The August 2023 Real Estate Stats for Pinellas County

The August real estate stats for Pinellas County have arrived and the story about our housing market hasn’t changed much since last month. Low housing inventory continues to drive prices higher (in the double digits in the single-family home market) and cash transactions still represent about 1 out of every 3 sales. The number of closed sales was down year over year, but this is largely due to inventory constraints, in our opinion. Check out the highlights below, along with our breakdown of what’s going on so you have all the latest details about our housing market!

The Single-Family Home Stats

• Closed Sales were down -15.8% year over year in August, with just 850 closed sales in August 2023 vs. 1,010 in August 2022.

• The Median Sale Price of a single-family home in our market continues to increase, with the median home selling for +10.1% year over year. The median sale price is now sitting at $478,968, which is about $44,000 higher than buyers paid for a home last year at the same time. The average sale price also grew from $558,836 in August 2022 to $634,499 in August 2023, a difference of +13.5%.

• The Number of New Listings hitting the market shrunk by -10.7% in Pinellas County last month, which is not what buyers were hoping for. Throughout 2023, the story in our market has been about low housing inventory and unfortunately that theme will likely continue through the end of the year.

• The Housing Supply in the single-family home market currently sits at 1.9 months of available inventory. This is slightly higher than we saw last year at the same time, when there was just 1.7 months of available inventory. Homeowners who want to move remain hesitant to sell for 2 reasons, one being that they may not be able to find the perfect home to buy at their next destination and the second reason being that they’ll likely be giving up record low mortgage rates when they sell their current home. In a balanced housing market, there should be 5-6 months of inventory available and Pinellas County is still far from that.

• Single-Family Homes are still selling rather quickly, with the median home going under contract within about 15 days. This is close to last year’s number of just 14 days. Updated, move-in ready homes are selling the fastest in our market, as buyers don’t want to invest more money into updating a home after taking on a higher interest mortgage (currently around 7% for most buyers).

• Sellers Aren’t Negotiating much when it comes to accepting an offer, with the median seller collecting 98.1% of the original list price at closing. This means a seller will likely only haggle about 1-2% off the price of a home right now. For homes in the best condition, we are still receiving multiple offers, many times over the original list price, once the listing hits the market.

The Condo-Townhouse Stats

• Closed Sales had a very slight drop year over year of less than 1% in the condo-townhouse market in August 2023. Inventory has been higher in this sector of the housing market, so the lower decline in sales makes sense considering there is double the inventory available compared to single-family homes.

• The Median Sale Price continued to rise, with prices in the condo-townhouse market increasing by +5.2% from $290,000 to $305,000. The average sale price also increased in our market from $383,922 to $432,079, an increase of +12.5%.

• The Number of New Listings in the condo-townhouse market increased by +10.5% last month, which was great news for buyers that have grown tired of sorting through the same small number of listings over and over again. The condo-townhouse market has steadily been increasing inventory numbers this year. While the new Milestone Inspection requirements have scared off some buyers, most are continuing to shop for that home by the beach or favorite Downtown area of Pinellas.

• The Supply of Condos-Townhouses in Pinellas County grew by +93.8% last month, from just 1.6 months of available inventory in August 2022 to 3.1 months of inventory in August 2023. It’s not the 5-6 months of inventory that buyers are hoping for, but it’s certainly a good improvement.

• Time on Market for condos-townhouses has increased from 14 days to 26 days on market year over year. The most updated units still sell the fastest (most in 2 weeks or less), with more dated homes selling the slowest. Buyers continue to pay a premium for spectacular water views and a move-in ready interior that was recently updated.

• Homeowners in the Condo-Townhouse Market are Negotiating a Little More than they used to these days, but not to any extremes like we saw a decade ago. The median seller is collecting about 96.3% of the original sale price at closing, meaning buyers can hope for a 3-4% discount off the listed price in some cases. Prices are still higher than they were last year, despite the negotiating that we’re seeing (see above on average and median sale prices)

What Should Sellers Be Doing Now?

Homeowners who are thinking about selling should continue to be surgical about their pricing strategies with their Realtor. Homes that are overpriced will simply sit on the market, ignored by most buyers. On the flip-side,  sellers who opt to stage their homes and do some updating are selling their homes the fastest and often for record-breaking prices. With high interest rates on everyone’s mind, the best thing a seller can do is make their home shine bright in the MLS with quality photos, great staging, and little to no deferred maintenance issues present.

What Should Buyers Be Doing Now

Today’s market is still mostly a seller’s market, despite some slowing sales. Home prices continue to rise in Pinellas County and forecasts indicate this will be a trend in 2024 as well. Buyers who waited until this year to purchase in hopes of getting a better price, ended up paying more for a home this year than they would have last year. Our advice is simply to find out what you can afford (call your lender) and start house hunting as soon as you have that pre-approval letter from your lender, or the cash available to close on a home. The longer you wait to buy, the more likely it is that you’ll be paying more for your next home. For the most updated homes, remember that many, many buyers will be looking at those and you’ll need to come in with a strong offer for sellers to consider it. Unlike other parts of the country, the Tampa Bay real estate market remains a hot one. Just this past month, we've listed several "move-in ready" homes and gotten them under contract over the asking price.

Need more advice about the Pinellas County housing market? Message Us Here or call us at (727) 400-3315 for more information. We would love to help you buy or sell your next home!