South Florida’s Realtors shrug off dip in July’s home sales. Pending transactions are up
Home sales in South Florida continue to fall short when compared to last year, according to a report issued Friday by the Miami Association of Realtors. But local real estate professionals remain optimistic due to double-digit growth in July’s pending transactions reports as buyers from the northeast continue to stream into South Florida, despite the region’s high COVID rates.
Total home sales in both Miami-Dade and Broward dropped by more than 6% in July 2020 from July 2019. That decrease is actually good news, marking substantial improvement over May, when year-over-year sales plummeted by 50%, and June, when year-over-year sales were off by 20%.
“The decrease in home sales in July is not unexpected as closings in the current environment are taking 60 to 90 days,” said Danny Hertzberg, a sales associate for The Jills Zeder Group, via email. “Lenders are taking longer than they did pre-COVID. Cash deals are typically 30 to 45 days. July sales are an indication of the May and June market.”
For would-be buyers, the growing demand added up to higher prices for both single-family houses and condos. In both counties, the median price of a single-family home is now $400,000 or more.
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Miami-Dade
The total number of home sales dipped by 7.5%, from 1,270 in July 2019 to 1,194 in July 2020. The number of transactions decreased by 6% for single-family homes and by 9.1% for condos.
The inventory of active listings dwindled by 32.1% for single-family homes, from 6,489 in July 2019 to 4,409 in July 2020, and by 6.1% for condos, from 15,378 to 14,444. The market has 4.3 months of supply of single-family homes — advantageous conditions for sellers — and 14.2 months of supply for condos, favorable for buyers. A supply of six to nine months is considered a balanced market.
“Inventory is not keeping up [for single-family homes],” Hertzberg said. “Turnkey homes are the ones that are most in demand.”
With such tight inventory, it’s no surprise that median prices rose year-over-year by 10.2% for single-family homes, from $372,000 in July 2019 to $410,000 in July 2020. Condo prices grew by 4.2%, from $249,500 to $260,000.
Total new pending sales jumped by 23.8% for single-family homes, from 1,289 in July 2019 to 1,692 in July 2020.
New York remains the largest feeder market for Miami’s single-family homes, Hertzberg said. “It’s different to have an increase in the number of Covid-19 cases from having so many deaths and not having enough hospital beds.”
Many are looking in gated communities in or near Coral Gables and Pinecrest for the proximity to its well-regarded schools, he said.
New pending sales for condos grew 6% year-over-year, from 1,367 in July 2019 to 1,454 in July 2020.
“To stand out in a crowded field, price is a factor,” Hertzberg said.
Transactions closed at almost 95.9% of the listing price for single-family homes, up slightly from 95.5% in July 2019, and 93.8% of the listing price for condos, down from 94% last year.
All-cash deals decreased year-over-year from 30.3% to 27.8%. Still, local cash sales are above the national average of 16%.
Broward
The total number of residential sales ticked down by 6.6%, from 3,181 in July 2019 to 2,972 in July 2020. Sales of single-family homes inched up by 0.7%, and condos decreased by 14.3%.
The inventory of active listings dropped by 33% for single-family homes, from 5,562 in July 2019 to 3,725 in July 2020. The number of condo listings increased by 1.6%, from 7,832 to 7,955. The market has a tight 3.1 months of supply of single-family homes and 6.6 months of supply for condos.
Median prices grew year-over-year by 5.3% for single-family homes, from $380,000 to $400,000, and by 13.6% for condos, from $172,000 to $196,000.
Total pending sales rose for single-family homes by 24.4%, from 1,582 to 2,093, and by 5.2% for condos, from 1,702 to 1,796.
For single-family homes, Coral Springs and Parkland are the most popular neighborhoods, said Jared Ringel, principal agent of the Atlas Team. “A lot of people are moving there because of the school districts.”
As in Miami-Dade, out-of-town buyers are coming from New Jersey, New York and Connecticut. “People are scared this may happen again.”
Single-family homes sold for 96.9% of listing price, up from 96% last year; condos closed at 95% of listing price, up from 94.4%.
All-cash transactions dropped year-over-year from 33.3% to 27.5%.
This story was originally published August 21, 2020 at 6:31 PM.
