Florida Faces Pileup of Unsold Homes

Florida has seen the biggest year-over-year surge in stale inventory in the entire nation in November, according to a new report by real estate brokerage Redfin, as new properties flooded the market at a time when few seemed to be interested in buying them.

The Sunshine State, together with Texas, now has the highest share of homes sitting idle in the market for over 60 days without going under contract, Redfin wrote.

Redfin told Newsweek that 60.6 percent of Florida inventory was stale at the end of November, having been sitting on the market for at least 60 days by the end of the same month. "That is up from 50.6 percent stale inventory in November 2023, which is 10 percentage points up from last year," according to the real estate brokerage.

Why It Matters

The recent rise in stale listings is yet another sign that the once-booming Florida housing market is now facing a likely downturn as inventory piles up at a time when demand is dwindling.

What To Know

Among the top 50 metropolitan areas in the country with the highest shares of homes sitting idle on the market waiting for a buyer, six were in Florida. Miami, the city with the highest share of stale listings in the country, counted a total of 63.8 percent of homes that had stayed on the market without going under contract.

A listing needs to stay on the market without going under contract for at least 30 days to be considered stale; Florida more than doubled this number, with homes staying for an average of 69 days on the market before being sold. Nationwide, it took an average 43 days for a home to sell in the same month.

The entire country is facing a surge in stale inventory. Over half (54.5 percent) of home listings last month stayed on the market for 60 days or longer without going under the contract—the highest share for any November since 2019. But in Florida, the problem is particularly acute.

Fort Lauderdale, Florida, had the third-biggest share of stale listings in the country in November, at 62.3 percent, after Austin, Texas, at 62.4 percent. It was followed by San Antonio, Texas, at 60.3 percent; and Orlando, Florida, at 59.9 percent.

But it was Tampa that took the top spot among the top 50 metros for the highest year-over-year increase in stale inventory. A total of 56.9 percent of listings in November in the city were on the market for at least 60 days without being sold, up 12.3 percent compared to a year earlier.

Next came Fort Lauderdale, Florida (up by 12 percent), Orlando, Florida (up by 11 percent), San Diego, California (up by 11 percent) and West Palm Beach, Florida (up by 11 percent).

The surge in stale listings in Florida is closely linked to the fact that the state has built more new homes than any other state in the country in the past few years, with the exception of Texas. Both Florida and Texas faced a massive flow of new residents during the pandemic.

There are new homes on the market—and with less inbound migration, historically high home prices and mortgage rates, an increasing number of them are remaining unsold.

What People Are Saying

Commenting on the latest data on stale inventory, Redfin experts said: "Florida and Texas have been building more homes than anywhere else in the country, which is one reason inventory, and thus, stale listings, are on the rise.

"Surging HOA [homeowners association] fees, high insurance costs and destructive natural disasters are also making many Florida house hunters hesitant to pull the trigger."

Nick Gerli, CEO of real estate data platform Reventure App, previously told Newsweek that homebuilders in states like Florida and Texas "permitted lots of homes during the pandemic boom and continue to permit homes in late 2024, even as buyer demand has cooled." The result, he said, "is a big pileup of homes for sale."

What's Next

Tricky times are ahead for the Florida housing market. Several experts told Newsweek that prices are likely to fall in the Sunshine State next year as a result of the growth in inventory and active listings.

Update, 1/2/2025 5 a.m. ET: This article was updated to add a comment from Redfin.