Happy September! The back-to-school activities occupied many of us during the month of August. We moved one child back to college, and helped another return to high school. Morning traffic and school buses are back!
This is a major reason that there is typically a seasonality to the residential real estate market. Families tend to buy and sell homes when they are less preoccupied with other activities and have time to focus on the move. The buying and selling activity peaks in June and July, levels off in August, takes a breather in September and October, then ramps up again towards the end of the year.
2020 was not a typical year. The pandemic-driven demand kept the market busy all of the months after the summer season. Starting with the spring of 2021, the market activity reached a fevered pace and lasted through July. A lot of closings took place in August but new activities seem to be normalizing. There are more listings now and fewer buyers. Make no mistake, we are still in a strong seller’s market. But things are slowly trending towards a balance. It remains to be seen how the rest of 2021 will turn out.
We have had the pleasure and privilege of meeting many new home buyers this year as well as in 2020. They were the reason we had such a robust housing market. Who were these buyers? Let’s take a look at the Florida Realtors’ latest report.
According to Florida Realtors’ latest report of 2021 Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers in Florida, our home buyers are older than the national figures: One third of Florida home buyers are aged 65 or older. 9% of Florida home buyers bought because of retirement. The median age of Florida home buyers is 56. They tend to be repeat buyers. Only 23% were first-time home buyers, with millennials (age 25-40) leading that group. 3% of home buyers were Gen Z (age 18-24). Congratulations to this group for achieving the quintessential American dream of home ownership so early!
61% of these Florida home buyers were married couples. 21% were single females. 9% were unmarried couples. 8% were single males.
Of all buyers, 85% were born in the U.S., and 15% were born overseas. Among first-time home buyers, 73% were born in the U.S., and 27% were born overseas.
76% of them purchased an existing home, while 24% purchased a new construction.
2021 has been a challenging year for home buyers so far, because of competition with other buyers. The price escalation may have reached maturity in some market segments. We will continue to report on the latest market developments. As always, give us a call if you have any real estate questions. We love talking with you!
