South Florida resi contracts continued to rise in July

New contracts for condos in Palm Beach County exploded, rising 235% year over year

South Florida Resi Contracts Up in July (Credit: iStock)
South Florida Resi Contracts Up in July (Credit: iStock)

New signed residential contracts and new condo inventory in South Florida rose in July, according to a monthly report from Douglas Elliman. But while the volume of new signed contracts exceeded recent pre-pandemic levels, new listings of single-family homes continued to lag behind levels seen the previous year.

Though new signed contracts have increased in both June and May, overall residential sales in South Florida have dropped during the pandemic, as not all contracts will close.

The largest annual increase in July was for new contracts signed for condos in Palm Beach County, rising nearly 235 percent to 566 new contracts, according to the report. The report is authored by Miller Samuel’s Jonathan Miller, citing data from the Multiple Listing Service.

Here’s a breakdown of new contracts signed last month:

Miami-Dade

New signed single-family home contracts grew in Miami-Dade County by 94.5 percent to 1,727.

Houses priced between $400,000 and $599,000 represented the largest year-over-year growth in signed contracts, more than doubling to 483 contracts in July. Buyers signed 459 contracts for homes priced between $300,000 and $399,000, up 96 percent.

Inventory of new single-family homes fell in Miami-Dade by 9.3 percent, due to a drop-off in new listings of more affordable houses. Homes listed for under $200,000 declined by more than half to 12 listings in July. At the same time, inventory of homes priced at $1 million-plus grew by 37.5 percent to 198 listings.

Single family homes priced between $300,000 and $399,000 as well as homes priced at $1 million-plus made up the highest concentration of the 859 new single family home listings in Miami-Dade, each accounting for almost a quarter of the new listings.

In the condo market, new signed contracts totaled 6,087, a year-over-year increase of 82 percent. The highest growth was among condos priced between $300,000 and $399,000, where contracts rose more than 100 percent to 669.

New condo listings grew 5.8 percent year-over-year, up to 3,872. Units priced between $500,000 and $599,000 made up the highest concentration of July new condo listings in the county — 33 percent of the newly added inventory. Inventory of those units rose 25 percent in July to 1,287 listings.

New listings of units priced below $200,000 dropped by 20 percent to 380.

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Broward

Single-family contracts doubled in Broward County, totaling 1,052 in July. Houses priced between $600,000 and $799,000 jumped by more than 164 percent, up to 177 contracts last month. Though all price points experienced year-over-year increases, contracts for homes priced below $200,000 grew by only 15 percent to 38 new contracts, likely due to a lack of inventory. New listings for those homes declined by 50 percent, down to 17 new listings.

Overall, new inventory of single-family homes decreased year over year by 4.5 percent to 1,072. Still, homes priced between $600,000 and $799,000 and homes over $1 million each saw 35 percent annual increases in new listings to about 160 listings each in July.

Broward saw a 97 percent increase in new signed condo contracts, up to 895 contracts in July. The largest year-over-year growth was for condos priced between $300,000 to $399,000, which more than doubled to 117 contracts. More than half of Broward’s new signed condo contracts were for units priced under $200,000, which also represented the highest concentration of new listings at 44 percent.

New condo listings only rose 7.6 percent to 1,692 listings in July, as new inventory declined at the top and bottom of the condo market. In the $600,000 and $799,000 condo range, new listings increased by about 72 percent to 67 new listings last month.

Palm Beach County

Single-family home contracts in Palm Beach County increased by 94.6 percent year over year to 1,052 contracts, with the growth concentrated among the middle- to higher-end homes. Signed contracts for homes priced at $400,000-plus more than doubled year over year, totaling 301 contracts in July.

New inventory of single-family homes experienced the slowest growth in Palm Beach County, rising only 2.7 percent to 1,009 new listings. The higher-end of the market added more new listings: 220 homes listed at $1 million-plus made up 22 percent of new single-family home listings in Palm Beach County last month.

Condo contracts surged in Palm Beach County, growing a whopping 235 percent to 566 new contracts signed in July. Units priced under $200,000 made up almost half of those contracts countywide in July. Every price range saw triple-digit growth.

New condo listings grew overall by 16 percent, up to 1,402. Lower-priced units made up the majority of Palm Beach County’s new condo listings in July. Those priced under $200,000 made up about 43 percent of new condo listings.

Condos priced between $800,000 and $999,000 more than doubled year over year to 48 listings in July.