Average home price in Florida rises to over $400,000, report says

ORLANDO, Fla. - How much does it cost to own a home in Florida? Over $400,000.

A three-bedroom, two-bathroom house in Altamonte Springs recently sold for $450,000. A new survey finds that's just above the median sales price for a Florida home, which was $410,000 in April 2022 – a $13,000 increase from March 2022, and $73,000 more than April 2021, according to the latest market report from the Florida Realtors trade association.

"This is the master bedroom space, again very spacious. You have your master bathroom in here," said realtor Heather Unger from ACME Real Estate walking through the house -- a 1,600 square foot home, built in 1966. The sellers bought it in 1995 for just under $87,000, decades later, that selling price is now $450,000. "We actually didn't even list it," says Unger, "we sold it before it hit the market."

While the median sale price was $410,000, the average sale price was $597,719, 12.8% higher than April 2021, and $20,000 more than March 2022, according to the report.

There were 32,409 new listings, 28,171 closed sales, and the median time to contract was eight days, compared to 35,019 new listings, 30,793 closed sales, and nine days to contract in March, the report said.

Unger's only Orlando listing near that price, is a home near the University of Central Florida. "This home is new construction," she said. "It's a three-bedroom, two-bath. We're just shy of 1,800 square feet on this house, and it's priced at $499,000 so a little bit over the median."

That's right, half-a-million dollars! Want something cheaper? In Winter Garden, Unger recently sold a townhome that was listed for $425,000, but sold for $440,000. "Four bedrooms, three bathrooms, just shy of 1,800 square feet. Two-car garage, detached garage space, built in 2018, so fairly new," said Unger.

Anyone looking to get-in under that $410,000 median price should say hello to Polk County, where your dollar will go farther. A house in Davenport was listed just under $360,000 but the competition was fierce. "Four bedrooms, three bathrooms," Unger says, "it's zoned for both long-term living and short term rental if someone would like to Airbnb-it. We were priced at $359,900. We had multiple offers, it went well over asking price. I can't release that price yet, till we close on it at the end of this week."

With these sky-high prices, it may come as no surprise that the Florida Realtors association says home sales are down more than 15 percent below last April’s numbers. They say higher interest rates are also to blame.

Median sale price by month (last six months):

March 2022: $396,558
February 2022: $381,481
January 2022: $375,000
December 2021: $373,990
November 2021: $364,900
October 2021: $358,950