM
Homes selling under $500K 1
Homes selling over $1M 1
I like starting with the active inventory to see what’s trending. I wouldn’t say it is surging, but it is certainly on the rise. We have breached the 4K level and have 4,069 active listings in Brevard County. We have not been above 4000 properties on the market since the beginning of 2019. We had a 4 month run November 2018 to February 2019 over the 4K mark. How long we stay over 4,000 properties on the market?? We will have to see what happens in March and April.
Part of the reason for the rise in inventory is that Seller’s have finally decided its time to sell. The real estate agents in Brevard County and across the country have been begging property owners to sell the last 4 years because of the high demand and low inventory. They are finally listening. We had more property come on the market in February than any other February. It was almost the most inventory to hit the market in a one month period. January’s new inventory wasn’t too far behind. May, June, and July 2022 are still the all-time highs regarding property coming on the market. The momentum we are seeing in 2024 might beat these numbers.
We need to talk about the actual sales that are happening. February is the 5th month in a row where we did not break 1000 closings in a month through our MLS. The last time we saw consecutive closings under 1000 was back in 2012 & earlier. Our market was leaving the extreme buyers market from the great recession. We had a short transition into a balanced market, and have been in a Sellers market ever since. Are we about to enter into another balanced market? Let me know in the comments.
The under 1000 closings in January and February is something I am not to concerned with. These 2 months are usually the slower months out of the year. 2016 through 2019 our January & February sales were always under 1000 properties. I want to see what happens March & April.
Our inventory is up. Our sales have been down the last 5 months. We are seeing more new listings come on the market starting the year than we have ever seen. You know what else we are seeing a lot of…Price changes…I only recently started tracking these numbers because there were never a lot of them. When interest rates started to creep up in 2022…that is when I started tracking them. We had more price changes this past February than we have ever had. We saw 42% more properties with a price change this February compared to last February. Its the 1st time we had over 1,700 price changes.
Its taking longer to sell a property. I only recently started to track the days on market. Looking back to 2011 and 2012, it was taking 120 to 130 days or longer to sell a home. 2023 we averaged 40 DOM. We are starting 2024 in the upper 50 days on market on average for a property to sell.
Some things to keep in mind. If you do price your home correctly, we are still seeing property sell in 7 days or less. 22% of our sales in February happened quickly. There’s also multiple offers happening too. List price is still an important factor in selling your home.
Average sales price, even though it is down from our January numbers, we are still trending up over the last 3 years. We are up over 8% from 2023…which was up 2.5% over 2022…which was up 30% over 2021. February 2024 average sales price of $428,843 is up 45% from the average sales price of $295,911 in 2021.
We are seeing similar trends with the Median prices. Down slightly from January and up over the last few years. Our $352,500 median price for Feb 2024 is up 38% over February 2021 median price of $255,000.
Where do I get my market stats? I am a Space Coast Association of Realtors member and pulled the February 2024 sales on March 6th. Downloaded the spreadsheet & have been digging into the numbers. I track a dozen or so key points for all of Brevard County, for the condo market and single-family home market in Cocoa Beach & Cape Canaveral.
The condo market in Cocoa Beach and Cape Canaveral is kind of bleak compared to the housing market for all of Brevard County. Our active inventory continues to climb. Even though we aren’t quite at the record levels we say at the beginning of 2019…we are getting close. Our active condo inventory is at 242 condos.
Sales are up a little from January and the highest we have seen since September 2023 with 39 condo sales in Cocoa Beach and Cape Canaveral. I know we cannot compare our condo sale today to what we had in 2020, 2021, & 2022. It’s fair to compare them to 2018 & 2019 where we were averaging over 50 condo sales per month. Is this something we will see again in 2024?
I think the potential is there if we see a correction in the prices of condos to offset the increase we have been seeing with the monthly condo dues. 2019, the average condominium monthly fee was $413 per month. Today’s average condo fee is $672 per month. Until the insurance cost for a condominium comes down, neither will this association fee. The other item that will have an impact on condo fees in 2024 & 2025 is the reserve funds. Condo associations will have to have a fully funded reserve by December 2025. This will happen by raising the monthly fee, having a special assessment to fund the reserves, or a combination of both.
We are already seeing prices of condominiums pulling back in Cocoa Beach and Cape Canaveral. Look at the trends of the average sales prices from February 2024 to the last few years prices are coming down. All indicators I am seeing show that this will be a trend in the condo market this year.
The shift in the condo market began during the summer of 2023 where we tipped from the Sellers market into a Balanced market in July. October we shifted into a Buyers market when we went over a 6 months supply of inventory and we are still in the Buyers market with over a 6 months supply of condos today.
If you have any questions about the condo market, I am here to help. There is a link in the description below that will take you to my calendar, lets schedule a discovery call to discuss things.
Eric Larkin is a Broker Associate with Real Broker, LLC. He lives, works, and plays in the Cocoa Beach area. If you have questions about moving or relocating to Cocoa Beach and the Space Coast, let me know! I get calls, texts, direct messages & comments on my posts every day about the real estate market and things that are happening in Cocoa Beach and the Space Coast that I love answering. Ask me your questions on moving, relocating here, or anything about the community. I am here to help. I have been helping buyers and sellers with their real estate needs since becoming a real estate agent in 2003. My focus is always on helping, answering your questions, and doing everything possible to make certain you have a smooth transaction from beginning to end.
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