Home foreclosure sales and short sales in Jacksonville pushed down house prices in the July to September quarter in the area, based on data from Florida Realtors.
Sales prices for single-family residential units in Jacksonville fell by 17 percent to $150,600, a decrease from $180,600 last year. Home sales increased by 28 percent compared to sales last year to 3,377 units, as buyers took advantage of lower mortgage rates and the federal $8,000 tax credit.
Across Florida, the sales price median for single-family residential units dropped to $145,400, a 22-percent drop from last year’s third quarter. However, the third-quarter sales price median showed an uptick of 1.25 percent from the $143,600 price median in the previous quarter.
Sales of condo units in Jacksonville climbed up by 54 percent from total sales last year to 435 units as buyers got enticed by the lower prices. The sales price median dropped in the third quarter to $114,600, marking a decrease of 22 percent.
Statewide, sales of pre-owned condo units increased by 56 percent as the sales price median fell to $106,100, a drop of 34 percent.
Other cities where home prices fell substantially because of foreclosure sales and short sales were Cincinnati, Charlotte and Atlanta, based on reports released this week by the National Association of Realtors.
During the same quarter, the pace of foreclosures in Jacksonville soared by 63.5 percent from the third quarter in 2008. Nearly 1.5 percent of all residential units in the area or almost 8,700 units went into default or into foreclosure, pushing house prices down and driving higher volumes of home foreclosure sales.
According to Anthony Crocco of Metrostudy, which has been monitoring the Jacksonville housing market, house sales in the next several quarters will still comprise a large portion of short sales and foreclosure sales.
However, Crocco contended that because of the better economic situation of Jacksonville compared to other Florida cities, Jacksonville will recover more quickly.
He added that it is with this optimism that home builders continued to construct homes despite foreclosures during the July to September period, although at a much lower rate than the past years. He said that builders started to build 885 units in Jacksonville, lower by over 25 percent than the 1,181 units started during the same quarter in 2008.
In the Jacksonville metro area, new homes priced in the range $150,000 to $200,000 were the kind of homes able to compete with home foreclosure sales.
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