Home sales activity in July was very positive and shows that home sales were up by 10.6% year over year. In other good news, the average sales price increased by 6.7 % and the time homes were on the market were down 4.2%. The Alachua County real estate market is strong.
While it was a challenge to pivot to virtual showings and socially-distanced closings, those efforts continue to pay off for Realtors® in Alachua County as business continues to trend upwards despite the pandemic.
“Realtors® have always been resilient and it is no surprise to me that our members have found ways to safely and creatively provide real estate services to consumers,“ said Jeremy Thomas, President of the Gainesville-Alachua County Association of Realtors® (GACAR).
Inventory remains tight. The July reports show there is a 2.2 month supply of available homes for sale. That is down from 3.3 months inventory in July 2019. “An adequate inventory number is generally considered to be 5.5-6 months so the market has been tight for some time,” Thomas said. It’s interesting to note that year over year more new listings came on the market and more listings found buyers in July 2020. While inventory is still trending down, recent focus on affordable housing at the city and county level has Thomas hopeful that important work is being done to ease this issue. “Recently, we had a Facebook Live forum with the City of Gainesville discussing its Housing Action Draft Plan. I am confident that the market inventory will get back on track through GACAR’s continued efforts to collaborate with the City and County commission on affordable housing,” Thomas stated.
August will be a busy month for Realtors as college students continue to trickle back into Gainesville. Thomas concluded, “Even though it won’t be ‘business as usual’ for us thanks to COVID-19, we still expect steady sales in the Gainesville-Alachua County area due to schools reopening at the end of the month. This upcoming fall may be unpredictable due to the pandemic, but it is absolutely certain that our members will continue to safely provide real estate services to local consumers.”
Thomas remains optimistic, and encourages those considering home ownership to take advantage of competitive prices and low interest rates.
