Sales Down by One Third, Median Prices Up 10%
There were only 2,509 single family home sales in South Florida (Miami, Fort Lauderdale and West Palm Beach) in November, down 37.5% when compared to November of 2021. The news is not as bad as it sounds however, since last November was one of the most active in history with over 4,000 closed sales. Prior to 2020, single family home sales in the month of November averaged closer to 3,100 so in reality our sales last month were only down closer to 19%. Median prices were still up 10%, to $550,000. However, that is down from the high median price in June 2022 of $600,000.
Condos and Townhomes reported similar numbers in November with total sales down 40.1% and median prices up 8.4% compared to November last year. Similar to single family homes, our condo sales the past 2 years were historically high. So, the 2,848 condo sales in November 2022 were only down about 11% when compared to an average November with about 3,200 sales.
Inventory is still the real story in the South Florida real estate market. While inventory has steadily increased every month since May 2022, we only have 3.4 months supply of inventory for single family homes and 3.2 months supply for condos and townhomes. This is still a strong sellers market and until we see significantly more inventory on the market we don’t expect downward pressure on median prices.
Inventory is still the real story in the South Florida real estate market. We only have 3.4 months supply of single family homes and 3.2 months supply of condos. This is still a sellers market.
Broward County
Including the coastal towns of Fort Lauderdale, Pompano Beach and Lauderdale-by-the-Sea, Broward County single family home sales totaled 861 sales in November 2022, down almost 36% since last year. The median sale prices in Broward County was $540,000 which is up 11.3% over last year. The county has only 3 months supply of inventory, which is the lowest in the Tri-County area.
Condo and townhome sales dropped 34% to 1,049 sales, while the median sale price increased 9.7% to $255,000. Months supply of inventory for Broward condos was only 2.6, also the lowest in the Tri-County area.
Palm Beach County
Including the coastal towns of Boca Raton, Delray Beach and Jupiter, Palm Beach County single family home sales totaled 920, down 38.3% from November last year. The median sale price was $565,000 which is up 10.8% over last year and the highest median price in South Florida. Single family inventory was 3.3 months supply in Palm Beach County.
Condo and townhome sales in the county were down a whopping 44.2% from last year, but median prices were up 10.8% at $291,000. Condo and townhome inventory was 2.8 months supply.
Miami-Dade County
Stretching from Aventura to Miami Beach, Miami-Dade County is the most populous in South Florida. Closed single family home sales in November 2022 were down 38.5% while the median sales price was up 9.4% to $550,000. Months supply of single family homes was 4 months, the highest in the tri-county area, but still a sellers market.
Condo and townhome sales in the county dropped 42.1% to 1,073 sales, while the median sales price jumped 14.2% to $395,000, the largest increase of the 3 counties. Just like single family homes, the condo and townhome inventory was also 4 months supply.
Summary
It is not surprising that sales activity was slow in November in response to mortgage interest rates rising above 7% in October, and we should expect December’s numbers to be similar since rates stayed close to 7% throughout November. However, 30-year fixed rates were down to an average of 6.27% last week and inventory levels are the highest they have been since June of 2021. This is great news for buyers as we enter the busy winter season in South Florida.
