South Florida home prices have settled at last. But will the calm last?
In a sign that South Florida’s astronomical home prices may be settling, median sales prices for both houses and condos in Miami-Dade and Broward counties slipped or remained flat, according to data released Tuesday by the Miami Realtors Association.
Median sales prices of single-family homes in Miami-Dade dropped by 3% between April and May, from $515,000 to $500,000, despite a surge in the number of transactions. Condo prices remained steady, with a median price of $325,000. While prices also slipped in February to $450,000 from $469,500 the prior month, they later surged.
In Broward, the median sales price of a single-family home dipped by a mere .05%, from $464,000 to $463,750, while condos slipped by 5%, month to month from $220,000 to $210,000.
But don’t expect to find bargains any time soon.
In both counties, prices were more than 20% higher than the same time in 2020, when the region was just coming out of lockdown.
And the dips are temporary, said Alicia Cervera Jr., and price increases are imminent. Cervera is the managing partner of the family-run brokerage firm Cervera Real Estate.
“The interest rate is great; the population continues to increase. We are not going to move backwards. There is nothing to indicate that prices are going to start decreasing,” Cervera said. “If someone wants to buy in Miami, they should buy. I wouldn’t be waiting for prices to drop.”
Still, price increases are expected to be less dramatic than last year, she said, when Miami-Dade median sales prices for houses increased by 21% between January and December of 2020.
“We had a huge surge pricing because there was this huge waterfall of people that landed in Miami at the same time,” she said. “That will level off.”
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Miami-Dade
Year over year, the total number of sales increased by a whopping 172.6%, from 1,297 in May 2020 to 3,536 in May 2021. Single-family home sales grew by 85.3%, leaving the county with an extremely tight supply of 2.2 months. Condo sales soared by 286.5%, resulting in a six months supply. A balanced market consists of six to nine months of inventory.
The median sales price of a house jumped by 33.1% year over year, from $375,714 in May 2020 to $500,000 in May 2021. The median sales price of a condo rose by 25% year over year, from $260,000 to $325,000.
Houses closed at 98.7% of the listing price, up from 95.6% last year. Condos closed at 95.8% of the listing price, up from 92.9% from May 2020.
Cash buyers comprised 38.9% of total sales, up year-over-year from 25.9%. That percentage is higher than the national figure of 23%.
Broward
The total number of sales leaped by 142.3%, from 1,529 in May 2020 to 3,705 in May 2021. The volume of single-family home sales doubled, while condo sales grew by 189.7%.
Broward now has 1.4 months of supply of houses and 2.8 months of condos.
Year over year, the median sales price of a house rose by 24.5%, from $372,500 in May 2020 to $463,750 in May 2021. The median sales price of a condo increased by 20% during the same period, from $175,000 to $210,000.
Sellers got what they wanted. Houses closed at 100% of the listing price, higher than 96.2% from last year. Condos closed at 96.4% of the listing price, an uptick from 94.1% in May 2020.
Cash buyers comprised 38.4% of total sales in Broward, up year over year from 29.3%. The percentage is higher than the national figure of 23%.
This story was originally published June 22, 2021 at 6:30 PM.
