Lower prices and lower borrowing rates helped underpin the South Florida condominium market last month.
The pace of condo sales in Miami-Dade and Palm Beach counties rose by double digits in February compared to a year earlier. The number of existing Broward County condos sold last month fell by about 3%. The sales count saw the greatest increase in Miami-Dade, where median prices experienced the greatest decrease. It suggests that even though South Florida sees one of the highest proportions of cash sales, the regional market remains price sensitive and responsive to mortgage rates.
The average 30-year mortgage rate fell to 6% last month for the first time since the fall of 2022. Rates have jumped this month. An increase in borrowing costs may temper sales activity this month. The February sales activity came before the U.S. and Israel military action in Iran.
“If the geopolitical tension in the Middle East persists in the summer, mortgage rates could hit 7% in mid-2026,” wrote Miami Association of Realtors Chief Economist Gay Cororaton last week.
Median condo prices have been trending lower for more than a year, driven by lower priced and older condos. Various reforms put in place after the 2021 collapse of the Champlain Towers South condo building in Surfside require associations of older condo buildings to conduct structural inspections and build their financial reserves to pay for regular maintenance issues. The result has been special assessments and higher monthly fees for some buildings.
Single family home prices have continued steadily climbing, although at a much slower pace compared to a couple of years ago. The median price in the three major South Florida counties remains well over $600,000. Prices rose by more than 4% in both Miami-Dade and Palm Beach counties, and increased a more modest 1.6% in Broward County, according to data from the Miami Realtors Association.
Monthly changes in median home prices have been a bit more volatile in Broward and Palm Beach counties over the past year as compared to home prices in Miami-Dade County. The pace of sales grew in February across all three counties.
The market for single family homes remains a seller’s market with the supply of homes falling in Broward and Palm Beach counties and increasing only modestly in Miami-Dade.
As prices have risen, the 7-figure-plus market remains a bright spot. Sales homes for at least $1 million were up 18%. Sales of condos at or above that same price jumped 22% in February.
These are sales of existing homes and condos, not newly built homes and units.
“Million-dollar homebuyers continue to drive the growth momentum in South Florida, outperforming the overall market,” Cororaton wrote in an analysis. “Geopolitical tensions could hold back the overall recovery, but the million-dollar segment is poised to hold up remarkably well because of the acceleration in wealth migration from high-tax states, the high cash transactions in this segment, and increased asset diversification that can include real estate amid heightened macroeconomic uncertainty and stock market volatility.”
There have been several high-profile mega real estate deals in Miami-Dade making headlines this year. Meta founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg reportedly bought a home for $170 million on Indian Creek island. Palantir CEO Alex Karp paid $46 million for a home on Miami Beach’s Hibiscus Island last summer, months before announcing his company would move its headquarters to Aventura. They join Google’s co-founders each who purchased homes in South Florida within the past year.
