Real Estate News

How hot is Miami’s housing market? See how it ranks against other U.S. cities

Miami ranked as the third metro area with the highest year-over-year increase in residential sales in the country, according to the RE/MAX National Housing report. Above: Racers paddle with the Brickell skyline in the background during the Orange Bowl Paddle Championship in Miami on Sunday, January 15, 2012.
Miami ranked as the third metro area with the highest year-over-year increase in residential sales in the country, according to the RE/MAX National Housing report. Above: Racers paddle with the Brickell skyline in the background during the Orange Bowl Paddle Championship in Miami on Sunday, January 15, 2012. MIAMI HERALD STAFF

Miami’s residential transactions jumped by 78% over the last year, outpacing the sales growth of more than 50 other U.S. metro areas, according to the latest RE/MAX National Housing report.

Miami-Dade County, Broward and Palm Beach have the third highest year-over-year increases in condo and single-family home sales when comparing the total number of sales from June 2020 to June 2021. The Miami metro area had 3,248 sales in June 2020 and 5,793 in June 2021. The Denver-headquartered brokerage firm RE/MAX analyzed the total number of sales from the Multiple Listing Service for 53 U.S. metro areas.

Honolulu ranked first with an approximately 92% increase, from 623 sales to 1,198 sales. New York ranked second with an 81% year-over-year growth, from 1,863 transactions to 3,365 transactions.

The Miami metro area ranked ahead of Philadelphia, which had about a 65% year-over-year change from 5,066 sales to 8,334 sales. Pittsburgh placed fifth for having a 58% increase, from 1,897 transactions to 3,003 transactions.

Miami’s housing market got a boost during the pandemic with buyers flocking from the Northeast and West Coast for a variety of reasons, said Josh Bolgren, senior vice president of region development at RE/MAX.

“Honolulu and Miami drew out-of-state buyers moving into the market. For those able to work remotely, both offered a desirable destination in a warmer climate,” he said. “COVID restrictions halted much of the real estate activity in New York and Philadelphia in spring 2020. For this reason, the numbers are a bit skewed, and why we now see such large increases in year-over-year transactions.”

Inventory continues to decrease, according to the Miami Realtors Association sales reports published in June. Miami-Dade has 2.2 months of supply of single-family homes and six months of condos; Broward has 1.4 months of supply of houses and 2.8 months of condos.

“As long as inventory is low and demand remains high,” Bolgren said, “buyers can expect prices to continue rising, although possibly at a more moderate pace.”

This story was originally published July 21, 2021 at 5:30 PM.

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Rebecca San Juan
Miami Herald
Rebecca San Juan writes about the real estate industry, covering news about industrial, commercial, office projects, construction contracts and the intersection of real estate and law for industry professionals. She studied at Mount Holyoke College and is proud to be reporting on her hometown. Support my work with a digital subscription
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