In 2019, sales of detached, single family homes rose by 1.3% over 2018 sales totals, and the median sales price of those houses was up 5.9% over 2018, according to an analysis of Daytona Beach area Multiple Listing Service data by Ron Wysocarski, CEO and Broker of Wyse Home Team Realty in Port Orange.
The Daytona Beach area includes all of east Volusia County.
“I attribute the area’s strong real estate market conditions in 2019 to mortgage interest rates staying lower than expected alongside growth in the local job market,” Wysocarski said.
According to a Jan. 6 report from the Washington Post, a strong job market and low mortgage rates could bring more of the same for the real estate market in 2020. But tight inventory could continue to be a problem and drive prices higher. MLS data shows the number of new listings in 2019 was 3% lower than the number of listings added to the MLS during 2018.
“I think we’re going to see the Daytona Beach real estate market heat up again this spring with particularly strong competition for entry-level single-family homes,” Wyoscarski said.
CONDOS SALES FLAT
Expected price gains did not materialize in the condo market.
An analysis of MLS data by Wyse Home Team Realty showed there were 1,553 condo sales across the area in 2019. The units sold had a median sales price of $209,000. That is a marginal change from the area’s condo sales total and median condo sales price in 2018, when 1,564 condos were sold and the median sales price was $500 lower.
Inventory levels of available condos across the Daytona Beach area in 2019 also showed little change, compared to 2018 totals. According to MLS reports, 3,344 new condo listings were added to the MLS in 2019. Thanks just 11 more condo units than the 3,333 condo units that were available in 2018. The total remains 2.2% below condo inventory levels during 2015, but it’s higher than the 3,258 units listed during 2016 and the 3,169 units listed during 2017.
Currently, real estate market experts at the national level are predicting inventory conditions to remain tight, pushing median sales prices higher in 2020. But local condo sellers may not experience the full benefit of those pricing gains since the heat in Daytona’s housing market is focused on entry level houses, Wysocarski said.
“The area’s growing workforce is competing for affordable starter homes,” Wysocarski said. “Whereas the vacationers and seasonal residents shopping units in the hundreds of condo buildings lining our coast aren’t facing the same sense of urgency and inventory limitations. For that reason, I don’t think we will see any earth-shattering price gains in the Daytona area condo market.”
THE RENTAL MARKET
The Zumper Report analyzed rental listings in Central Florida in November 2019 across 15 cities. The Florida one-bedroom median rent was $1,198 last month.
Ranked from highest rent to lowest for one-bedroom apartments:
Kissimmee, $1,250; Orlando, $1,250; New Smyrna Beach, $1,240; Winter Park, $1,180; Port Orange, $1,150; Sanford, $1,110; Titusville, $1,110; Melbourne, $1,050; Ormond Beach, $1,000; Altamonte Springs, $990; Ocala, $940; Palm Coast, $930; Palm Bay, $920; Daytona Beach, $850; and DeLand, $800.
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“I think we’re going to see the Daytona Beach real estate market heat up again this spring with particularly strong competition for entry-level single-family homes.”
RON WYSOCARSKI, Wyse Home Team Realty
