South Florida's housing market continues to be a tale of two markets.
Even as the number of single family homes and condominiums on the market continues climbing, home sales keep growing as condo sales are still slowing.
Condos
More supply and less demand describes the regional condo market this summer.
Closed sales slowed between 2.4% and 7% in Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties, according to the latest monthly data from the Miami Association of Realtors. Fewer sales have helped boost the number of condos looking for buyers. The number of condos for sale through the Miami Realtors MLS doubled in July over the past year. It was up 60% in Miami-Dade and 22% in Palm Beach County.
"The statistics would be much stronger if they included South Florida鈥檚 robust developer new construction market and volume," said the Miami Association of Realtors in a new release. "The decline is due to lack of condo financing and inventory at key price points," it wrote.
Even as a lot more condos are for sale, inventories remain below historic levels pre-pandemic according to the Miami Realtors Association. Yet, the jump in the supply of condos for sale has not been met by a rush of buyers.
The increase in inventory has led to condos sitting on the market longer. It took about 9 weeks to sell a condo in Broward County a year ago. In July, the median condo sold had been sitting on the market for more than 13 weeks. It was about the same in Miami-Dade and Palm Beach counties.
Despite the longer time, sellers are not slashing prices. South Florida condos are selling for about 94% of their asking price. However, median prices are cooling in Broward County, where the median condo price fell 2.7% in July to $272,500.
READ MORE: Old condos crowd the market for sellers in South Florida as post-Surfside reforms loom
Condo owners and their owners associations face and end of the year deadline for reforms put in place after the Champlain Towers South building collapsed in June 2022, killing 98 people. New laws require condos built more than 30 years ago to undergo a structural inspection and have money set aside for necessary repairs.
The requirements are leading condo associations to have to levy special assessments that can be in the tens of thousands of dollars per unit in order to deal with years of deferred maintenance and repairs.
Last week, Florida out-going Senate Pres. Kathleen Passidomo rejected calls for a special session of the Legislature to ease the impact of the reforms. In her memo to senators, Passidomo acknowledged the difficulties owners associations are having. "I hear the anger and frustration of condo owners who feel they have been misled and their resources mismanaged," she wrote.
Still, "too many of our condo buildings are in need of critical life and safety upgrades and associations have inadequate reserve funds to cover those costs," she said.
The uncertainties and potential for special assessments hangs over the condo market. The pace of condo sales has slowed considerably this year. Through July, the number of closed condo sales in Broward County is down 11%, and 14.4% in Palm Beach County.
Homes
A single family home in South Florida continues gaining in value.
Miami-Dade County has experienced the highest price increase in the county among large metro areas. It has risen 10% according to real estate data firm CoreLogic. Prices are up 13% over the past year in a separate ranking from the Federal Housing Finance Agency. Broward County home prices were up 6.8% and up 5.6% in Palm Beach County.
The only Florida metro region where home prices fell was the Cape Coral-Fort Myers region. The FHFA data found home prices there were down 3.2% from a year earlier.
The number of single family homes sold in July in Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties rose compared to a year earlier. The market has been digesting more supply, as sellers who had stayed on the sidelines during the pandemic and subsequent rise in mortgage rates have put up "for sale" signs. Single family home inventory was up at between 40% -50% in the three counties in July over the past year. There were almost 4,500 more single family homes looking for buyers last month versus July 2023.
While the average 30-year mortgage interest rate last month was about the same as a year ago, borrowing costs have come down in recent months. In May, the traditional fixed rate mortgage was 7.2% for 30 years. It fell below 7% in July. That is a savings of almost $1,000 a year on a half million dollar loan.
