The South Florida Real Estate Market in May

THE SINGLE FAMILY HOME MARKET

Yes, there are still plenty of condominiums for sale. Yes, there are still many foreclosures, and a shadow inventory (properties not official on the market) of unknown proportions.

But for now, cherry-picking time is over.

At least thats what my observations during everyday searches for clients say and what statistics confirm. The market for single family houses in Southeast Florida has turned:

• inventory, falling for the fourth month in a row, is now at six months  considered a balanced market
• asking prices have held more or less stable since beginning of the year
• asking prices of sold homes have increased steadily since January
• selling prices increased the fourth month in a row, by a hefty 7.2% in May

The biggest selling price gains go to Palm Beach county, which also takes the crown for the biggest increase in asking prices of sold homes and selling prices (8% m-o-m).

It seems I was too skeptical when I wrote in May I am not quite sure where some of the exuberant reported data on our regional market in April come from.

The market for all single family houses in May:

* Houses for sale: 22,025 (0.2%)
* Inventory: 6.7 months (10%)
* Median list price: $294,300 (+1.0%)
* Median list price per sf: $142 (no change)
* Houses sold last month: 3,308 (+5.8%)
* Median selling price: $ 191,333 (+7.2%)
* Median selling price per sf: 102 (+3.0%)

Table: all single family homes per SEF-MLS; data per month’s end. Percent changes are month-over-month. – Chart: SFH data May 2010 to May 2011. Red: median list price, green: median selling price, blue: that's the dwindling inventory, in months. – Data source: SEF-MLS


THE MODERN HOME MARKET

As always - read: since I write this blog - the modern market precedes the movement of the overall market. That can be interpreted good or bad  currently bad for buyers, as there are less and less modernist homes to choose from.

Inventory is dwindling monthly if not weekly, in May dropping the sixth month in a row. Not a nice record to write about if your expertise and speciality is promoting and brokering modern architecture. Compared to one year ago, in the most active price range  under $500,000  there are 45% (!) fewer modern houses for sale.

Translation: tough times for buyers, who will have to be patient to find the right property  and ready to react – viewing it, finances lined up, and writing an offer – as soon as it becomes available.

Owners and sellers of modern homes: please contact me so we can meet for a cup of tea and a chat. Please!

In summary: against all intuition (and the arguments of some of my clients, savvy investors in their own right), June has been the month with the highest number of closings in South Florida – at least during the last four years. I’ll let you know as soon as possible if this holds true for 2011 as well. 

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In the meantime, thank you for reading this blog, let me know if you have any questions - and stay cool!

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