Miami-Dade housing prices rose in April: report

It looks like a sales slowdown hasn’t caused Miami-Dade County housing prices to go down just yet.

County home values grew again in April, according to a newly published record, continuing a years-long trend of Miami becoming an increasingly expensive place to live.

Real estate research firm CoreLogic released its national home price report Tuesday, which broke down trends for many of the country’s major housing markets by comparing current and historical sales prices.

For Miami-Dade, home were selling for 7.1 percent more in April compared to the same month a year ago, and 1.4 percent more between March and April.

Though that growth is a far cry from the double-digit price increases during Miami’s swift recovery from the last real estate bust, it still reflects a steady — and unbroken — incline for property values in the region.

Sales volume for Miami-Dade has dipped significantly over the past two quarters, but market analysts have said prices can lag behind sales trends by more than a year. In the meantime, those rising housing costs have only deepened the demand for affordable housing in the county.

Nationally, the story for April was similar: prices were up by 6.2 percent year-over-year, and by 1.8 percent between March and April.

“Low mortgage rates and a lean for-sale inventory have resulted in solid home-price growth in most markets,” Frank Nothaft, chief economist for CoreLogic, wrote in the report. “An expected gradual rise in interest rates and more homes offered for sale are expected to moderate appreciation in the coming year.” — Sean Stewart-Muniz