South Florida Business Journal (May 11, 2010)
There’s a tiny glimmer of light in what otherwise has been a very dark time for South Florida’s real estate market.
A new report from Florida Realtors finds that the median price of an existing single-family home in West Palm Beach rose 3 percent in the first quarter, to $236,100 from $229,200 in the year-ago period.
Four other markets also saw prices inch up. However, statewide prices remained down, with the median price falling 5 percent, to $133,800 from $140,900 a year earlier.
“Median prices in most areas of the state continue to fall,” said Sean Snaith, director for the University of Central Florida’s Institute for Economic Competitiveness, in a news release. “However, the rate at which they are falling has diminished significantly, and this is indicative of a bottom approaching.”
The number of homes and condos that sold in the first quarter rose in all three counties and statewide, according to Florida Realtors.
West Palm Beach saw the biggest jump in single-family home sales, up 20 percent to 1,949 from 1,625. Condo sales there rose 47 percent, to 2,282 from 1,549 a year earlier. However, unlike single-family home prices, condo prices slid 9 percent in West Palm Beach, to $93,500 from $102,900.
Single-family home sales in Fort Lauderdale were up 7 percent, to 1,756 from 1,647. However, the median price fell 6 percent, to $196,700 from $210,200. Condo sales there rose 45 percent, to 2,739 from 1,893, but prices slid 15 percent, to $71,900 from $84,100.
Miami single-family home sales were up 12 percent, to 1,530 from 1,372. The median sales price, however, fell 6 percent, to $191,200 from $203,700. Condo sales in Miami were up 46 percent, to 1,920 from 1,311. The median price slid 9 percent, to $136,100 from $149,000.
Statewide, sales of existing single-family homes rose 24 percent, to 38,846 in the first quarter from 31,410 a year earlier.
Statewide, sales of existing condominiums in the first quarter rose 67 percent, to 16,897 from 10,131 from the same period the previous year.
“Results indicate that the real estate market in Florida has hit bottom and is in the process of stabilizing across most property types,” said Timothy Becker, director of the University of Florida’s Bergstrom Center for Real Estate Studies, in a news release “Private capital – both foreign and domestic – continues to enter the state in search of quality investment deals.”