Broward home, condo sales tapering off

The Broward County housing market appears to be settling into a more stable rhythm as sales for single-family homes and condominiums both dropped slightly last month, according to data from county records.

Single-family home sales dipped 11.1 percent to 1,076 closing from 1,201 year-over-year. Condo sales also dropped – by 6 percent – to 1,206 closing from 1,283 year-over-year.

Soaring interest rates and prices have kept some buyers out of the game, the Miami Herald reported.

“As home prices have increased, it’s starting to cool off a lot of investors and hedge funds,” Stephen McWilliam, head of the Florida State Realty Group in Fort Lauderdale, told the Miami Herald. “Probably in the first and second quarter of 2014, you’ll see price increases more in line with a healthy market — 5 percent to 6 percent. These 20-percent and 25-percent spikes in prices won’t be there.”

A Broward County home’s median price climbed 28.6 percent last month to $270,000 from $210,000. Month-over-month, however, the median price was the same.

For the third month in a row, the inventory of homes and condos in the county saw an increase – by 8.2 percent and 14 percent year-over-year respectively. [Miami Herald] — Mark Maurer