Brad O'Connor directly addresses camera: Hey, everyone. We're on site today at the 2024 Florida Realtors Convention and Trade Expo here at the Rosen Shingle Creek in Orlando. That's one reason to celebrate. But another reason to celebrate is that our July housing market statistics have just been released. So let's take a look, shall we? If you watched last month's video, you'll recall that closed sales were down a fair amount year over year in June.
But you may also remember that there was a sizable amount of pending inventory at the end of June, particularly in the single-family home category. So did our pending inventory yield enough closings in July for us to see a rebound? The answer is yes. Statewide, single family home sales in July were up 5.2% compared to a year ago.
Granted not by enough to offset the decline in June, but we'll take it. As for the townhouse and condo category, we came up a little bit short. But let's face it, July's 1.2% year over year decline in closed townhouse and condo sales is far more preferable than that 20% drop we had in June. Over on the supply side of things.
New listings of single-family homes remained in line with what we would have expected in the pre-pandemic market, but there were almost 11% more new listings this July compared to last year's unusually low count. Meanwhile, nearly 14% more townhouses and condos came onto the market in July compared to a year ago.
The inventory of single-family homes continues to rise. But over the last three months, this growth has slowed as each month has passed. I'd caution, however, that this slowdown may be, in part, just a seasonal effect. Notice that from 2014 through 2019, statewide Single-Family inventory levels generally declined in the summer months, with 2018 as the one exception.
Remember that in late 2018, we saw 5% mortgage rates. That sure seemed high back then, but right now it's looking pretty good.
Townhouse and condo. Inventory levels are now above where they were during the 2014 to 2019 pre pandemic, post Great Recession period. However, month over month inventory growth has really flattened out over the past 2 to 3 months. Plus everything is relative. The current statewide level of condo inventory still does not come close to where we were coming out of the Great Recession.
That said, clearly we now have enough inventory to keep prices from further increases of any significance for the time being. That's really been evident for most of this year. In July, the median sale price for closed single family home sales in Florida was about $417,000, up a half a percent from a year ago. The median price in the townhouse and condo category, meanwhile, fell by 1.3% to $315,000.
It's really important to keep in mind right now that we're starting to see markets in different parts of the state exhibit different behaviors, statistically speaking. Inventory has remained well below pre-pandemic levels in South Florida, but in many parts of the state, inventory levels are a fair amount higher. So, one of the best exercises you can do if you follow along with us each month, is to check the statistics for your local market to see how it matches up with the statewide figures.
And one great way to do that is to utilize SunStats. Your free market statistics service for Florida Realtors members. Of course, you can always see if your local association has any statistical reports as well. Either way, you'll definitely want to keep tabs on your local market in the coming months. I can't recommend it enough. Anyway, that's all I have for this month.
Take care and see you soon.