Palm Beach County Homes Are Tougher Sell
For the second straight month, Palm Beach County had the sharpest decline in existing home sales among the state’s 20 metropolitan areas.
Median prices are down across the South Florida housing market, but sales fell a whopping 53 percent in September in PBC. There were 566 homes sold last month, down from 1,202 a year ago. Prices also have fallen on an annual basis two months in a row after three years of increases, the Sun-Sentinel reports.
The county’s year-over-year median price dropped $34,500, or 9 percent last month to $365,500 from $400,000 in September 2005, the Florida Association of Realtors (FAR) reported Wednesday.
Last November, the county’s median peaked at $421,500. That was by far the highest price in South Florida, but the median has since dropped below both Broward County’s $370,300 and Miami-Dade’s $371,700.
Some analysts suggest that Palm Beach County’s prices have farther to fall because the homes are more overvalued than Broward and Miami-Dade. As fewer and fewer people can afford a Florida mortgage on a PBC home, forcing the market to drive prices downward.
Others are at a loss to explain why Palm Beach County’s housing market was so weak last month compared with the rest of the state. The median price for the county’s condo sales in September rose $25,700 or 13 percent to $220,500. Sales dropped 31 percent.
The housing slump continues on a national level as well. Existing home sales dropped for the sixth consecutive month in September, according to the National Association of Realtors. The U.S. median price was $220,000, off 2.2 percent or $5,000 from $225,000 last September.
West Palm Beach housing consultant Brad Hunter believes the worst is over — to an extent. He doubts sales of existing homes will fall much more in South Florida, but price declines remain likely.
“We’ll see some downward adjustments from here because speculators still have to adjust their expectations,” Hunter said.
Mike Larson, an analyst with Weiss Research in Jupiter, Fla., said that builders are offering $100,000 discounts, one-day sales and other incentives, which are helping lower home values across the region. Sellers of existing homes can’t match those incentives, so inventory is piling up.
Even with Florida mortgage loan rates low, Palm Beach had nearly 33,000 homes and condos on the market last month, more than double the number up for sale in September 2005.
As a result, buyers can be picky, and they are — especially amid concerns over the threat of hurricanes and dramatic increases in insurance premiums and property tax rates.
Hunter and others predict the end of hurricane season November 30 will spur more home sales, but doesn’t expect buyers to get serious until sellers cut prices even more.
Boynton Beach agent Bob Melzer said he tries to convince people to take advantage of the favorable buying conditions.
“They’re leading the market. Make an offer. You’ll never know what people are going to accept in this market. If you see a house that you like for $400,000, offer $310,000 if you want and try to make it work from there,” Melzer said.
Some real estate agents say they’re seeing subtle signs that the South Florida market is picking up.
Tripta Chawla, an agent for Lang Realty in Boca Raton, said she has been busier in the past two weeks.
“People who didn’t buy last year seem to be a little more anxious,” she said. “If they can buy in a buyer’s market, there’s nothing like it.”
Gwen Simon, a real estate agent in Palm Beach and Broward counties, said her listings also are drawing more interest.
“I think buyers and sellers are coming closer together in their expectations,” she said.
