Friday, November 4, 2016 / by Lela Ashkarian

Facts about Florida Keys Real Estate Market

What Do the Numbers Forecast?

The continuing trend indicated by a rising number of properties listed for sale coupled with a declining number of sales leads us to expect the market to eventually experience decreasing average sale
prices. That historic relationship has been countered, however, by an increase in the number of
sales and average sale price within the luxury property market of $1M properties, as shown in our Fall/Winter Luxury Island Properties Report. With 14% fewer buyers having 17% more properties to choose among, the trend of fewer sales will continue as there is an immutable relationship between listings and sales: When listings increase, sales decrease, and vice versa.

The question remains, “What caused this market slowdown?” First, a large portion of the Keys real estate market consists of vacation home and second home sales.  Nationally, that sector is down over 18.5% and the Florida vacation market is down 5% according to National Association of Realtors
reports released in April of this year. (The next update will be released at the end of October.)
Second, the turmoil of the fall elections coupled with general global economic uncertainty appears to have created a cautious attitude regarding discretionary spending on real estate.  Many, if not most markets nationwide, are experiencing reduced numbers of sales as a result of these factors.