The years-long fall-off in condo sales may be coming to an end as demand for homes remains robust.
Lower prices and mortgage rates helped bring buyers into South Florida’s condo market to end the year last year. The pace of condominium sales grew in December in all three counties, including a 31% jump in Palm Beach County. The increases are compared to a year earlier.
Still, 2025 marked the fourth straight year of falling condo sales across the region as the market digests the pandemic-era buying spree, higher borrowing costs and the impact of condominium reforms after the Champlain Towers South collapse in Surfside.
Last year ended with the condo market showing more signs of stabilization as the number of sales picked up. Yet, the number of sold condos on an annual basis continued a years-long slump after the massive rush to buy in the year after the COVID-19 pandemic began. Condo sales shrunk by another 10% in Miami-Dade County, 9% in Broward and almost 2% in Palm Beach County. The last year there was an annual increase in condo sales was 2021 when all three counties saw sales skyrocket by mid-to-high double-digits.
The condo market may have bottomed out in August. Since then, the number of condos sold has been growing each month compared to a year ago.
“Lower mortgage rates and legislation providing financial relief for condo owners and increasing transparency and accountability of condo associations,” wrote Miami Realtors Association Chief Economist Gay Cororaton in a report, “are reviving the condo market.”
Prices also are likely helping close deals. Median condo prices have fallen across South Florida in the past year. As prices hit multi-year lows last autumn, mortgage rates also began falling as the Federal Reserve started cutting interest rates. The average 30-year mortgage rate fell to 6.15% in December, according to Freddie Mac. That was down from 6.6% late last summer. The decrease saves a homebuyer about $100 a month on a $300,000 conventional mortgage.
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Any condo recovery has been held back by financial and structural inspection requirements for many condominium associations approved after the Surfside collapse. Building inspections had been required in Miami-Dade and Broward County prior to the collapse of the Champlain Towers building in 2021. Mandatory inspections are now statewide and condo associations have to collect money for regular maintenance. The changes have led to special assessments and increases to monthly association fees. The result has been a bifurcated condo market. Sales of condos in buildings less than 25 years old were up 2% last year, according to Miami Realtors Association Data. Condo sales in buildings more than 25 years old fell 6%.
The buying activity to end the year helped reduce the number of units on the market. “Inventory is tightening again, and this trend is likely to hold in 2026, resulting in increased buyer competition and stronger price appreciation,” Cororaton wrote.
Median condo prices have fallen each month since June.
Single family homes, meanwhile, are still in demand. Sales increased across the region last month as median prices were flat or edged slightly lower versus a year ago.
Annually, home sales accelerated from the sharp slowdown between 2022 and 2024. The number of existing homes sold increased between 4% to 23% across the region’s three most populous counties to mark the first year of sales growth for the region since 2021.
“This momentum is likely to pick up further in 2026, leading to heightened buyer competition and higher prices as demand intensifies due to lower mortgage rates and increased out-of-state migration while inventory of homes on the market remains tight,” wrote Cororaton in her analysis.
Slower price growth as the year came to an end helped bring buyers into the market. A year ago, median home prices were rising by about 9%. They were down slightly in Miami-Dade and Broward County and slowed to only a 1.6% increase in Palm Beach County in December.
Despite the slow down in prices, the median cost of an existing home in South Florida remains over $600,000, fueling an affordability challenge for many. “There is also a scarcity of single-family homes affordable to the typical household, weakening homeowner mobility,” Cororaton pointed out.
More than a third of homes for sale in Miami-Dade County have an asking price over $1 million. Only one in every 50 is priced below $400,000.
