Home prices up and sales volume down in Miami, Broward: Realtors reports

Home prices continue to go up, up and up, as the number of sales continue to fall, according to the latest Miami Association of Realtors and Greater Fort Lauderdale Realtors’ reports.

Miami-Dade

Home prices have increased for more than five consecutive years, according to the latest figures for December. In single-family homes, prices have risen for 61 consecutive months, and for condos, in 65 of the last 67 months. Prices of single-family homes in Miami-Dade County increased by 9.5 percent year-over-year in December, from an average of $278,500 to $305,000. Condo prices also rose by 1.3 percent year-over-year, from $207,400 to $210,000.

Yet the volume of residential sales, including condos and single-family homes, decreased by 4.3 percent year-over-year, from 2,254 closed sales to 2,156. Sales of houses fell only by 0.6 percent, while existing condo sales took a much bigger hit of 7.8 percent year-over-year, echoing the market sentiment of 2016, the report showed.

Within those sales, mid-market single-family homes were much stronger than high-end and distressed properties. Homes listed between $300,000 and $600,000 increased 26.6 percent in December, up from 323 to 409. That range represents more than 38 percent of all Miami home sales, according to the report.

In all, total sales volume in December totaled $797.9 million, a 16.4 percent drop from the $954 million sales in December 2015.

Broward

Median prices for single-family homes, townhouses and condos rose in Broward County in December, according to the Greater Fort Lauderdal Realtors. Prices for single-family homes rose by 5.9 percent year-over-year from $302,250 to $320,000, while prices for condos and townhouses increased by 13.4 percent year-over-year from $131,969 in December 2015 to $149,700 last month.

The number of closed sales also fell in Broward across all residential properties. Sales of condos and townhomes fell year-over-year by 3.8 percent from 1,407 to 1,354. Single-family house sales decreased by 3.4 percent from 1,465 to 1,415, according to the report.

Inventory is also down in Broward, with the number of townhomes and condos down 7.6 percent in December compared to the same period in 2015. The number of houses fell from 1,401 to 1,317, a decrease of 6 percent.

In Broward, total sales volume in December totaled $822.3 million, a 2.1 percent drop from the $840.2 million sold in December 2015. That means Broward homebuyers outspent those in Miami by $24.4 million.