The Lamacchia Realty South Florida Housing Report presents overall home sale statistics and highlights the average sale prices for single families, condominiums/townhomes in Broward County, Miami-Dade County, and Palm Beach County for July 2021 compared to July 2020. It also looks at other metrics like New Listings and New Pending Sales as they are often the best indicators for predicting future trends in the market. 2019 will be examined in some areas to highlight the lingering impact of COVID in real estate.
COVID-19 shutdowns were put in place in late spring last year, so it impacted homes listed, and homes pending in early summer of 2020, which then negatively impacted closed sales in mid-summer of 2020. That is part of the reason that we go back to 2019 so that we can get a better comparison.
The log jam that the real estate industry experienced during the shutdown caused a reduction in summer closing, listings and pending sales, and caused prices to increase in Southern Florida. Average prices increased significantly over the past year, due to high demand and some outlying highly-priced luxury sales, so we also look at median sale prices.
The median price is the price where half the number of homes sold for more and the other half sold for less. The average price is all the sale prices added up and divided by the number of sales, which could be thrown off by a few outlying very highly-priced luxury home sales, which is common in South Florida.
Broward County
Broward County increased in every category except pending sales for single families and condo/townhome listings in July 2021 over July 2020. High demand has created a continued spike in year-over-year prices for both categories.
The large increase in condo/townhome sales has much to do with last year, and how sales for that category decreased when communal living wasn’t in demand. Lately, as well, buyers who were originally looking for singles have set their sites on condos to avoid paying single-family prices.
Single Families for July:
- Sales: 1,680 in 2021 | 1,646 in 2020
- Average Prices: $667,853 in 2021 | $511,102 in 2020
- New Listings: 1,969 in 2021 | 1,921 in 2020
- Pending Sales: 1,682 in 2021 | 2,092 in 2020
Condos/Townhomes for July:
- Sales: 1,999 in 2021 | 1,324 in 2020
- Average Prices: $292,311 in 2021 | $256,462 in 2020
- New Listings: 2,017 in 2021 | 2,119 in 2020
- Pending Sales: 1,960 in 2021 | 1,796 in 2020
Miami-Dade & Palm Beach Counties
In July of 2021, Miami-Dade and Palm Beach counties performed similarly to Broward County. Sales, average, and median prices were up year over year for both single families and condos. Listings are up for both categories in Miami-Dade County and down for Palm Beach county. Pending sales were largely down for all categories except condos/townhomes in Miami-Dade County.
Single Families for July:
- Sales: 1,373 in 2021 | 1,194 in 2020
- Average Prices: $678,706 in 2021 | $985,746 in 2020
- New Listings: 1,666 in 2021 | 1,497 in 2020
- Pending Sales: 1,365 in 2021 | 1,692 in 2020
Condos/Townhomes for July:
- Sales: 2,259 in 2021 | 1,109 in 2020
- Average Prices: $408,711 in 2021 | $575,720 in 2020
- New Listings: 2,209 in 2021 | 2,607 in 2020
- Pending Sales: 1,454 in 2021 | 2,081 in 2020
Single Families for July:
- Sales: 1,774 in 2021 | 1,940 in 2020
- Average Prices: $826,567 in 2021 | $737,439 in 2020
- New Listings: 1,940 in 2021 | 2,067 in 2020
- Pending Sales: 1,583 in 2021 | 2,067 in 2020
Condos/Townhomes for July:
- Sales: 1,541 in 2021 | 1,316 in 2020
- Average Prices: $304,464 in 2021 | $365,413 in 2020
- New Listings: 1,598 in 2021 | 1,704 in 2020
- Pending Sales: 1,505 in 2021 | 1,478 in 2020
What’s Ahead?
Sales and prices are up, and the South Florida market is very busy. Local as well as international buyers are trying to secure homes in the area and competition is high.
The rise in new active listings is a positive sign for buyers as demand doesn’t seem to be lettings up, and the decline in pending sales is likely a sign that buyers are buying outside these counties where the competition is maybe lower. The recent condo scare, after the collapse of the Surfside tower, may influence the condo market as homeowners wonder if they should sell, and potential buyers feel hesitant to purchase in an older building. There hasn’t been an effect on that market yet, however.
Sellers should be careful about listings their homes too high, as listings increase buyers will have more selection and more bargaining power. Buyers with the changing mortgage rates should be ready to strike with updated pre-approvals in hand.
*Data provided by Florida Realtors® SunStats