Palm Beach County condos and homes were red hot in March. The pace of sales jumped by double digits last month even as median prices rose and mortgage rates remained above 6%.
Palm Beach County was a relative bright spot in the regional existing home market in March as the rest of South Florida was mixed.
“Palm Beach County is more than just a lifestyle and tax magnet. We are a magnet for buyers seeking careers, investment opportunities, and a high quality of life,” said President of the Miami Association of Realtors Jupiter-Tequesta-Hobe Sound division Jaime Kriske.
The pace of condominium sales increased 11.2% in March compared to a year earlier. Single family home sales were up 14.3% over the same period. Median prices also increased. The average existing condo sold last month in Palm Beach County closed for $330,000, up 6.5% from last year. The median existing home sold for $645,000, up 3.2% from a year ago.
Prices may have been helped by fewer homes and condos for buyers to choose from. The inventory of residential properties looking for buyers dropped by at least 14% compared to March of last year.
The sales data from the Miami Realtors Association is for March, the first full month of the war in Iran. A home sale can take a month or more, depending upon financing and other issues which may come up during the sales process. The median listing time before a closed sale is around two and a half months. Any impact from higher gasoline prices in the housing market would be delayed by one or two months.
While prices in Palm Beach County have been trending higher over the past few months, condo prices in Broward County have been falling each month for at least a year. The year-over-year declines have moderated, though. The median Broward County existing condo sold last month went for $270,000, down almost 4% from last March.
The median price of an existing single family home prices in Broward County has declined in five of the last six months, falling 5.5% in March.
The number of condos and homes for sale in Broward fell by 12% in March. Yet fewer units and homes looking for buyers did not help reverse the slide in median prices. Neither did mortgage rates stabilizing just over 6%.
“Buyers move to Broward from Miami because we have more land and more price accessibility,” said Sophia Allen, president of the Broward division of the Miami Realtors Association.
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The drop in inventory on the market may have contributed to a steady month of activity in Miami-Dade County. The pace of home sales jumped more than 10% as the median price was largely unchanged from a year ago. However, prices remain elevated at more than $670,000. Condo sales grew up almost 3% with the median existing condo in Miami-Dade County selling for $445,000.
“Amid more challenging macroeconomic conditions, it’s fair to expect South Florida’s housing market to be more resilient than the national housing market due to sustained wealth migration,” Miami Realtors Association Chief Economist Gay Cororaton said in a news release.
There were only 14 homes for sale last month in Miami-Dade County priced below $300,000.
Across all three major South Florida counties, there were about 5,000 homes listed below $600,000. Two-thirds of the homes for sale last month were asking for more than $600,000.
