2024 may go down as the worst year for existing home sales in the US since 1995 (look at cover page chart).
And the trickle-down effect to the Delray Beach real estate market has similar correlations.
For context, the image below is the area I refer to as downtown Delray Beach real estate. In this area there are about 2,399 homes (including condos and townhomes).
As of this morning there were just 102 properties sold this year. That’s a turnover rate of about 4.25%. In years past this area turned over about 7.5% on average or about 180 units.
That’s almost a 43% decrease in the average number of units sold in downtown Delray.
Compare this to 2023-year-end sales of 131 units in the downtown Delray Beach real estate area. That’s a one year drop of 22%.
To get even more depressing, the average price drop of active listings is 7.9%, or $56k.
So perhaps the worst is almost over for sellers?
Not so fast.
Downtown Delray Beach Real Estate Big Changes
One year ago, there were only 75 units available in this market. Today there are 108 units for a 44% increase. At the same time, the median price is up just 2.4% (finally some good seller news).
But the Months of Supply was 6.6 one year ago and today it’s 12.4. As a reminder, anything above 6 is a buyer’s market – meaning there is more competition of listings giving buyers more options.
And that doesn’t bode well for sellers. All we need to look at is the Days On Market (DOM) – the time it takes to sell a property – to see the pain.
For all of 2024 the DOM average was 97 days.
But let’s take a wider view and look at the Delray Beach real estate market overall:
* # of sold listings is down just 13%
* Active listings are up only 19%
* Median price is up 9%
* Average DOM is 54 days
Delray Beach Real Estate Starts 2025 With Good News
As I look ahead as we begin 2025, I’m seeing signs that home sellers will enjoy. And it’s not just me, but almost unanimous in my conversations with other realtors in the area.
We are busier than ever.
I’m now taking “come list me” phone calls from sellers. I haven’t experienced this since operating here. So, sellers are now past the “rate-lock” stage of this real estate market when they wouldn’t consider selling due to their existing 3-4% mortgage rates.
At the same time, my website traffic in the last 60 days is up over 100% compared to all 2024. This is a combination of sellers and buyers, and the conversations are more frequent and serious. Meaning, sellers want to sell… and buyers are eager to buy.
Downtown Delray Beach real estate remains a hot ticket item whether it’s condos, townhomes, or the midcentury housing market.
For buyers, I believe they are now accustomed to this 7% mortgage rate world. One year ago, the 30-yr rate was 6.7%. Today is about 7.03%. In most of my conversations with buyers, they believe that getting a 5% rate – or even 6% – may take longer than they can wait. Most aren’t convinced it may even happen again.
That thinking aligns with my own.
Moving forward, industry experts believe the number of sales will increase in 2025. Some say by as much as 10%. If that holds true, that’d be an extra 400k sales in the US. And that will trickle down to local markets like our Delray Beach real estate market.
This is the first year in a handful of years when we’re starting out with ample optimism for our Delray Beach real estate market. I believe both sellers and buyers will make out just fine in 2025.
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*** This week I’ll publish my new property tour video on my YouTube Channel. In it I go into detail about what’s happening in the specific neighborhood and what the Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA) plans to do over the next 5 years and the amount of capital The City of Delray is putting into it
*** Sustainability is a subject gaining momentum in life and in real estate. Read my latest essay. If you live in Florida you know how important it is for our homes to become more resilient
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*** South Florida Real Estate Inventory is Now ABOVE 2019***
Last week’s supply was 55,268
Today’s supply is 54,931
That’s a drop of 337 units last week
