Luxury condo sales pushing up sales and prices in Miami
Luxury condo sales in Miami are soaring as demand grows from real estate investors and buyers from overseas. Local Multiple Listing Service (MLS) data shows million dollar condominium unit sales grew 61.3% last month compared to sales figures for April 2012. This increase helped grow overall condo sales by 18.7% year on year. Single family home sales also rose this April, up 15.2% last month compared to April 2012.
Figures also show that throughout the state of Florida sales of existing single family homes increased by 17.4% compared to a year ago and condo sale were up by 13.6% from April 2012. This is substantially more than national sales with existing single family homes, town homes, condominiums, and co-ops up by 0.6% from March and 9.7% higher than they were in April 2012, according to the National Association of Realtors.
April’s sales performance marks 17 consecutive months of appreciation for both single family homes and condominiums in Miami. Prices are also rising with the median sales price of single family homes increasing 23.7% to $225,000 year on year which remained the same as the previous month. The median sales price of condominiums, which has significantly increased each of the last 22 months, rose 17.1% to $175,000 compared to a year earlier and 4.8% compared to the previous month.
‘The consistent boost in residential and condominium sales in Miami indicates that buyers and investors are moving quickly to purchase these properties while supply levels remain historically low,’ said Natascha Tello, chairman of the board of the Miami Association of Realtors. ‘After two record sales years coupled with very tight supply, it seemed sales would not exceed last year’s activity. Yet Miami real estate sales appear to be surging again,’ she added.
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State wide median sales prices in April increased 14.2% to $165,000 for single family homes and 16.4% to $128,000 for condominiums. The national median existing home price for all housing types was $192,800 in April, an 11% rise from April 2012. At the same time fewer properties are being put up for sale. Active listings at the end of April dropped 2.1% compared to April 2012 when the market was already experiencing a housing shortage while inventory of single family homes dropped 6.9% with that of condominiums decreasing 1.1%.
At the current sales pace, there is 4.9 months of supply of single family homes and 5.7 months of supply of condominiums in Miami-Dade, representing drops of 16.9 and 6.1% respectively compared to year ago levels. ‘Miami has cemented its status as a sellers’ market. Demand is intensifying while inventory remains low. While new listings are coming on the market, there is still insufficient supply to satisfy demand. This creates an excellent opportunity for sellers who may have been waiting to list their properties,’ said Miami Association of Realtors residential president Fernando Martinez.
Cash sales remain strong, suggesting overseas buyers are still very active in the market. Some 64.8% of sales in April were all cash sales, about the same compared to year ago levels and to the previous month. All cash sales accounted for 47% of single family home and 77.3% of condominium closings, compared to a year ago when cash sales were 46.5% and 77.8% respectively. Since nearly 90% of foreign buyers in Florida purchase properties all cash, this reflects the much stronger presence of international buyers in the Miami real estate market.
By comparison all cash sales nationally accounted for 32% of transactions in April, up from 30% the previous month and 29% in April 2012.