Market Update - March 2024
Panama City Beach and 30A market stats are in for March, and February showed a continued trend of increasing listings. For buyers this means more choices and to some extend more negotiating power. For seller this means more competition. Although the inventory is continuing to rise, we've also seen an increase in the average sale price too! In Panama City Beach, the average sale price is 2.7%. Along 30A, the average sale price is up 1.3%. What really caught my eye was the median sale price for 30A. It's up over 20% compared to February of 2023 and is sitting at $1.6M.
Looking at the number of closed listings, we can get a feel for buyer demand. Along 30A, we saw a 10% drop compared to February 2023; however, year to date, the number of closed transactions is up 2%. In Panama City Beach, the number of closed transactions is down 7% year to date. To me, I think this can be explained by taking a look at who the typical buyers are in these two markets. In 30A majority of sales are high end, second home/investment properties. In Panama City Beach, we have a lot more full time residents as well as first time investors. As a result, Panama City Beach buyers are going to be more sensitive to interest rate changes. As interest rates rise, demand will go down; and as interest rates decrease, demand will go up. Between October and February interest rates declined over a whole percent. However since the start of February, we've started to see interest rates climb again.
Moving forward, I expect demand to pick up as we enter into our spring season. According to Realtor.com, the best time to list your home was the week of April 16-22 in 2023. They said this week had the ideal balance of housing market conditions that favor home sellers. The data showed that homes listed this week reached above average prices, above average buyer demand, and a fast market pace.
PCB Fast Facts (comparing to February 2023):
Inventory is up over 89%
Average List Price is down 1.9%
Median List Price is down 1.0%
Average Sale Price is up 2.7%
Median Sale Price is up 7.1%
Average Days on Market is up 6.1%
30A/Santa Rosa Beach Fast Facts (comparing to February 2023):
Inventory is up over 96%
Average List Price is down 9.7%
Median List Price is down 2.9%
Average Sale Price is up 1.3%
Median Sale Price is up 21%
Average Days on Market is up 27.6%
Interest Rates:
