By Rebecca San Juan
Sales of existing homes in Miami-Dade and Broward counties continued to show significant year-over-year growth in July, outpacing sales nationwide and across Florida. In Broward, sales of $1 million-plus homes jumped 39%, according to the Miami Realtors Association.
Inventory levels show Broward is a seller’s market, while Miami-Dade is a buyer’s market for condos and a balanced market for single-family homes.
In Miami-Dade, the total number of sales increased 6.9% from 2,329 in July 2018 to 2,490 in July 2019.
Single-family homes continued to outpace those of condos. Single-family sales rose to 15%, while condo sales dropped by 0.4%
The median price for a single-family home increased from $369,450 to $372,000 — continuing on an uptick that has stretched more than 7 1/2 years. The median price for condos increased from $243,000 to $249,500. Miami-Dade is one of the nation’s most expensive housing markets in comparison to salaries, though purchasing a home is more affordable, in relative terms, than renting one.
Sales of properties valued at more than $1 million were robust, with single-family home sales jumping by 23.1% and condo sales by 15.9%.
Distressed sales increased slightly from June 2019 to July 2019, going from 4.9% of sales to 5.8% of Miami-Dade sales. The percentage of distressed sales remains low when compared with 2009 figures, when 70% of Miami home sales were in foreclosure or under water.
Cash sales decreased by 5.5% from July 2018 to July 2019. Cash transactions in July 2018 comprised 35.8% of total closed sales compared to 30.3% of transactions in July 2019. The decreasing percentage of all-cash buyers is good news for locals, who have struggled to compete with all-cash foreign buyers. Nationally, the percentage of all-cash sales was 19%.
In Broward, total sales grew by 9.7%, from 2,900 in July 2018 to 3,181 in July 2019
Single-family home sales rose by 11.9% and condos by 7.4%.
The median price of a single-family home rose from $360,000 in July 2018 to $380,000 in July 2019.
The median price for a condo grew from $165,000 to $172,000.
Transactions of single-family homes valued at $1 million-plus grew by a whopping 39.3%. Condos in this price range grew 15.8%.
The percentage of distressed sales dropped by 2% from July 2018 to July 2019. Distressed sales represented 3.3% of all closed sales last month compared to 5.3% in July 2018.
Cash buyers represent a smaller slice of the market than neighboring Miami-Dade, with 33.3% of sales transacted in cash. That represents a drop of 1.8% from July 2018.
