09/19/2025
Housing Market Shift: Florida Perspectives
By Jennifer Warner, Florida Realtors® Director of Economic Development
ORLANDO, Fla. – Like many parts of the nation, including other states in the South, there are several indications that Florida is experiencing a market shift that favors buyers as well. Specifically, months supply of inventory, median time to sale and active inventory – all metrics that are used to determine market dynamics – are up.
Months supply of inventory, which shows the speed at which the current level of inventory would be absorbed given the current rate of sales, shows the interplay between buyers and sellers. The rule of thumb is anything above 6 months generally favors buyers, less than six months favors sellers. As of July 2025, months supply of inventory for all property types across the state of Florida is 6.6 months, up nearly 30% (or 5.1 months a year ago). This means that there are more properties on the market than a year ago, and at the same time there are fewer buyers. Given the slower pace and the larger number of properties, buyers don’t have as much competition, and they have more inventory to choose from. It is important to note that there is some variation in inventory and months supply locally, with higher inventories being seen in areas that have also seen the most new construction.
Median time to sale also continues to climb, showing that homes are sitting on the market longer as a limited buyer pool has more to consider. At 92 days, the cycle of a deal is longer today than a year ago, but much slower than the 56 days in 2021-2022. Still, this timeframe is consistent with the way the market was pre-pandemic, and a far cry from the early recovery from the Great Financial Crisis, when median time to sale in 2008 was 163 days. Still, for those remembering the fast pace during the Covid boom, sellers need to buckle in for a more normal paced market
Finally, active inventory is certainly on the rise as more people are getting comfortable putting their houses on the market and life changes require moves. Having more inventory to choose from will certainly provide buyers with more options, giving them potentially more ability to negotiate with sellers. This varies wildly by market and property type, with coastal condo properties having more on the market often due to reluctant sellers who are unable to afford assessments and insurance. Overall though, inventory levels are simply returning to pre-pandemic levels after dropping significantly during the Covid boom.
Competition from new construction also weighs on existing home sellers, as builders are able to offer interest rate buy downs and other incentives to move properties off their books, pulling potential buyers away from sellers. While Florida has certainly not been building at the same pace it was prior to the Great Financial Crisis, several years of development activity has resulted in more new construction for both property types. Potential condo buyers tend to gravitate toward these properties in large part because they are less likely to have regulatory and assessment issues that older existing properties may have. While existing single-family properties often offer better locations and access to established amenities, they too may present issues that a new build would not.
That said, median sale price, while softening somewhat, remains at significantly higher levels than pre-pandemic, and interest rates compound to make monthly costs of ownership out of reach for many. Favorability for buyers has not translated to affordability just yet.
