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Housing demand in Leon County remains strong despite increases in price, interest rate

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TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WTXL) — The housing demand in Leon County is still strong, but the increase in prices and interest rates are leaving potential buyers discouraged.

Savannah Calhoun is one of those buyers.

Her and her fiancé started looking for a house in March.

They found a home they liked and got it under contract.

It fell through due to financing in May and the seller went with another offer.

After that, Savannah decided to stop looking to buy a home.

"It really has been a big let down because it was supposed to be this whole like exciting next step for us and it kind of turned into well you know that sucked and we lost a lot of money," Calhoun said.

Kelly Chavers is the owner of Hum Real Estate.

He said in the past month, interest rates have also gone up from 5 to 6%.

Because of this and the smaller inventory, he doesn't think waiting for homes to become more affordable is smart.

"I don't see those prices coming down anytime soon and honestly they seem to be going no where but up at this point," Chavers said.

Last month's home price average was $371,000. Now, it's $383,000.

The low inventory and high demand is what's driving up the prices.

Chavers says there's no longer a buying season for real estate.

"We'll have the same amount of buyers that are looking year round right now because of the limitation of the overall inventory. So when they're constantly looking, then the homes are constantly selling," Chavers said.

Last month, 346 homes old in Leon County according to Chavers. This month, there are currently 350 homes for sale.