Home prices in Miami-Dade County saw yet another month of growth during October, marking more than four years of consistent appreciation.
Prices for condos and single-family homes rose significantly compared to last year, according to a Miami Association of Realtors report.
The median sales price of a single-family home went from $240,000 in October of last year to $265,000 — an increase of more than 10 percent. For condos, median prices grew from $185,000 last year to a flat $200,000 per unit — an 8.1 percent growth.
Despite this steady price growth, the market has begun to contract. Miami-Dade reported 4.4 percent fewer home sales last month, down to 1,151 transactions from 1,204 last year. The condo market fared slightly worse with a 6.6 percent drop in sales activity, from 1,508 closings last year to 1,408 in October.
Reports from a number of brokerages and analysts attribute this to South American buyers pulling out of the market because of a strong U.S. dollar. South Americans were largely credited with helping South Florida recover from the housing crisis in the late 2000s, but their weakening currencies, especially in Brazil, make investing in U.S. properties less attractive.
But it’s not all doom-and-gloom. The association’s report said homes are selling within a few percentage points of their asking prices — 95.6 percent — and are selling a few days faster than last year — down to 40 days on market, from 43 the previous year. Condos, on the other hand, still take a median of nearly 60 days to sell and typically fetch just less 94 percent of their asking price. — Sean Stewart-Muniz