Home values rise in South Florida

But Fort Lauderdale sees drop

A home for sale in Coconut Grove

South Florida saw general increases in home values for May year-over-year, with the exception of Fort Lauderdale’s home market, which dropped by 6 percent.  

Florida realtors sold 70 percent more Miami condos last month than in May 2009.

There were 972 sales of condos in Miami by realtors last month, a significant jump over the 571 units sold in the same month last year, according to data from trade association Florida Realtors. The median sales price fell, however, to $126,100, a decline of 10 percent.

That price was still the third-highest median sales price in Florida, following state leader Sarasota-Bradenton and Fort Myers-Cape Coral.

Home sales also rose in South Florida, with 22 percent more homes sold in Miami and 20 percent more in the West Palm Beach-Boca Raton metro area. There were fewer home sales in the Fort Lauderdale metro area, however, a six percent decline over last year. 

In total, realtors sold 2,345 single-family homes in South Florida, along with 2,814 condo units last month.

Month-to-month, the median existing-home sales prices actually rose by $300 over April of this year.

While the implications of the spill on Florida’s real estate are not yet clear, the two most vulnerable metro areas, Panama City and Pensacola, both saw decreases from April in number of units sold and median sales prices. Although other metro areas saw mostly increases, it is not clear if this was due to the spill.

According to reports from Florida Realtors, the median sales price for Panama City homes in April was $160,000. In May, however, that number dropped to $138,000. Both numbers were significantly less than in the same periods in 2009.

As for condos, there were 65 units sold in Panama City in April, and there were just 53 sold in May. Pensacola’s condo sales dropped from 56 to 42.