Total cumulative pending home sales – including single-family homes and condominiums – in Broward County increased four percent in January compared to a year earlier, from 7,447 to 7,770, and 2.6 percent, from 7,571, month-over-month according to the MIAMI Association of Realtors and the Southeast Florida Multiple Listing Service (SEFMLS).
Houses and Condominium Towers on Peninsula in Fort Lauderdale - Image by Richard Cummins/Corbis
“We continue to see rising year-over-year cumulative pending sales in Broward County while inventory levels continue to drop,” says Terri Bersach, president of the Broward County Board of Governors of the MIAMI Association of Realtors. “Increased contract activity combined with rising closed sales and stabilizing prices point to increased demand and market strengthening.”
Pending condominium sales in Broward again performed better than that of single-family homes in January. Pending condominium sales in Broward were 8.1 percent higher than they were in January 2010, up from 4,137 to 4,472, and were 3.42 percent above what they were the previous month.
Compared to January 2010, Broward pending sales of single-family homes decreased .4 percent, from 3,310 to 3,298, but increased 8.1 percent, up from 3,247, compared to the previous month.
Housing Inventory Declining in Broward County
In Broward County, total housing inventory has decreased 37 percent in less than two years and dropped two percent just in the last month.
“The local market is further expected to strengthen as the job market, the local economy, and credit conditions improve,” says Natascha Tello, president-elect of the Broward County Board of Governors of the MIAMI Association of Realtors. “Historically high affordability and favorable market conditions continue to boost pending and closed sales in Broward County, as buyers take advantage of current opportunities.”
A sale is listed as pending when the contract has been signed but the transaction has not closed, though the sale usually is finalized within one or two months of signing. Increased pending sales are an indication of increased future sales.