Jacksonville is struggling with distressed debtors. The real estate market isn't falling apart, but there are some signs of stress. Another great example is the average sale to list ratio, which looks at what percentage of list price the average home sold in our market actually goes for. In January it was 92.7, the lowest it's been at any time since the Pandemic began in 2020 (and well before). When combined with an ever increasing number of average days on the market, it looks like buyers are exercising more negotiating power. Seller's should probably dampen expectations and prepare for a long listing period and a difficult negotiation on price.
Last week Wallethub published a study that's had a lot of folks in our local real estate market buzzing. ?? It listed Jacksonville as the #3 city in the country with the most people in financial distress. There were a ton of metrics included in the aggregate scoring, but two numbers really stand out. 1. Jacksonville is tied for #1 for the number of people with accounts in distress. 2. Jacksonville is tied for #1 in the average number of accounts in distress. That's pretty alarming for a number of reasons. First and foremost, because Jacksonville is a fairly cheap city to live in. The cost of living index has us 7.4% LOWER than the average cost of living in the United States. When you consider the wealth of high paying jobs in healthcare, fintech, and logistics, It certainly begs the question of why things are looking so bleak for us. On the housing side, we've seen a fairly neutral start to the year, with the number of sold listings about half a percent higher January 2025 over January 2024, despite some incredibly stubborn interest rates. All this leads me to believe that despite the overleverage of account holders in Jacksonville, the economy here is still supporting growth. Maybe I'm just biased because I love the city, but I look at the billions being invested into our downtown as a strong bellwether of what the next few years should look like.
