Daytona Beach, FL - 2018 seemed to be a banner year for real estate despite a sales slowdown at the end of the year.
According to data from the Daytona Beach Multiple Listing Service, detached single family home sales and median prices were both up for 2018, compared to 2017, which surpassed expectations of some real estate experts.
MLS Data shows that 5,132 homes were sold in the Daytona area in 2018, with a median sales price of $229,000. For comparison, 2017 saw 4,937 sales which garnered a median sales price of $215,000, leading to a 6.5% increase in median sales prices.
Overall, there were 8,846 real estate transactions recorded by the MLS in 2018, with a $200,000 median sales price.
Sales of all property types were up by 3.3% in 2018, and sales of existing single family homes were also up by 4%. It's not the 5.47% jump in sales that the experts at Realtor.com predicted, but the totals were strong nonetheless.
"I think the rising prices helped a lot of local homeowners breathe a big sigh of relief," said Ron Wysocarski, Broker and CEO of Wyse Home Team Realty in Port Orange. "Our home values really tanked during the recession, and many property owners had been waiting a long time to see those values fully recover.
However, while the majority of the year saw great figures, it would soon see a bit of a tarnishing when it came to the month of December.
MLS reported that 296 existing homes were sold in the greater Daytona Beach area with a median sales price of $224,900. That amounts to an almost 8% drop in sales compared to the same month last year, and just a meager 1% rise in median sales prices.
Compared to November, sales were up by 11% while median prices fell 6%.
"Home sales weren't as robust as we would have liked in December, but overall it was a good year for the local real estate market," said Wysocarski.
Inventory levels dropped notably for the second consecutive month in December, but the number of available homes for sale was up by 9.5% compared to the same month last year.
Overall, the number of homes to hit the market in 2018 was up by more than 6.7% over 2017 totals.
"It's not unusual to see inventory levels fall a bit during December as people turn their attention to holiday festivities," Wysocarski said. "It's quite possible that we'll see those inventory levels pick back up now that we've welcome the start of the new year."
