{"id":129013,"date":"2026-01-23T11:12:09","date_gmt":"2026-01-23T11:12:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/129013\/"},"modified":"2026-01-23T11:12:09","modified_gmt":"2026-01-23T11:12:09","slug":"market-shift-makes-for-a-normalized-home-market-in-northeast-florida","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/129013\/","title":{"rendered":"Market shift makes for a ‘normalized’ home market in Northeast Florida"},"content":{"rendered":"

Home prices dipped and residential construction fell off in Northeast Florida through 2025, yielding advantages for homebuyers in the region.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith inventory being high, buyers were able to get the home they want and negotiate the home that they want,\u201d said Mario Gonzalez, president of the Northeast Florida Association of Realtors and owner of Navy to Navy Homes. \u201cThey can negotiate improvements or repairs, they were able to negotiate again.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gonzalez said the region is experiencing \u201ca more normalized market\u201d after post-pandemic years when prices soared, homes were on the market for days rather than weeks, inventory was low and sellers had a take it or leave it attitude.<\/p>\n

In December 2025, the median home price was $397,000 in Baker, Clay, Duval, Nassau, Putnam and St. Johns counties, the counties tracked by NEFAR. That was was 4% more than November but 2.3% less than the December 2024 price of $399,000.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The average median price throughout 2025, calculated by adding each month\u2019s price and dividing by 12, was $357,244. That was down 3.4% from 2024, when it was $370,073.<\/p>\n

Houses stayed on the market around 42 days, up from 37.42 days in 2024.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The construction sector was sluggish. Permitting fell nearly 30%, from 12,551 single-family permits in 2024 to 8,828 in 2025. It was the lowest rate since 2016.<\/p>\n

\"Townhomes<\/p>\n

Townhomes in North Jacksonville. The city was the only one in Florida named to the National Association of Realtors\u2019 Top 10 Housing Hot Spots for 2026.<\/p>\n

Photo by Monty Zickuhr<\/p>\n

Interest rates played a role in the market shift. Rates for 30-year fixed mortgages in Jacksonville are about 6.2%, according to Fannie Mae, less than the nearly 8% recorded in October 2023 but still higher than levels during the market\u2019s hotter years.\u00a0<\/p>\n

On the construction side, local leaders of the Northeast Florida Builders Association cited uncertainties due to tariffs, community opposition to some large residential developments, increased labor costs and impact fees for the decrease in homebuilding.<\/p>\n

The slowdown of construction, coupled with the price drop of resold homes, left buyers with more choice and increased negotiating power. Those buying a new home could press for incentives and deals on interest rate. If buying a previously owned home, buyers can ask for more upfront repairs rather than buying as-is.<\/p>\n

Gonzalez sees Northeast Florida as a robust market in 2026.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Jacksonville was the only Florida city to be listed on the National Association of Realtors\u2019 Top 10 Housing Hot Spots for 2026. That list was based on 10 economic, demographic and housing factors, including household income growth, job growth, share of sales with price cuts and ratio of rents to mortgages.<\/p>\n

Costs hard to control<\/p>\n

NEFBA presidents Seth Kelley, 2025, and Scott Brannock, 2026, said factors affecting residential construction include rising costs of labor, fees and materials.<\/p>\n

Tariffs placed on China can result in increased prices from 25% to 50% on materials such as lumber, metals wire and finished products like cabinets and vanities.<\/p>\n

\u201cLike it or not, China is a major source for everything from microwaves to<\/p>\n

\"Seth<\/p>\n

Seth Kelley<\/p>\n

extruded aluminum products to fasteners, etc.,\u201d said Kelley, vice president of purchasing at the MasterCraft Builder Group.<\/p>\n

\u201cPost-COVID, we should have seen some material costs go down, but they went up. They went up not because of availability and they didn\u2019t go up because of demand. They went up because a manufacturer or a dealer doesn\u2019t know from one day to the next what their hard cost is.\u201d<\/p>\n

Florida\u2019s minimum wage has increased by $1 per year since 2022, the result of a ballot measure approved by voters in 2020. Under the ballot measure, the wage is set to reach $15 per hour in September 2026.<\/p>\n

Workers earning minimum wage and working 40 hours per week will see an additional $2,080 annually from this year\u2019s increase.<\/p>\n

Kelley said builders pay more than entry-level wages for introductory construction labor.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cSome of the entry-level stuff is probably affected by (the minimum wage),\u201d Kelley said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cSomeone can get a much easier job at a service industry place working hourly than someone sweeping out houses, doing cleaning up on job sites and so forth. The majority of our labor is making more than minimum wage.\u201d<\/p>\n

Impact fee concerns<\/p>\n

Impact fees also are a source of concern for homebuilders. Local governments impose those fees to pay for roads, schools and infrastructure to support the increased population generated by housing developments. Builders generally pass the costs along to buyers, driving up home prices.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cA lot of municipalities have gone to the point where they are dependent on that for all of their infrastructure,\u201d Kelley said. \u201cThat\u2019s putting an undue burden on new construction.\u201d<\/p>\n

He cited National Association of Home Builders statistics that impact fees account for 25% of every dollar spent in construction. \u00a0That figure applies to Northeast Florida, he said.<\/p>\n

\"Scott<\/p>\n

Scott Brannock<\/p>\n

Another factor that slowed residential construction activity in 2025 was community pushback to large residential developments, particularly in St. Johns and Nassau counties. Examples included denials by St. Johns County officials of the proposed 3,000-home Water Lily development along County Road 214 and County Road 13 North, and the 3,300-home \u201cAgrihood\u201d community along County Road 214.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Builders may be able to appease governments through what Brannock, president of Tidewater Homes, calls smart growth.<\/p>\n

He calls for builders to address neighborhood concerns before applying for rezoning. To gain neighbors\u2019 support, he advocates for decreasing the scope of a planned community, increasing lot sizes and saving trees rather than clear-cutting acres of woodland.<\/p>\n

\u201cI personally hope to see more smart growth, rather than large communities, because none of those are getting passed, none of those are getting approved, they\u2019re all being killed,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

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