BY WAYNE T. PRICE • FLORIDA TODAY • November 25, 2008
The numbers indicate that falling home prices are opening new opportunities for people who otherwise had been priced out of the housing market.
"Affordability conditions have consistently been a major factor in driving sales," Lawrence Yun, chief economist for the National Association of Realtors, said in prepared remarks. "Historically, during recessions, buyers have responded to incentives, and it's important for government to keep that in the forefront of
housing-stimulus decisions."
The local home resale gain was a ray of sunshine, compared with a national housing report that had U.S. homes sales falling 3.1 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.98 million units in October.
According to figures released Monday by the Florida Association of Realtors, in Brevard County:
There were 423 existing-home sales in October versus 361 in October 2007.
The median sale price -- the point at which half the homes sell for less, half for more -- fell 20 percent to $152,200, compared with $189,400 in October 2007.
Brevard condominium sales fell 6 percent in October, to 79, while the median price fell 19 percent to $133,800.
Statewide, Florida's existing-home sales rose in October, with Realtors reporting a 15 percent increase in activity in the year-to-year comparison.
Thirteen of the 20 Florida metropolitan areas tracked by the Florida Association of Realtors reported increased
existing-home sales in October.
Florida's median sales price for existing homes last month was $169,700, down 24 percent from a year ago, when the figure was $222,200.