It wasn’t supposed to happen. At least if we look at recent history it wasn’t. April is typically a month to hold our own, tread water, when it comes to writing new real estate contracts. But not this year, as pending home sales in the Northern Palm Beaches took off like a rocket ship during the month of April. Over the past 30 days the number of homes put under contract in Jupiter and the neighboring towns climbed almost 9%. Not only was it a significant climb it was the 4th straight monthly increase and all of a sudden we are at the highest pending home sale levels we have seen since June of last year.
As important is the fact that the steep climb in inventory levels that began in September of last year appears to be over as we told you just 14 days ago. While the number of homes available for sale has decreased for the first time in a long time we are still have 12.5% more properties on the market as last year at this time. Keep an eye on this number as the future direction of the market and home prices relies heavily on where it goes.
So far the 2016 real estate market in the Jupiter area hasn’t been as strong as we had once hoped for. The season didn’t pan out when compared to 2015 as total real estate sales in the area have not compared favorably to year ago numbers. January sales down from year ago numbers. Same for February, March and April with the discrepancy larger during April than any other month. But today’s pending home sales numbers gives us hope of catching up with last years’ historic numbers.
One place where 2016 has been better than last year is when it comes to home valuations. Between January 1st and April 1st the median single family home price in the area was up 5.6% which was a very strong performance for the 1st quarter of the year. Compare that to late year when prices were only up 1.5%.
Recently we put together an analysis of the highest median single family prices for the most active real estate markets in Palm Beach County as we were trying to show the Jupiter Town Council why growth and the traffic it brings is not good for real estate prices. When you look at the highest priced median single family home in the 11 most active markets in Palm Beach County for the year the three tops spots were held by Jupiter, Tequesta and Palm Beach Gardens. Fourth place went to Boca Raton and they weren’t even close. Impressive and another sign that life is indeed better north of PGA Boulevard.
Wherever you are, whether you are buying or selling, be informed and know the numbers surrounding your decisions. If Paradise Sharks can be of help in any way please feel free to reach out to us at 561.308.0175 or info@paradisesharks.com.
Fins up…..
#jupiterhomes
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