Miami’s housing market shows life in November, even as condo sales struggle

Night view of Brickell from the Brickell Key Bridge (Credit: EdoDodo)
Night view of Brickell from the Brickell Key Bridge (Credit: EdoDodo)

After enduring more than a year of lethargic sales numbers, a new report shows Miami-Dade County’s single-family home market bounced back in a big way during November.

The condo market, however, continued to grapple with downward spiraling sales volume on top of ballooning inventory.

The Miami Association of Realtors just released its November housing report, which details countywide figures for homes and condos.

According to the association’s data, Miami-Dade had its best November for single-family home sales since the beginning of the housing crash in 2009. A total of 1,025 homes traded hands last month, marking a 13 percent increase in volume year-over-year.

Luxury houses, often pointed to as the softest sector in the market, also saw big gains in November. Sales volume for properties priced $1 million and up spiked 43 percent year-over-year, from 53 homes to 76.

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That uptick in sales made November somewhat of an anomaly for Miami-Dade’s housing market, which has downshifted significantly since end-year 2015. The association’s report attributed some of that slowdown to uncertain buyers who were hesitant to strike a deal while a raucous presidential election was underway. Now with the United States’ votes are cast and counted, the association expects business to resume as usual.

However, two other measures of the market weren’t bucking any trends last month: prices and inventory.

The median cost of a single-family home rose for the 60th straight month in November, jumping to $310,000. Inventory swelled 7.7 percent to 6,605 active listings.

Also keeping with previous months, Miami-Dade’s condo market again faced a steep drop in sales volume, with recorded deals falling 11.4 percent, year-over-year, to 972 units. Inventory has also started to pile up, with the number of units up for grabs catapulting 18 percent in November to 14,811.

Even with fewer units trading and inventory stacking up, the median sales price of condos has grown for 64 of the past 66 months, most recently by 7 percent to $217,250.