Miami prices increase thanks to fall in distressed sales: Elliman

Miami median home sale prices rose 10 percent as the share of distressed sales plummeted, according to a residential market report released today by Douglas Elliman Florida.

The median sales price in the fourth quarter was $165,000, unchanged from the third quarter of 2010 but up 10 percent from the sales price recorded during the same period in 2010. The average price per square-foot rose 13.2 percent from 2010, and 2.4 percent from the third quarter to $214.

The condominium market was responsible for much of the price appreciation, as median prices rose 16.8 percent to $146,000 year-over-year, far outpacing the 2.6 percent price gain for single-family houses, whose median sales price was $200,000.

Jonathan Miller, president of appraisal firm Miller Samuel that prepared the report, attributed the increase in price to the fall in distressed sales, as lenders took their time with foreclosures in the wake of the robo-signing controversy.

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Distressed sales comprised 51.1 percent of the market in the fourth quarter, compared to 60.4 percent in the prior-year quarter. Moreover, total distressed sales declined 20.5 percent over the last year. As a result, total number of sales fell 6.1 percent from the fourth quarter of 2010 to 4,568.

Removing distressed sales from the equation reveals far more modest price gains. The media non-distressed condo sold for $243,139, 5.1 percent greater than the price achieved in the fourth quarter of 2010, and 3.5 percent more than the third quarter. Non-distressed single-family home prices actually decreased 3.1 percent from the end of 2010 to $281,000, which was also 13.4 percent third-quarter prices.

Among Miami’s high-profile condominium market, the Miami Beach and Downtown Beach submarkets performed best. In Miami Beach the median sales price for a condominium was up 15.7 percent from the end of 2010 to $240,000, while Downtown Beach gained 12.4 percent to $100,000. — Adam Fusfeld