Brad O'Connor Directly addresses camera:  Closed sales of existing homes in Florida were up year-over-year in November, according to the latest market statistics from Florida Realtors. Existing single-family home sales increased by 4.3% compared to November of 2020, while over in the condo and townhouse property type category, sales were up versus a year ago as well, by 5.4%. Even more impressive, though, is how high sales levels remain compared to two years ago, before the pandemic. Compared to November 2019, sales this November were up by over 28% for single-family homes and by over 37% for condos and townhouses.
The significant volume of home sales we've been experiencing continued to keep inventory levels low in November, however. As of the end of the month, single-family home inventory was down by over 31% compared to a year ago, while condo and townhouse inventory was down by close to 56%. It is primarily the huge rate of sales, and not a lack of new listings coming on to the market, that have kept inventories so low. In fact, year-to-date, there have been almost 4% more single-family homes and 7% more condos and townhouses listed for sale in 2021 than by this time in 2019, before the pandemic. These homes are simply selling so quickly that many potential buyers never have a chance to consider them.
Year-over-year growth in the median sale price for single-family homes remained high in November, up by 19.6% to just under $365,000. Similarly, the median condo and townhouse price was up by 19.9% to a little over $273,000. Home prices generally have continued to increase as mortgage rates have been relatively flat in recent months. However, the Federal Reserve's shift to a more hawkish policy in terms of combating inflation is expected to start pushing rates higher in the coming months, which should cause home price growth to moderate.
Of course, all of these statewide statistics are only part of the picture. Florida is a huge, geographically diverse state, and every local market has its own trends you need to be aware of. So Realtors, be sure to check out sunstats.floridarealtors.org for interactive local market statistics, or visit our storehouse of local- and state-level market reports at floridarealtors.org/research. I'll see you next month for the December statistics and a recap of another impressive year in the Florida real estate market.