What does it cost to buy a home in Miami and Broward? Prices have changed again
South Florida’s housing prices keep defying the odds, rising despite a growing supply of homes and a falling number of transactions from a year ago.
Median sales prices grew to $615,000 for a house and $420,000 for a condo in Miami-Dade County in November, up from $550,000 and $395,000, respectively, a year ago, according to the latest Miami Association of Realtors’ home sales report.
The monthly report takes a temperature check on housing conditions, including prices, inventory and number of transactions. Housing prices remain resilient, despite supply rising and the number of deals trickling down, activity that normally may lead to a fall in prices.
Broward County experienced similar activity. Home prices grew to $600,000 for houses and $280,000 for condos, rising from $540,000 and $255,000, respectively, from November 2022.
Housing conditions show high demand for South Florida living, but prove to be a challenge for aspiring owners waiting years — for some even prior to the pandemic — for the chance to purchase a place of their own.
Several factors are at play, including more existing owners staying in place longer due to inventory, prices and interest rates. Mortgage lender Freddie Mac, for instance, has a rate of 6.95% for a 30-year mortgage, up from 6.31% a year ago. Many home hunters are holding their breath for interest rates to cool next year in the hopes of gaining more buying power.
More home listings available
One silver lining for home buyers? Those shopping around will find more options.
Miami-Dade has a 4.4 months supply of houses and 6.8 months of condos, higher than the four months flat of supply a year ago. Same scenario in Broward. The neighboring county has 3.5 months’ worth of houses and 5.1 months of condos.
Still, the amount of inventory swings in favor of sellers since a balanced market consists of six to nine months of inventory. Sellers have the upper hand with anything under six months and buyers get more negotiation power with over nine months of supply. Real estate experts have told the Miami Herald the tight supply has contributed to prices remaining high.
Cash is king in housing deals
South Florida is seeing a decline in the number of people able or willing to pay for its real estate.
Miami-Dade had a total of 1,651 transactions in November, down about 8% from 1,791 transactions a year ago. Broward also saw a dip to 1,830 deals, down about 5% from 1,920 deals.
For those who jumped in, close to 41% of all buyers in Miami-Dade and 42% in Broward did so with cash. That’s close to double the national average of cash buyers.
This story was originally published December 20, 2023 at 6:09 PM.
