Home shoppers around Jacksonville are walking a little slower while prices keep striding ahead. In February, the region’s median single-family sales price jumped 5.3% from January to $388,500 even as pending contracts tumbled roughly 23%. More listings are sticking around, yet sellers are still getting their numbers. Closed sales climbed to 1,469 and active inventory nudged up to about 6,667 homes, making the market looser than it was a year ago and setting up a spring season that looks closer to balance than frenzy.
The numbers come from the March 16 monthly market release from the Northeast Florida Association of REALTORS®, which also reported the region’s Home Affordability Index sliding to 88 as rising costs squeeze would-be buyers. NEFAR President Kim Knapp noted in the report that “inventory growth is giving buyers more options, while sellers are still seeing movement when homes are priced and positioned well.” The release also logged 2,282 new listings in February and a median 50 days on market, a sign that buyers are taking more time to commit. According to Northeast Florida Association of REALTORS®, the region sat at about 4.5 months of supply.
Builders, permits and what’s building
On the construction side, February delivered a split-screen story. The Northeast Florida Builders Association counted 676 single-family permits, a 12.5% jump from January that still represented about a 19.4% drop from a year earlier. Most of that action was concentrated in Duval and St. Johns counties. The pattern suggests builders are staying in the game but not pushing as hard as last year as lot availability along with materials and labor costs influence how many homes actually get started and delivered. Local reporting lays out the county-by-county permit totals and year-to-date trends.
Inventory gives buyers more leverage
Total inventory ticked up to 6,667 homes while new listings dipped slightly from January, a mix that still leaves more choices for buyers who can clear today’s stricter underwriting and higher payments. Pending sales slid to 1,232, a sharp one-month pullback that usually hints at slower closings in the pipeline, even as February’s closed sales rose off contracts inked earlier in the winter. With the affordability index down at 88, many typical buyers are feeling a tighter squeeze than they did a few years ago. The bottom line: sellers with realistic pricing are still moving homes, but buyers walk into negotiations with a bit more leverage than they had during the peak frenzy.
County snapshots
The county breakdown shows how uneven the region has become. Duval County’s median price climbed to $326,000 in February, with closed sales rising to 745 while pending contracts slipped to 626, according to local reporting. St. Johns County held onto its top spot as the priciest market at $542,000, with 393 closed sales. Nassau County’s median jumped to $492,500 as its closed sales also increased. Putnam and Baker counties stayed the more affordable end of the spectrum, with Putnam’s median up to $270,400, while Clay County hovered near $349,000. Together, the numbers highlight the widening gap between coastal and inland segments of Northeast Florida. The fuller county comparison was detailed by the Jacksonville Daily Record.
How local numbers fit the national picture
Jacksonville is not moving in a vacuum. National housing data show a similar pattern in many metros: inventory creeping higher while prices mostly hold or ease, which helps explain why buyers are approaching offers more carefully. Realtor.com’s February market report found active listings and months of supply rising in several large metros even as median prices were a mixed bag. That backdrop of more inventory combined with still-elevated borrowing costs lines up neatly with what Northeast Florida just saw in February, where pending contracts cooled even as closed-sale prices stayed firm. The metro comparisons are laid out at Realtor.com.
For locals, the takeaway is straightforward. Sellers still benefit from thoughtful pricing, solid staging and realistic expectations, but the days of instant, multiple over-asking offers are fading. Buyers who come prepared with financing and a clear sense of budget have more homes to choose from and a bit more room to negotiate. Builders’ permitting shows a pipeline that is still flowing, just not flooding the market, as the year-over-year drop in starts points to steady rather than runaway supply growth. Local brokers say the real test will come as spring unfolds and reveals whether February was a brief pause or the start of a more settled, balanced market.
