Miami-Dade’s hottest single-family neighborhood has millennial home buyers to thank
Millennial first-time home buyers made South Miami one of the hottest neighborhoods in 2020.
The number of single-family home sales rose 139% year-over-year for houses priced over $750,000 when comparing August through December 2019 to the same period in 2020, according to sales data by Prestige Realty Group and RelatedISG International Realty. South Miami had the highest increase of the total 12 South Florida areas included in the study. The city had 67 closings, up from 28 last year.
Prestige Realty Group and RelatedISG collected data from the Multiple Listing Service, or MLS, on all single-family home sales above $750,000 for cities located in Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach.
The leap in transactions indicated that South Miami was undervalued in 2019, said Craig Studnicky, co-founder and CEO of International Sales Group and RelatedISG.
The sales numbers increased year-over-year, he said, thanks to millennials eager to social distance and take advantage of interest rates.
“Millennials shifted to their mindset in a big way. COVID told them they couldn’t live that prime party life anymore and mortgage rates went down so low that Mom and Dad sat them down and said this is the time to buy,” Studnicky said. South Miami was also popular with relocating Northeasterners looking beyond pricey Miami Beach.
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Upscale South Miami houses — priced above $750,000 — sold for an average of $1.4 million.
Golden Beach and Miami Beach, respectively, followed South Miami in the number of sales year over year. Golden Beach saw a 110% jump — from 10 sales in 2019 to 21 in 2020, while Miami Beach had a 75% increase, from 193 sales in 2019 to 337 in 2020.
The average sales prices for homes above $750,000 are $5.6 million in Golden Beach and $4.7 million in Miami Beach.
Buyers from the Northeast — mostly 50-year-olds to 70-year-olds — drove sales activity in those two cities, Studnicky said.
“Miami Beach and Golden Beach have always been attractive to the Northeast market, especially to New Yorkers. They think of the sand and water,” Studnicky said. “We had an influx of buyers from New York and people were looking at either a second home in Florida to escape COVID-19 or to relocate entirely because of taxes.”
Other areas saw a year-over-year increase in sales for the period for houses priced over $750,000:
▪ Doral had a 67% increase, from 24 in 2019 to 40 in 2020. The average sales price was $1.02 million.
▪ West Palm Beach had a 57% increase, from 127 in 2019 to 199 in 2020. The average sales price was $1.7 million.
▪ Coral Gables had a 44% increase, from 312 sales in 2019 to 450 in 2020. The average sales price was $2.65 million.
▪ Miramar/Pembroke Pines had a 43% increase, from 30 in 2019 to 43 in 2020. The average sales price was $953,000.
▪ Weston had a 38% increase, from 139 in 2019 to 192 in 2020. The average sales price was $1.19 million.
▪ Pinecrest had a 38% increase, from 200 in 2019 to 276 in 2020. The average sales price was $1.99 million.
▪ Aventura had a 27% increase, from 15 in 2019 to 19 in 2020. The average sales price was $1.36 million.
▪ Davie/Plantation had a 24% increase, from 243 in 2019 to 301 in 2020. The average sales price was $1.18 million.
▪ Fort Lauderdale had a 19% increase, from 488 in 2019 to 583 in 2020. The average sales price was $2.15 million.
This story was originally published January 5, 2021 at 7:00 AM.
