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 June 2021 compared to June 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.
Due to the lingering effects of COVID and the massive amount of home sellers that didn’t list last year, 2019 will be discussed to compare this month to a market not impacted by a pandemic. In addition, we have to be aware of the fact that COVID-19 really got going and shutdowns were put in place in late spring last year, so it impacted homes listed, and home 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 dip in June 2020 sales, new listings, and pending sales reflected the log jam that the real estate industry experienced during the shutdown. Many sellers paused on their plans to list as the stay-at-home mandate would have made it very difficult for buyers to tour the homes. Prices didn’t see any sort of decrease as the year progressed, but we did look at average prices and median prices this year. 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.
These factors that caused the artificial reduction in activity last year apply to Broward, Miami-Dade and Palm Beach counties.
Broward County
Broward County increased in every category except pending sales in June 2021 over June 2020.
Single-family sales rose by 37.3% and condo/townhome sales increased by 127.3% overall. Single-family sales in June 2020 landed at 1,313 and then climbed to 1,803 in June 2021. Condo/townhome sales in 2020 came to 1,020 and jumped to 2,318. 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. It also has to do with single-family availability and pricing. Demand for singles is still very high making prices rise enough that some buyers set their sights on condos instead for an easier time finding and affording a home.
Average prices increased for single families and condos by 44.4% and 30.2% respectively. Single-family prices climbed up $221,135 year over year with June 2020 prices at $498,158 and June 2021 prices at $719,293. Condo/townhome prices increased 36.2% to $307,951 compared to last years $236,573. High demand brings prices up with multiple offer situations and bidding wars.
Median prices also increased to $498,200 from $380,000, a positive change of 27.7% for single families, and increased to $221,000 from $198,500 for condo/townhomes, a 11.3% change. Median prices are lower than average prices as average prices take into account those high-priced sales, whereas median prices fall in the middle of the scale of all the sold prices for June.
New active listings increased for both singles and condos/townhomes. Single-family listings moved from 1,769 in June 2020 to 2,155 in June 2021, a 21.8% change and a good sign for buyers in that market. Condo/townhome listings are also up, but not by as much. There were 2,143 new active condo listings compared to 2,017 last year. Lots of people were trying to sell condos and move to single families as a result of safe distance protocols last year, so its to be expected that this year over year change isn’t as great.
The number of pending sales decreased for single families in June 2021 over June 2020, with 1,805 and 2,095 respectively year over year. Pricing is likely a factor here, as well as last year many people were trying to secure those single families during the pandemic. Pending sales for condo/townhomes increased by 28.7% however, now at 2,198 sales over 1,708.
Miami-Dade & Palm Beach Counties
In June 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. Pending sales were largely down for all categories except condos/townhomes in Broward and Miami-Dade counties. Pending sales decreases can likely be attributed to buyers moving out to areas further away from the high demand and rising prices. The slight increase listings can’t compensate for all the local, national and international buyers looking for homes in such desirable areas.
What’s Ahead?
The market is on fire as buyers from all over are trying to secure property in sunny Florida. Prices and closed sales increasing are a reflection of that. 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 very high.
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 closed sales yet, but we will see in the months to come.
The comparison of June 2021 over June 2019, to compare this frenzied market to a market uninfluenced by the pandemic, shows increases across the board everywhere but in pending sales in Palm Beach. 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