Five years ago, affordability was the major challenge facing Florida’s housing market. With home prices jumping 15 to 25 percent annually in the boom years, many working-class buyers found themselves priced out of the market. At the 2006 peak, the state’s median sales price reached $248,300 for single-family homes and $211,300 for condos.
Put those figures in perspective, and buying a $250,000 home typically required a $25,000 down payment and a $225,000 mortgage. To comfortably meet those monthly payments of about $2,500 (including tax and insurance), the buyer needed more than a $115,000 in annual income.
However, since 2006, the state’s median sale prices have fallen more than 40% to about $140,000, putting more Florida homes in reach of the middle-class buyers with house hold income of $40,000 to $75,000. Now that prices have stabilized in many areas, the number of sales transactions is rising and listing inventories are shrinking as more and more buyers are taking advantage of current market conditions.
- Affordabilty Reigns, Opportunity Knocks: Florida Realtor 2010 -