Median condo price up 75% from last year

Palm Coast Observer
Real Estate

Home sales rose in Flagler County last month, in line with a statewide trend that has seen rising prices and more sales.

182 single-family homes were sold in Flagler County in September, an 8.3% increase over September of last year, according to according to housing data released Monday from Florida Realtors. Condo sales rose 5.9%, with 36 condos sold during the month.

The median sale price of a single-family home sold in Flagler County was $150,000, a 12.5% increase over last year, and the median sale price of a condo in Flagler County jumped 74.7% to $270,750.

"The activity is great," Flagler Beach ReMax Oceanside owner/broker Donna Tofal said. "We're just starting to see a difference in the appraisals. I had a house we put under contract and it appraised for $20,000 more than we had it under contract for, so it's very exciting."

Statewide, 18,490 single-family homes were sold in September, an increase of 18.8% from September 2012; and 8,279 condo units were sold, an increase of 11.4% from September 2012. The median sale price for single-family homes rose to $170,000, up 17.2% from last year, and the median sale price for condo units rose to $130,000, up 23.5%.

“Throughout the year, we’ve seen Florida’s housing market strengthen and that positive momentum continued in September,” 2013 Florida Realtors President Dean Asher said in a news release. “Home values are rising and many homeowners across the state are seeing improving home equity. Those trends are helping to ease tight inventory levels in many areas as people who had been waiting on the sidelines decided to list their homes for sale.”

Home prices have risen across the country.

The national median price for existing single-family homes this August was $212,000, an increase of 14,4% from 2012.
In California, the statewide median sales price for single-family homes in August was $441,330. It was $272,895 in Maryland, $242,000 in New York and $345,000 in Massachusetts, according to information from the National Association of Realtors.

To view Florida Realtors’ full reports on housing activity, visit the Florida Realtors Media Center at http://media.floridarealtors.org/ and look under “Latest Releases.”