Prices are increasing and properties are selling fast in Miami, making it one of the most popular US locations for overseas buyers.
The October data reported by Miami Association of Realtors showed a regular increase in monthly median sales price for single-family homes and condominiums for more than four years. The median sales price in October for single-family homes rose 10.4 percent from the same month last year, from $240,000 to $265,000. Yet despite four years of consistent increase, condominium and single-family home prices remain at 2004 levels.
October's median sales price for existing condominiums is $200,000. This indicates an increase of 8.1 percent compared to last year's $185,000.
Christopher Zoller, the 2015 Residential President of MIAMI, revealed that international buyers from all over the world are attracted to Miami real estate together with the increasing number of domestic consumers.
"South Florida offers world class amenities, a top-tier arts and cultural epicenter, a diversified economy and more," the Miami-based realtor said. "The strong demand is leading to a fewer days on the market for Miami single family homes while buyer offers a near asking price."
There is a 0.3 percent in October's original list price increase for single-family homes compared to the previous year. This year's average is 95.6 percent. There is a 7-percent decrease for the median number of days the Miami single-family homes stayed on the market, from 43 days last year to 40 days this year.
For condominiums, the median number of days they stayed on the market changed from 58 days in October 2014 to 59 days in October 2015, indicating a 1.7 percent increase. The average percent received from the original list price was 93.8 percent, a slight rise of 0.1 percent year-over-year.
Total existing Miami-Dade County residential sales are consistent with historical averages even though there is a slight decline of 5.6 percent, from 2,712 sales in October 2014 to 2,559 last month. These include single-family homes and condos. There is a 4.4 percent year-on-year decrease in October for single-family home sales, from 1, 204 to 1,151. Condominiums also had 6.6 percent less sales in October, from 1,508 to 1,408.
Some statistics from Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation and FHA was released earlier this year, revealing that out of 8,523 condo buildings in Miami-Dade and Broadway Counties, only 23 are approved for Federal Housing Administration loans down from 29 earlier this year. This increases the sales of new construction properties, making Miami existing condominiums lack access to mortgage loans.
Earlier this month, FHA announced a new policy plan to streamline the condominium rectification process, expand its definition of acceptable owner-occupied units to include second homes not owned by investors, and change the way it views co-insurance clauses.
"The new FHA policy should broaden the opportunity for South Florida families to realize the dream of homeownership. By increasing the number of local condo buildings approved for FHA loans, more consumers will be able to access FHA's low down payment mortgages," according to Danielle Blake, senior vice president of Housing & Government Affairs. "Accepting citizens' insurance and co-insurance clauses is another significant development, which would help more than 85 percent of Florida's condo projects in complying with FHA's insurance requirements."
In October, a cash deal of 51.5 percent represented Miami's total closed sales doubling the national average. A cash transaction represented 55.8 percent of total Miami deals was reported in October last year. Compared to 36.1 percent of single family home sales, 64.1 percent of condo closings were made in cash last month.
Short sale transactions dropped 40.1 percent year-over-year while REOs decreased 34.7 percent. A 5.2 percent was accounted for REOs short sales and 18.6 percent, respectively, of total Miami sales in October. There was 23.7 percent of all closed residential sales in Miami distressed last month which includes REO (bank-owned properties) and short sales, compared to 34.9 percent in October 2014.
There is a 5.2 month supply of Miami single-family homes at a current sale pace, a 9.3 percent decrease from 5.8 months in October 2014. On the other hand, there was 9.1 month supply of condominiums as compared to 8.2 months in October last year, indicating a 10.6 percent increase. There is also a balanced market between consumers and sellers offers between six and nine months' supply of inventory. An increase of 3.2 percent year-over-year from 17, 801 to 18,366 on active listings was seen at the end of October.
Sixty percent active listings remain below 2008 levels when sales bottomed. There's an increase of 1.1 percent to 3,036 new listings of condominiums last month, compared to 3,003 during the same time period in 2014. While new listings of Miami single-family homes saw a decrease of 7.6 percent, from 2,316 in October 2014 to 2,140 in October this year.
