
ORLANDO, Fla., Sept. 16, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Florida's housing market appeared to be leveling off in August, after nearly a full year of steadily improving home sales, according to Florida Realtors®' latest housing report.
Last month, closed sales of existing single-family homes statewide totaled 21,497, down 1.4% year-over-year, while existing condo-townhouse sales totaled 7,291, down 1.8% over August 2025, according to data from Florida Realtors Research Department in partnership with local Realtor® boards/associations. Closed sales may occur from 30- to 90-plus days after sales contracts are written.
"Florida's housing market is moving toward a more balanced pace as buyers and sellers adjust to today's conditions," said 2026 Florida Realtors® President Chuck Bonfiglio Jr., broker-owner of AAA Realty Group in Plantation. "Prices remain relatively steady, while lower inventory shows how quickly conditions can shift from one local market to another."
"For buyers and sellers, preparation still matters. Pricing, timing and local market knowledge can make a real difference, which is why working with a local Realtor® remains so important."
Florida Realtors Chief Economist Dr. Brad O'Connor noted that several of the year-over-year growth streaks seen over the past year came to an end in August. While these months-long positive trends resulted in part from several factors that occurred in the second half of 2025, the reason the streaks just ended is due to the higher rate environment we currently face, he explained.
"In fact, coming into August, we had experienced 12 consecutive months of year-over-year increases in new pending sales for existing single-family homes, and 11 straight months of year-over-year increases in closed sales," he said. "But those monthly year-over-year increases had already been shrinking before ending in August, in no small part due to the consistently rising mortgage rates we've seen so far in 2026. The gap between this year's mortgage rates and last year's mortgage rates narrowed considerably through the first half of 2026, and now we find ourselves with higher mortgage rates than we had a year ago.
"Still, looking at rates over the long run, the movement of the average 30-year fixed mortgage rate in 2025 and 2026 between 6% and 7% has been rather small in the grand scheme of things. We aren't talking about a seismic shift in affordability one way or the other. But on the margin, the recent rise in rates has been enough to slow home sales growth, and the affordability constraints induced by elevated mortgage rates are likely going to be with us for the foreseeable future."
Despite the mild slowdown in sales activity, tightening inventory is keeping home prices largely intact, O'Connor said. The statewide median sales price for single-family existing homes in August was $415,000, up 1.2% compared to a year ago, while the statewide median price for condo-townhouse units was $298,000, up 2.8% compared to August 2025. The median is the midpoint; half the homes sold for more, half for less.
On the supply side of the market, single-family existing homes were at a 4.3-months' supply in in August, while condo-townhouse properties were at a 7.7-months' supply.
"Florida's housing market still has a lot of good things going for it and we're not expecting to see any major upward or downward movements in closed sales over the next several months," O'Connor said. "We continue to see some evidence that migration into Florida is starting to pick back up a bit, and little by little, sellers and buyers who have been sitting on the fence thinking the market might return to what it looked like in 2021 are starting to realize that there's not much sense in delaying making a move at this point."
He added, "Sales remain relatively stable, inventory continues to tighten, and home prices are holding up well despite mortgage rates that remain challenging for many buyers."
To see the full statewide housing activity reports, go to the Florida Realtors Newsroom and look under Latest Releases or download the August 2026 data report PDFs under Market Data.
Florida Realtors® is The Voice for Real Estate® in Florida. It provides programs, services, continuing education, research and legislative representation to 230,000 members in 47 boards/associations. Florida Realtors® Newsroom website is available at http://floridarealtors.org/newsroom.
SOURCE Florida Realtors
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