Foreigners push prices up in Miami market
Activity in the residential real estate market in Miami, a popular location with overseas buyers, has increased for the twelfth quarter in a row, according to new data.
In the Miami Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA), sales of property, including existing single family homes and condominiums, increased 49% from 4,557 to 6,768, in the second quarter of 2011 and 15% from the previous quarter according to the figures from the Miami Association of Realtors.
This rise marks 12 consecutive quarters, since the third quarter of 2008, of increasing sales and the Miami MSA posted the highest sales increases of any major metro area for condominiums and of all single family home markets in Florida.
Miami sales of existing single family homes increased 31% compared to a year earlier and sales of existing condominiums in Miami increased 62% compared to the second quarter of 2010.
Overall, in Florida sales of single family homes increased 1% condominium sales increased 14%. Nationally, total state existing home sales, including single family and condo, declined 5.4% compared to the first quarter of 2011 and were 12.7% below the second quarter of 2010.
‘Miami sales have increased consistently for nearly three years. Residential sales have exceeded last year’s levels, which were boosted by the homebuyer tax credit,’ said Jack Levine, 2011cChairman of the board of the Miami Association of Realtors.
In addition, he confirmed that it is buyers from overseas that are keeping the Miami market buoyant. ‘International buyers and investors continue to fuel the Miami real estate market unlike any other in the US, resulting in rapid inventory absorption,’ he said.
The latest data also shows that short sales and foreclosures continue to have an impact on median and average sales prices for both single -family homes and condominiums especially in some areas of the county.
The median sales price for single family homes in Miami-Dade dropped 9% to $178,800 in the first quarter. The median sales price for condominiums fell 6% to $119,800. Statewide, median sales prices fell 5% to $134,600 for single family homes and 2% to $94,700 for condominiums.
The national median existing single family home price was $171,900 in the second quarter, down 2.8% from $176,800 in the second quarter of 2010.
‘Current Miami sales levels are reflective of a healthy and balanced marketplace. While distressed sales are still impacting home prices to some degree, many local areas and buildings throughout South Florida have been experiencing rising values for quite some time,’ said Ralph De Martino, residential president of the Miami Association of Realtors.
‘We also continue to see extreme demand for bank owned properties, resulting in multiple offers and a dwindling supply,’ he added.