While the pandemic keeps pounding segments of the economy, home prices in Jacksonville keep rising. Real estate listings company Zillow reports home values in Jacksonville rose 4.8% year-over-year in August.
That’s as Zillow competitor Redfin reports the median nationwide asking price of new listings jumped 12.8% from a year earlier.
A big slowdown in new listings, which can put upward pressure on prices, is likely a direct result of the ongoing pandemic, according to Redfin, which cited a recent survey of more than 1,400 homebuyers and sellers. In the survey, 20% of respondents said that now is a bad time to sell a home, up from 9% in the first quarter of the year.
“The question on everyone's mind is, 'How fast can prices keep rising?'" said Redfin Chief Economist Daryl Fairweather in an email to WJCT News. "Although the housing market is still red hot, there are some early signs we may be nearing peak price growth.”
In the same survey, 38% of home sellers said that they have health or safety concerns due to the coronavirus. Zillow said the available inventory of homes has continued to spiral downward, for the 18th straight week through Sept. 26, currently down 35% from 2019 levels.
Zillow is forecasting the housing market’s price strength to continue through at least 2021. Beyond that, Zillow says the housing market’s outlook is cloudier, with employment expected to take years to recover to where it was pre-pandemic.
At the same time, Construction Coverage, which follows the construction industry, found the Baby Boomer generation owns the largest share of homes in Jacksonville and nationwide.
Among large U.S. cities, Jacksonville has the fifth highest percentage of Baby Boomer homeowners, 43.6%, according to Construction Coverage. The generation accounts for just 21.4% of the city's population.
Nationwide, Americans 55 and older own 54% of homes, up from 44% in 2008, according to the trade publication.
Bill Bortzfield can be reached at bbortzfield@wjct.org or on Twitter at @BortzInJax.
