The week in real estate reports

South Florida construction booming

The first quarter of 2015 has seen an upswing in money flowing into construction contracts for South Florida, with total dollar amounts for residential and commercial contracts blowing past the previous year.

A new report from Dodge Data & Analytics stated that roughly $1.2 billion had been spent on non-residential contracts alone from January to April of this year. That’s a 46-percent increase from the same timeframe last year.

Residential contracts — though their growth was nowhere near as spectacular — saw a 19-percent jump to $1.9 billion.

On a monthly basis, however, residential construction contracts saw an 11-percent drop during April compared to the same month in 2014. Nonresidential construction on the other hand, which includes everything from commercial to government buildings, saw a 27-percent growth last month compared to 2014.

Overall, $344 million was put into nonresidential construction contracts during April. Residential contracts, which cover both single-family and multifamily projects, saw $433 million in contracts.

Fort Lauderdale condo market thriving

Fort Lauderdale, which has grown to contend with its bigger brother Miami, has seen a surge of new-construction condos, according to a report from Related ISG.

The city has seen a total of 689 developer units open for sale since 2012, with an average absorption of 470 units per year.

While its inventory is still no match for Miami’s, the difference in price per square foot is drastic: developer units in Fort Lauderdale average $920 per square foot, while Miami’s stock goes for an average of $2,400 per square foot.

That price gap has only grown since 2006, when costs for both cities were separated only by a few hundred dollars.

Fort Lauderale’s population has also grown in leaps and bounds, and is now home to 206,000 people.

Miami-Dade foreclosure rates dropping

Foreclosure rates in Miami-Dade County dropped in March, continuing the past year’s trend of declining loan delinquency, according to a report from CoreLogic.

The cities of Miami, Miami Beach and Kendall had a 4-percent foreclosure rate during March, a 3.4-percent decrease from the same month in 2014.

The number of delinquent mortgages past 90 days also fell in the county, from 13.5 percent last year to 9.2 percent in March.

This steady decline in delinquent mortgages and foreclosures has held true since at least January of 2014, with each month since then seeing a decrease.

Florida, however, still leads the nation for foreclosure rates.  — Sean Stewart-Muniz