Jupiter home buyer beware. Things about to get WAY funkier.

Anyone who has been looking to purchase a home today in the Northern Palm Beaches you have to feel sorry for. Really sorry for. If they are getting good advice, solid advice, from a broker who understands construction, condition, pricing and what is going on right now to be successful they must take more risks than normal. They must understand those risks and be willing to pay more than any buyer in history before them. Funky indeed.

Sellers are proudly telling prospects they will only consider cash offers. If you are going to ask for an inspection contingency, you are going to be at a disadvantage. The risks of buying and mistakes, costly mistakes, being made, have never been higher. Be careful. Get educated and make informed decisions. And get ready to get funky.

Right now, the “inventory emergency” for a Jupiter home buyer just keeps getting worse and worse. And funky. Inventory of properties for sale in the Northern Palm Beaches has dropped another 9% so far in December. It’s down more than 10% over the past month. It’s down 66% from where it was a year ago on this date. It’s down as much as 82% from past year inventory levels on this date. Inventory has been dropping for 19 months and that drop has been straight down with no signs of improving.

What you are buying is also important and it’s critical to understand the metrics surrounding each type of property. Single family home inventory is down 17% over the past month. Condo inventory is down 3%. There is a difference and understanding that difference is critical when determining how much to offer for any property.

Interest rates have been trending higher and last week were up to new 36-week highs. Today, the Fed announced they are planning on raising interest rates three times next year. It’s a shocking announcement and points to the fact they don’t have a clue as to what to do about the crazy inflation we are seeing. So it’s time to get funky, raise interest rates and see what happens. That is enough to make dramatic changes to the real estate market. Time will tell.

Pending home sales in the Jupiter area have dropped another 5% over the past month. They are down 22% from last year on this date. They are down 42% over the past 8 months and today sit at the lowest levels we have seen in 19 months. Since May of 2020. Having nothing to buy certainly is the major factor, but now that interest rates are heading higher buyers have a double whammy facing them.

Million-dollar home sales have been the driving force of this market for years and the million-dollar buyer, after disappearing for a few months in April, is back with a vengeance. Closings of homes that sold for over a million dollars in the Northern Palm Beaches during November were higher than year ago numbers for the first time in 3 months. They beat last November’s sales volume by 12%. For the year, sales above a million dollars are already 40% above last year's record smashing numbers and we still have half a month to go. Yes, sir this market is funkier than George Clinton, James Brown and Sly and the Family Stone ever hoped to be Combined. Crazy funky!

Tired of trying to buy a home and think renting might be easier for now? Well good luck with that. The median unfurnished annual rental for a single-family home in Jupiter is up 19% this year to $3,700 a month. Last year it was $3,100. Total rentals of this homes in Jupiter this year will be the lowest we have seen since I started keeping records and that was over 15 years ago. Funky indeed.

The million-dollar buying spurt has been pushing median home prices in the Northern Palm Beaches higher. As we predicted in our last single-family update, the median price has once again started heading higher and today sits above $700,000. By the time we write our next price update we feel we will be telling you about a brand-new record all-time high.

Where do we go from here is anyone’s guess. No signs of where future inventory boosts might come from unless people decide to move out of the area. If someone sells, they have nowhere to go, nothing to rent. Rising interest rates will help but could also rise so high that they kill the economy and the goose that laid this golden egg. So many things happening as Congress just agreed to raise the debt ceiling an incredible $2.5 trillion dollars that they hope might get this country through the next year. Funky times are here my friends and the best I can tell anyone is to be careful, get educated and try to make sensible decisions.

Paradise Sharks Real Estate does whatever we can to help. Our most important goal is educating our clients so they can make informed decisions. We have been doing nothing but real estate for decades, and while we don’t have a crystal ball, we study number like no other broker that I am aware of. For buyers we almost always give them a credit at closing of any commission we receive over 2% as our little way of saying thank you. No doubt in these funky times every little bit helps ease the pain for the buyer. We always try to do what we can.

For sellers, we can list almost any home in the Northern Palm Beaches for a total commission of 3% that includes a 2% co-broke that so many brokers have been using. We need to educate you on what that means and also about the fact if we handle both sides of any transaction how we can usually lower your total commission to no more than 2%. Again, always trying to do our best for our clients, friends and neighbors.

We are living through a history lesson, that just a few years ago nobody could have envisioned. But we are all in the middle of it. Don’t get sold, get educated and if Paradise Sharks Real Estate can ever be of help in any way just let us know. Our consultations are always complimentary and can easily be scheduled by reaching out to us at either 561.308.0175 or?[email protected].

Best wishes for a most blessed Christmas in your home and as always, keep those fins up…..

#jupiterhomebuyer