The number of South Florida condos sold in December continued falling, but at a slower pace than past months. Prices held steady after falling during the autumn months.
New data for the last month of 2024 from the Miami Association of Realtors indicate buyers were attracted to close deals even as mortgage rates rose a little.
The last six months of 2024 was a time of fast rising supply as condo owners looked to unload units before new rules went into effect at the beginning of this year. That higher supply was met with fewer buyers and generally rising borrowing costs. While condo sales still shrank in December, the slow down was less severe than in past months.
“Now that the presidential election is over and we have more certainty, buyers who have been waiting on the sidelines are now making moves,” Miami Association of Realtors Chairman Eddie Blanco said in a statement.
All Florida condos at least 30 years old and in buildings at least three stories tall are subject to new regulations passed after the collapse of the Champaign Towers South condo building in Surfside in 2021. Those buildings faced a Dec. 31, 2024, deadline to receive a structure inspection. And this year, those homeowner associations have to start saving money for regular maintenance. For years, condo association boards in Florida were allowed to waive building their financial reserves, but no longer.
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The result of these new laws is older associations face two potential costly changes – special assessments to address important structure problems and higher monthly fees to build savings for regular fixes.
Through the fall of 2024, the number of condominiums for sale in South Florida rose while median prices held steady. The price calculation was helped by closed sales of higher priced new condos.
The fast-rising supply of condos in the autumn slowed in December, however, according to data from the Miami Association of Realtors. The number of condos listed for sale last month fell slightly from November in Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties.
The number of condos listed for sale last month fell for the first time since the summer of 2023. Condo inventories began increasing sharply that year as mortgage rate rose. Even as borrowing costs have remained elevated, they steadied somewhat in 2024. Yet, more South Florida condo owners put their homes up for sale throughout the year. They may have been driven in hopes of capturing the the sharp price hikes during the COVID-19 real estate rush in the region. Owners of older condos also may have hoped to get ahead of sharply higher assessments as the post-Surfside reforms approached.
Even as the number of condos for sale has risen, the Miami Realtors Association notes there are still fewer condos for sale than compared to before the COVID-19 pandemic.
Despite months of urging from Gov. Ron DeSantis, Florida legislative leaders have resisted calling a special law-writing session to address the condo reforms. When the governor surprised lawmakers earlier this month by calling them back to Tallahassee early to tackle a list of issues led by immigration, he included condo reforms in his wish-list.
"The Florida condominium market continues to face challenges including soaring costs related to assessments, repairs, and inspections," he wrote in his proclamation on Jan. 13. However, the governor never made any formal proposals.
A House Republican who has been involved in the condo reforms told WLRN "the call for a special session never produced any legislation" regarding the condo rules. The governor had quietly dropped the subject by the time lawmakers began and quickly ended the governor-called session Monday.
They proceeded to begin their own special session. House Speaker Daniel Perez, a Miami-Dade Republican, did not mention condominiums in a floor speech he delivered Monday.
Single Family Homes
The condo market concerns continue helping support rising prices for single family homes. Median prices hit new records in Miami-Dade County in December, at $675,000. Median prices continued well above $600,000 in Broward and Palm Beach counties.
The median price of single family homes was up between 8% to 10% from a year ago in the region. The pace of closed sales also increased even as the supply of homes for sale was up by more than 20%.
