Miami’s coastal housing market surging

Miami’s residential market completed its most fourth-quarter residential sales in at least seven years during the last three months of 2013, a new report shows.

The coastal communities in Miami posted a combined 5,227 closed sales during the fourth quarter for a year-over-year gain of 0.4 percent, according to the latest Elliman Report from Douglas Elliman Real Estate. Miami’s year-over-year median sale price rose 14.3 percent to $240,000. Homes and condos spent an average of 63 days on the market, the fastest in the seven years that Douglas Elliman has produced the quarterly report.

Fort Lauderdale’s condo market outperformed its single-family sector. Year-over-year condo and townhome sales jumped 10.6 percent to 52, while single-family closings dropped 6.5 percent to 43 during the quarter. The median condo price slipped one percent to $912,500, while the single-family median increased 1.8 percent to $1.76 million.

The Palm Beach luxury market had a substantial year-over-year decline in its median sale price and a major increase in how long homes and condos stay on the market. The median price for luxury condos and homes plunged by 15.6 percent to $6.75 million. Properties spent an average of 379 days on the market, up 25.1 percent from the fourth quarter of 2012. — Eric Kalis