Miami-Dade home sales dip in March, condo prices fall: Realtors

Miami-Dade County home sales dipped again in March, according to a new report from the Miami Association of Realtors, amid rising prices and fewer distressed properties.

So far this year, Miami’s residential market has started slowing while inventory grows and global economic conditions put a strain on the area’s supply of foreign buyers.

The association’s report shows a total of 1,168 single-family homes sold in Miami-Dade last month, down 5.8 percent compared to March 2015. Condos fared worse with an 11.5 percent reduction — from 1,297 closings compared to 1,466 sold last year.

Combined, Miami-Dade had 2,465 residential sales last month, marking an 8.9 percent drop in sales year-over-year.

Besides bad financial conditions abroad, one reason why sales have slowed is a lack of distressed properties. Lender-owned and distressed properties are continuing to leave the market. Of all Miami-Dade’s home sales in March, 19.5 percent were distressed. That’s an 8.5 percentage point drop in market share in only one year.

Despite these falling sales figures, prices continue to rise in certain sectors. The median sales price for a home rose 7.7 percent last month from $260,000 to $280,000. Condos, on the other hand, actually saw median prices fall by 2.6 percent — $215,000 to $209,500 per unit.

Mark Sadek, the association’s chairman of the board for 2016, said in the report that sales for certain price points are still performing well even though the aggregate numbers have fallen.

For middle-market houses priced between $200,000 and $500,000, sales grew by 9.6 percent last month, from 644 transactions to 706. Existing condos priced between $150,000 to $250,000 were also hot tickets, with sales growing 14 percent from 363 to 414.

In terms of inventory, both condos and homes saw big increases in supply last month: owners listed 8.2 percent more single-family homes last month for a total of 6,494 active listings, while condos saw a huge 15.9 percent increase in listings, up to 13,952 active properties.

“After five years of record sales activity, the Miami real estate market continues to post strong sales in key price points,” Sadek wrote in the report. “Existing single-family homes and condominiums in the mid-price ranges registered double-digit sale increases in March. Almost 50 percent of all Miami transactions continue to be all-cash, a sign home buyers are committed and invested in the market.”

Original content The Real Deal