Miami-Dade home sales take a hit in January: report

It looks like the year-end slowdown for Miami-Dade County’s residential market is creeping into 2016.

Existing home sales in the county took a big hit during January amidst rising prices and shifting inventory, according to a new report from the Miami Association of Realtors.

A total of 824 single-family homes and 972 condos were sold during the first month of 2016, according to the association’s data. Those figures have dropped by 14 and 10 percent, respectively, when compared to the same month in 2015. Analysts have pointed toward weak economies in Latin America, one of Miami’s biggest buyer pools, as one reason why fewer homes have been selling here.

The association’s report said a slow beginning to the year is within norms. Both 2013 and 2014, which saw record amounts of transactions, saw 963 and 823 single-family homes sales during January, respectively.

“Strong sales are important for a healthy residential real estate market, but it is not sustainable to set a new all-time sales record each year,” Teresa King Kinney, the association’s CEO, said in the report. “Miami-Dade County’s five years of record sales have been unique in the U.S. real estate market. It is anticipated Miami will continue in a sales range consistent with a strong market.”

Despite that reduction in sales volume, prices for both sectors are on the rise. The median price for a single-family home stood at $237,500 during January — an increase of nearly 14 percent year-over-year. Condos also became more expensive, growing by 8.8 percent to a median price of $205,000 last month.

And while prices are up across the board, inventories for both sectors have spun in different directions.

New listings for single-family homes shrunk by 2.3 percent last month, resting at 6,372 active properties.

On the other hand, condo inventory continues to balloon. There were 13,454 units on the market in January, up 14 percent compared to the same month in 2015. — Sean Stewart-Muniz