February 2024 Market Report for Southwest Florida:
Southwest Florida Market Perspective: While January’s closed tracked below historical levels, sales for February posted an uptick and, although down somewhat from 2023, were just 2% short of the pace of sales for the average of the same month over the three years preceding the 2020 through 2022 surge in sales. New listings for February followed a similar pattern; however, they tracked 7% slower than those pre-peak years. Reviewing the numbers in 12-month increments also tells a story of sales returning to a pace more consistent with longer term pre-peak trends, with the pace of new listings taking longer to resume to their previous pace after their slowdown in recent years. For the 12-month period ending February 29, closed sales were down 3% from the 2017-2019 average, while new listings were down 10%. As one would expect, listing inventory has increased as sales have slowed from their peak-pace; however, the relatively slow pace of new listings has prevented an oversupply of available properties. As of February 29, months of supply was 6.79. In Southwest Florida, six to twelve months signifies balance between supply and demand. After the 12-month rolling average sales price posted steady monthly increases from 2020 through 2022, this metric has been stable over the past year with little to no month-over-month variance.
