Mid-priced homes thriving in Miami-Dade while overall market struggles: realtors report

For more than a year, Miami-Dade County’s housing market has found itself in a spiral of slower sales, especially for condos, as economic forces abroad collude to steer away foreign buyers.

That trend continued in October, according to a report from the Miami Association of Realtors released Tuesday. But despite the market downshifting, sales for mid-priced homes appear to be thriving.

Miami-Dade’s condo market was decimated last month when sales fell to 983 units, marking a 30 percent free fall year-over-year. Though they fared much better, single-family homes also saw a nearly 13 percent reduction in sales to 997 properties in October.

The report points to competition with Miami’s new construction market and sparse availability for Federal Housing Administration loans as major reasons why existing condos are facing such large cuts in sales volume. A soft luxury market, inventory constraints at lower prices and distressed properties are also driving down volume for single-family homes.

However, homes priced between $300,000 and $600,000 appear to be hot tickets. Sales in that price bracket jumped nearly 19 percent to 377 in October, growing to represent about 38 percent of all homes sold last month.

Likely a result of distressed properties being flushed from the market, inventory for homes priced below $300,000 is also shrinking. The number of active low-end listings fell 28 percent to 1,325 properties in October, according to the association’s data.

That dwindling pool of entry and mid-level homes has helped drive up Miami-Dade’s overall pricing. The median cost of a single-family home rose 17 percent year-over-year to $310,000 last month, while condo prices jumped 7 percent to a median of $214,000. Both property types have seen their prices swell each month for the last five years.