Two leading US house price indices show US homes at record highs, but already moderating. There are bargains to be found in some popular parts of Florida already.
The latest US House Price Index from the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) has shown a small rise in prices over the past quarter but a slight drop in June. The fastest growing region was Syracuse in upstate New York.
Overall, US house prices are 5.7% higher than last year. However, they fell by 0.1% in May and that has driven down the quarterly rise to just under 1%.
Miami Beach (Bilanol / Shutterstock.com)
Drilling down into areas, the Middle Atlantic region (including New York and New Jersey) had the largest growth at 8.5% over the year. there were some standout locations in Florida too. In the metro region of Miami-Miami Beach-Kendall house prices have risen 13% in the past year, including 2.9% between the winter and spring quarters of 2024.
Western and central Florida also saw strong but steady rises of 6.5% each, annually, but Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford had one of the best quarters in the whole country, with a 2.6% rise in values. On the other hand, those looking for a bargain should consider Cape Coral and Fort Myers, where you will be paying around 3% less than last year.
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Prices at all time high
The FHFA house price index covers tens of millions of home sales and is regarded as one of the most authoritative available. However, there are plenty of other measures of the housing market to consider.
The latest Case Shiller home price index showed annual prices rising by 5.42% nationally and 0.47% over the past month.
While that takes US house prices to their highest level ever, the rise is clearly decelerating. The average property price in Florida is now $394,728 according to Zillow. One interesting stat from Zillow shows the power of negotiation. The average listing price was $426k and the average sale price was $382k. Around 71% of buyers managed to get below the list price while 12% paid over.
International buyers tend to pay more – not because they’re overcharged, but simply because they are beyond the first-time buyer markets. The average price paid by non-Americans is $475,000.
Foreign buyers bought 54,000 properties in the year to March, generally paying cash.
