Florida’s hot summer months typically constitute the cold season for real estate sales.
But not always.
For Lang Realty, which concentrates on real estate in St. Lucie West, PGA Village, Verano and Tradition, the summer off-season was good. John Falkenhager, manager at Lang, said sales were up 16 percent in September alone, the previous quarter – those pesky summer months – was up 12 percent. He attributes the increased home sales not to a glut of inventory, but instead to the specter of rising interest rates.
“Interest rates make a huge impact,” he said, explaining that a quarter-point increase could mean homebuyers spending an extra $30,000 over 30 years on a $250,000 home.
For homes in St. Lucie West, Tradition, PGA Village and Verano, that amount could be higher, given the average home price that Lang Realty sells is $275,000.
Cann Realty, on the other hand, had a different summer experience, despite also focusing efforts on PGA Village and Verano.
Melinda Cann of Cann Realty said this summer was slower than last year. “I really couldn’t tell you,” she said when asked why sales were down. There are fewer single-family homes and more condominium units, and the first quarter of the year was very strong. “It’s a different kind of buyer,” Cann said of those who purchase homes in her target area, which might account for fewer sales over the summer.
She said her agency is the “800-pound gorilla” in Verano and they plan to be for the next seven to 10 years until the development is built out. Thousands of homes have yet to be built, and plans call for three more golf courses. “The cycles go up and down in real estate,” Cann said. She added that while she thinks the area might see a slowdown in sales, St. Lucie County won’t see a crash similar to the Great Recession in 2008. She said the area is still affordable, compared to other communities in Florida.
Falkenhager, of Lang, said that based on this year’s sales, the company expects to be 20 percent over last year. He noted that many of those who come to Lang to buy a home are either relocating from outside the county or are moving from within. Few sellers are leaving the county. Question marks over interest rates and shrinking home inventory have created “a sense of urgency,” Falkenhager said, which helps to increase sales.
While existing home inventory is being snapped up, more and more units are in the process of being built. In Port St. Lucie alone, building permits issued for both single- and multi-family homes during the summer far exceeded what was issued during the same period last year.
Numbers released by the City of Port St. Lucie’s Building Department show that only 15 building permits were issued between July 1 and Sept. 30, 2017, for multi-family units. This year, that same period saw a massive increase to 340 permits issued.
Single-family units also increased, though not by such a dramatic amount. Last year, there were 401 permits issued. This year, that number shot up to 528.
