Market Shifts, Home Sales Continue to Fall in Broward, Palm Beach & Miami-Dade Counties

Echoing the analysis of nationwide experts, the Sun-Sentinel reports that the South Florida real estate market remained soft in April, giving buyers more options — and sellers more grief.

The Broward County housing market took a dive last month, with single-family home and condominium sales plummeting, while prices leveled off from the record highs reached last fall, the Florida Association of Realtors said.

THE REALIZATION: After five years of bidding wars and astounding price appreciations, the market has shifted. With more than three times the number of homes on the market compared with last year at this time, prospective buyers are becoming selective — and less willing to make an offer on a house for the full list price.

“Buyers are a commodity right now,” said Joanie Villanti, a real estate agent in Broward and Palm Beach counties.

Almost 700 single-family homes changed hands in Broward last month, a 37 percent drop from April 2005. The median price of an existing single-family home, meanwhile, inched up 5 percent to $360,600, compared to last April. While it’s still an increase, it’s nowhere close to the 25-30 percent appreciation that became commonplace in the past five years.

Broward condo sales also dropped 37 percent, as the median price rose 17 percent over last April to $214,200. Although median prices continue to increase year over year, the numbers are misleading, said David Levin, a Delray Beach real estate consultant.

Rapid appreciations during the past five years have put homes out of reach for many consumers, as evidenced by lower sales totals — meaning it’s the wealthy that are buying expensive properties, which skews the median price upward.

The median price of a single-family home has dropped 3 percent since the beginning of 2006 and may continue to fall as Florida home loans become more expensive. A 30-year fixed rate home loan in April averaged 6.51 percent, up from 5.86 percent last April.

“Regionally, we have issues to deal with,” Levin said.

The market was destined to slip as local wages and salaries couldn’t keep up with the enormous price hikes. Broward’s median price has more than doubled in the past five years, with a typical home costing $167,200 in 2001. Elsewhere in the South Florida housing market, similar signs of cooling prevailed.

• In Palm Beach County, single-family home sales fell 43 percent in April, while the median price of $386,500 rose 4 percent.
• Miami-Dade County sales declined 31 percent, as the median price increased 12 percent to $374,500.

Across Florida, most markets were off as sales slipped 31 percent, while the median price rose 13 percent to $249,700. Nationally, sales of homes, townhomes, condos and co-ops fell nearly 6 percent in April compared to April 2005, the National Association of Realtors said Thursday.

More than 20,300 homes and condos were for sale in Broward last month, an increase of 321 percent over April 2005, the Realtor Association of Greater Fort Lauderdale reports. Yet despite the slowdown, some South Florida real estate agents remain optimistic.

“We had record, steroid-type numbers last year,” said Mike Pappas, president of Miami-based Keyes Co. Realtors. “But even at 75 percent, these are very strong numbers.”

Sellers, though, are struggling to stay positive. Bruce Sherter finally found a buyer this week for his $599,999, five-bedroom Parkland home.

It took six months and five price reductions. The 43-year-old financial analyst and his listing agent, Debbie Anderson of Prudential Florida WCI Realty, say sellers have to be serious from the start.

“If you want the home to sell, you have to be aggressive with the price,” Sherter said.