St Cloud FL Real Estate Market Report For October 2022

St Cloud FL Real Estate Market Report For October 2022Covering The Topic Of Interest Rates

Jeanine is the broker of Corcoran Connect and Kristin is theowner of Studio Nine 13. They will be reviewing what happened inthe Saint Cloud Florida real estate market during the 41st episode ofthe Discover St. Cloud Florida podcast.

Kristin asked Jeanine what happened in the Saint Cloud FL realestate market in October. Jeanine answered that we always like toreport real estate transactions by zip code as each one isdiverse.

Jeanine started with St Cloud zip code 34769 which includes thehistoric part of downtown St. Cloud. For October Jeanine said therewere 34 homes that were sold. There were 29 one-story homes thatwere sold and 5 two-story homes. The price per square foot for theone-story homes was $224.76 and $171.12 for the two-storyhomes.

Video Podcast Of The RealEstate Market Report For Saint Cloud Florida

Kristin added that zip code 34769 is holding steady. She saidthe price per square foot went up half a percent and year over yearis still up 18.9%. The days to contract are 35 and 67 days toclose. Kristin said this shows that it is taking a bit longer forthings to move.

Jeanine then moved to zip code 34771 which is where her realestate company office is located in. There were 86 homes sold inthis zip code in October. Fifty of them were one-story homes at aprice per square foot of $239.30 and the remaining 36 homes whichwere two-story homes came in at $191.00.

St Cloud Florida Homes Sales In Zip Code34772

Kristin said the average price per square foot overall at$218.95 is holding steady down only .4%. Year over year this zipcode is still up 14%. She said the days to contract are 35 and 79days to close.

Jeanine then reported zip code 34772 numbers where 45 homes weresold in October. Thirty-eight were one-story homes at $126 priceper square foot. The 7 remaining homes sold were two-story homesand their price per square foot was $194.30.

Kristin said the average overall price per square foot for 34772was $212.71 and up by 4% month over month. Year over year, that zipcode is up 6.5%. Days to contract is 21 and days to close is70.

Jeanine commented that it is interesting seeing the days toclose increasing quite a bit. Typically, an average closing takes30 days. Buyers might be giving sellers more time to stay in thehome for various reasons and that could be adding to the daysto close increase.

Moving onto zip code 34773 which does include the community ofHarmony. There were 22 homes that were sold in October. Of the 22homes that sold, 15 were one-story homes at a price per square footof $229.48. The 7 two-story homes sold at a price per square footof $181.26.

Vacant Land Sales In Saint Cloud FL For October2022

Kristin said the average overall price per square foot was$214.13 holding steady showing a .14% increase. The year-over-yearaverages are up 22.3% for the price per square foot which is ahealthy increase. She said the average days to contract is 30 andthe average days to close is 64.

Vacant land for sale was next up and there were only 12 sales inOctober. Jeanine said there were no big land deals over the last 30days. The lowest vacant piece of land sold for $3K which was 1/3 ofan acre and the highest sold for $220K which was for 2 acres andwas a cash deal. So, no big parcels of land were sold inOctober.

Jeanine then reported on just Harmony Florida homes that sold inOctober. In Harmony main, which represents the first homes everbuilt in this community, there were 13 homes that sold. She saidpeople don’t want to leave Harmony. They do what’scalled the “Harmony Shuffle” and if they do sell, theybuy another home in Harmony.

Jeanine stated that she has a buyer from Arizona who wants a4-bedroom home in Harmony so for anyone thinking of selling theirhome, please contact her and he wants to be here by December. InAshley Park, which represents condos and townhomes, had 5 that soldin October. There were 3 resales and one home sold in The Enclave.The Lakes had 5 homes that were sold.

Harmony FL West Homes Sales

Kristin asked Jeanine about Harmony West sales. Jeanine repliedthat 13 homes sold in Harmony West in October. Eight of those homessold were one-story homes at $245.62 price per square foot and 5two-story homes sold at an average price per square foot of$183.43.

Jeanine and Kristin then shifted the conversation to the homesellers in Saint Cloud FL. The topic is why homes seem to besitting on the market longer in the current market and why pricingadjustments may be necessary as well as helping a buyer withconcessions. Closing costs are now back on the table as well asbuying down rates.

Kristin said that these are not bad things, this is part of anormal real estate market. She said the biggest elephant in theroom is interest rates. The interest rates are over 7% now and theyare not coming down soon. The rates are playing a big role in termsof buyer availability.

Kristin gave the example of her own home which she closed onback in April of 2022. If she had closed on this very same home nowat today’s interest rates her mortgage payment would be $700more than it is today. She dais she wouldn’t have been ableto afford the home if that were the case. She doesn’t knowmany people who would have that kind of flexibility in theirmonthly mortgage payments.

How Current Interest Rates Affect HomeAffordability

Jeanine said she spoke to one of her preferred lenders Colleen Mitchell from Homebridge Mortgage andshe ran some numbers for us. Kristin had the idea to have Colleenpull some numbers which Jeanine said was a great idea.

The example she used was a home selling for $395K. She rannumbers for principle and interest at 7% for a conventional loanwith 5% down. That came up with a monthly payment of $2,496.55.Let’s call it an even $2,500 a month.

Colleen then took the same price of a home, $395K, and used theinterest rates from 6 months ago which was 4.875%. The monthlypayment, principal, and interest would be $1,986 at this lowerrate. That is a $510 difference in monthly payments from just 6months ago.

If a home buyer was in the market 6 months ago and was qualifiedfor a $395K home at 4.875% to get them at that same payment youwould need to have a home at $237K. They lost $158K inaffordability.

So, if your home is priced at $550K Kristin said your buyer poolhas shrunk. The reason being is that 6 months ago your buyer thatwould buy your home today was looking in the $700K range. So, thatis a huge shift that is a reality.

Why Homes Are Sitting On The Market LongerExplained

Kristin said therefore we are seeing homes sit on the marketlonger than they were 6 months ago. Jeanine stated that is why wewanted to talk directly to the sellers as the buyers know what isgoing on. Buyers are the ones asking for help.

Jeanine continued and said, the offer that you receive now isfrom a qualified buyer as all the other buyers that may have beenputting in an offer 6 months ago are gone. They are looking at lessexpensive homes now. So, think about that if a buyer needs somehelp.

Corcoran Connect Honors Veterans In St CloudFL

Kristin asked Jeanine about the cool contest going on withCorcoran Connect. Jeanine said yes and this is all about ourVeteran’s. We support and love our Veteran’s. So, withthat said go to our Facebook page here for details.

The first-place prize will be once you recognize your Veteran$100 cash, second place prize a $75 Amazon gift card, and thirdplace prize will be a $50 Publix card. What you need to do is findthat post on our Facebook page and tell us in 3 sentences or lesswhy you are nominating a Veteran that inspires you. The Veteranswill be the ones who win the prizes not the person who nominatesthem to be clear.

It could be a story, a family member, or a friend that is aVeteran, and we may even interview one or more of our chosenVeterans. Jeanine shared that her dad was a World War II Veteranwith the Navy. We feel, at Corcoran Connect, that it is importantto honor and recognize our Veterans.

We hope you enjoyed Jeanine and Kristin walking you through theSt Cloud FL real estate market report for October 2022. Our goal isto keep you in the know about the housing market and statisticshere in Saint Cloud, Florida.