Jacksonville residents are following a nationwide trend of staying in their homes longer.
The median home tenure in Jacksonville is 13.2 years, compared to 9.5 years in 2010, according to a report done by Redfin.
Once those long-time owners do sell, many will see a healthy return on their investment. The median Jacksonville home price jumped from $132,950 in 2010 to $240,000 in 2019, according to Redfin.
The trend in Jacksonville closely mirrors the national average. Redfin found the typical American homeowner in 2019 stayed in a home 13 years, up from eight years in 2010. Median home tenure increased in all of the 55 metros Redfin analyzed.
Jacksonville and Florida incentivizes homeowners to stay put with a homestead exemption.
The exemption removes $25,000 off the assessed value of an owner-occupied residence and could provide up to another $25,000 additional exemption off assessed value over $50,000, according to the Duval County Property Appraiser’s office.
It also triggers the “Save Our Homes” benefit, which limits future annual increases in assessed value to 3% or less.
When a home is finally sold, the assessed value increases to the market value for the next owner.
Like Florida, Redfin found that many local governments across the country have put policies in place that reduce property tax burdens for those who stay in their homes longer.
The result: Aging in place has reduced the number of homes for sale. Homeowners age 67 to 85 are remaining homeowners longer, causing a shortage of 1.6 million homes, according to a report by Freddie Mac.
In Jacksonville, Redfin found there were 35.4% fewer homes for sale in 2019 as compared to 2010.
Bill Bortzfield can be reached at bbortzfield@wjct.org, 904-358-6349 or on Twitter at @BortzInJax.
