Florida Home Sales Rise for an 11th Straight Month as the Statewide Median Price Reaches $425,000

Florida's housing market posted its eleventh consecutive month of year over year gains in closed sales across both major property categories in July, according to data released by Florida Realtors. The statewide median sales price for single family existing homes reached $425,000, up 3.7 percent from July 2025, while the condo and townhouse median held flat at $295,000.

Closed sales of existing single family homes totaled 23,870 statewide, an increase of 5.1 percent over the same month a year earlier. Condo and townhouse sales totaled 8,194, up 11 percent. New pending sales rose in both categories, indicating that the trend extended into August closings.

The direction matters for Floridians on both sides of a transaction. For sellers, sustained sales volume and firming prices mark a departure from the softer conditions that characterized much of 2024 and early 2025. For buyers, tightening inventory means the window of relative negotiating leverage is narrowing.

What the July data shows

The single family median of $425,000 represents a 3.7 percent annual increase, a rate that runs modestly ahead of general inflation but well below the double digit appreciation Florida experienced during the pandemic era surge.

The condo and townhouse median at $295,000 was unchanged year over year, which tells a different story than the sales volume figure. Condo transactions rose 11 percent while prices held flat, a combination that indicates the market cleared inventory by holding prices rather than by raising them.

Inventory tightened on the single family side to a 4.5 month supply. Real estate convention treats roughly five and a half to six months as balanced between buyers and sellers, which places single family conditions modestly in sellers' favor at the statewide level.

Condo and townhouse inventory sat at a 7.8 month supply, above the balanced range and meaningfully looser than single family. That gap is the central structural feature of Florida's current market.

Why condos and houses are behaving differently

The divergence between the two categories traces to costs specific to condominium ownership. Florida's condominium safety legislation, adopted after the Surfside collapse, requires milestone structural inspections and mandates that associations fund structural integrity reserves rather than waiving them.

Those requirements have produced substantial special assessments in older buildings, particularly along the coast. A buyer evaluating a condo must weigh not only the purchase price and monthly association fee but also the possibility of an assessment running into tens of thousands of dollars.

Insurance compounds the effect. Master policies covering condominium buildings have risen sharply in coastal markets, and those costs flow through to owners as higher monthly fees.

The result is a market where condo prices have stopped rising even as sales volume increases, because sellers are accepting flat pricing to move units carrying uncertain future costs. Buildings that have completed inspections and funded reserves generally trade more readily than those that have not.

The insurance and rate backdrop

Property insurance remains the dominant variable in Florida housing affordability. A number of carriers filed rate decreases effective in 2026, and Citizens Property Insurance reduced multiperil homeowners rates by an average of 8.8 percent under rates that took effect July 1 for new policies and at renewal for existing ones.

Those decreases follow several years of increases, so the level remains high by historical standards even where the direction has reversed. Insurance costs continue to affect what buyers can qualify for, because lenders include escrowed insurance in debt to income calculations.

Mortgage rates are the other constraint. Thirty year fixed rates dipped below 6 percent briefly in February before moving back above 6.2 percent through the spring, and rate expectations remain unsettled ahead of the Federal Reserve's September meeting.

Rates matter more than prices for monthly payment math. A one percentage point change in mortgage rate affects a typical payment more than a comparable percentage change in purchase price, which is why buyer activity tracks rate movements closely.

What it means for Floridians

For buyers, the practical reading is that the window of soft conditions is closing on the single family side. Inventory at 4.5 months gives sellers more leverage than they had a year ago, and continued sales growth suggests demand is absorbing supply faster than new listings replace it.

Condo buyers face a different calculation. Prices are flat and inventory is ample, which is favorable, but due diligence requirements are higher than they were before the safety legislation. Reviewing an association's reserve study, milestone inspection status, and recent assessment history is now essential rather than optional.

For sellers of single family homes, the data supports realistic pricing rather than aggressive pricing. A 3.7 percent annual gain is a normal market, not a surge, and homes priced above comparable sales still sit.

For owners not transacting, rising prices affect assessed values and therefore property taxes, though Florida's Save Our Homes assessment cap limits annual increases on homesteaded property to 3 percent or the change in the consumer price index, whichever is lower.

Regional variation

Statewide medians conceal substantial regional differences. South Florida markets have reported momentum with sales rising and conditions shifting toward sellers, according to regional realtor associations, while price levels there sit well above the statewide median.

The interior counties absorbing inland migration show different dynamics, with lower absolute prices and rapid percentage appreciation as demand arrives in markets that historically saw little.

Southwest Florida markets that absorbed hurricane damage in recent years have followed their own trajectory, with rebuilt and elevated properties trading differently than pre storm stock.

North Florida markets around Jacksonville and Tallahassee generally price below the statewide median and have been less exposed to the insurance pressures that dominate coastal South and Southwest Florida.

Reading months of supply correctly

Months of supply is the most useful single indicator in the Florida data, and it is frequently misread. The figure is calculated by dividing active inventory by the recent monthly pace of sales, which produces an estimate of how long it would take to sell everything currently listed if no new listings appeared.

Because the denominator is the sales pace, the number moves for two reasons that have opposite meanings. Supply can rise because listings increased, which indicates more choice for buyers, or because sales slowed, which indicates weakening demand. Distinguishing between them requires looking at both components.

In July's data, single family supply tightened to 4.5 months while sales rose 5.1 percent. That combination means demand absorbed inventory faster than new listings replaced it, which is the reading that favors sellers.

The condo figure of 7.8 months alongside an 11 percent sales increase means listings remained ample even as transactions rose, which is why prices there held flat rather than climbing. Both categories saw more sales; only one saw prices respond.

What sellers and buyers should actually do

For sellers, pricing to recent comparable closed sales rather than to active listings is the practical discipline. Active listings reflect what sellers hope to get; closed sales reflect what buyers paid. In a market appreciating at under 4 percent annually, the gap between those two figures determines how long a property sits.

Condition and insurability increasingly determine outcomes in Florida. Roof age is the single most consequential item, because carriers apply age limits and buyers cannot obtain financing without coverage. A roof approaching the end of its insurable life is effectively a price adjustment whether or not the seller treats it as one.

For buyers, obtaining an insurance quote before the inspection period expires has become as important as the inspection itself. A property that appears affordable on price can become unaffordable on premium, and discovering that after the contingency period has run leaves no remedy.

Wind mitigation inspections are worth commissioning because they document features including roof deck attachment, roof to wall connections, and opening protection that generate premium credits. Those credits are substantial in coastal counties and can materially change the carrying cost of a purchase.

For condo buyers, the association's reserve study, milestone inspection status, budget, and recent meeting minutes are the documents that matter most, and Florida law entitles buyers to review association records during the statutory examination period.

Who is buying Florida homes

The composition of demand shapes how the market behaves, and Florida's mix differs from most states in ways that affect both prices and inventory.

Domestic in migration remains the largest driver. Buyers relocating from higher cost states arrive with equity from prior sales and often with the ability to pay cash, which allows them to compete against local buyers dependent on financing. Cash transactions represent a substantially higher share of Florida sales than the national average.

Retirement driven purchases continue to be significant, particularly in Southwest Florida, The Villages area, and parts of the Atlantic coast. Those buyers are frequently less sensitive to mortgage rates because many purchase without financing.

Investor activity, including both short term rental purchases and long term rental holdings, competes for the same inventory that owner occupants seek, particularly in the lower price tiers. Local governments in tourist areas have adopted varying regulations on short term rentals, and those rules affect investor demand at the neighborhood level.

International buyers, historically important in South Florida markets, respond to currency movements and to conditions in their home countries. Latin American and Canadian buyers have been the largest groups in Miami-Dade and Broward.

First time buyers face the hardest path, competing against cash and against carrying costs that include insurance burdens their counterparts in other states do not carry.

What's next

The August data, due from Florida Realtors next month, will test whether the streak extends to twelve months. New pending sales rose in July, which is the leading indicator for August and September closings and points toward continuation.

The Federal Open Market Committee meets September 15 and 16. Mortgage rates track ten year Treasury yields more closely than they track the federal funds rate, so the market's reaction to the Fed's guidance may matter more than the rate decision itself.

Insurance filings for 2027 will begin surfacing in the fall, and whether the recent pattern of decreases continues will shape affordability into next year.

Condominium market conditions will depend substantially on how many associations complete inspections and fund reserves over the next year. Buildings that resolve those obligations are likely to see values separate from those that do not.