Thanks to our friends at Bank of England Jacksonville, here are the key takeaways from yesterday’s economic forecast. Based on MLS data, a five year look back at Jacksonville Metro statistics, and current loan applications, here are their best predictions on what we can anticipate this year:
- If you plan to sell this year do it soon and try to beat the rush. There will be no better time than now through mid year. Listings will peak in spring as is traditional in this market.
- BOE is forecasting inflation to drop significantly April to June. In the second half of the year we should see inflation to go up again. The knock on effect will be mortgage rates which should hover in the 5%s in the first half of year.
- Homes hitting the market will remain around 7,000. This will keep our market fairly tight, prices will remain strong. We are in a tightening phase now.
- The average home price will be $500,000 this year. The average sale price for St Augustine in January was $460,000.
- There is significant pent up demand from buyers as seen in the number of loan applications.
- The system is set up for prices to stay the same or go higher.
- We may see a cash out boom as people have taken on a lot of credit card debt and may look to home equity to pay this off as part of a home sale.
- Getting an updated equity estimate on your home may help to indicate whether you should try to get PMI removed if it is part of your loan.
- Cash is back. We saw 31% of sales in cash in 2022.
- Investors are back in full force. They would not be buying now if a crash was imminent and they felt pricing could go lower.
- St Augustine Beach is almost sold out with record 2019 levels of inventory
- Relocation data is strong. NY, CA, GA, TX and VA/DC are among top feeder markets for relocations into Florida.
