South Florida sees annual gain in pending home sales

Pending home sales in South Florida dropped slightly last month from their June levels but rose significantly over July 2009, according to Miami Realtors. In Miami-Dade County, sales rose to 10,113 last month, a 40.5 percent increase over last year, while in Broward County they rose 25.4 percent year-over-year to 7,830. In each county, the data, which includes both single-family houses and condominiums, represents a slight drop — 2.4 percent in Miami-Dade and 2.5 percent in Broward — from the month before. Condo sales were stronger than those of single-family houses, rising 59 percent year-over-year in Miami-Dade and 39.4 percent in Broward. For the same period of time, single-family homes rose by just 22 percent in Miami-Dade and 11.7 percent in Broward. “We are encouraged by the statistics for pending home sales in the South Florida real estate market even after the expiration of the homebuyer tax credit,” said Jack Levine, 2010 chairman of the Board of the Miami Realtors group. “While the number of pending sales has dropped slightly month-over-month, they are still significantly higher than they were a year ago. Furthermore, we continue to observe the strengthening of the local market in a neighborhood-specific manner, as evidenced by multiple bids on non-distressed properties in some areas.” TRD