0
0
0

Miami listings plentiful, but that’s not helping affordability

by Timothy Inklebarger

Homes for sale in the first quarter of 2020 were 8% more affordable than they were this time last year, due to declining interest rates, according to a report by realtor.com and the National Association of Realtors.

The Affordability Distribution Score measures the affordability of homes on the market for different income levels. The score is based on the number of listings considered affordable to residents in a particular income percentile, with results ranging between zero and two. A score of 1 or higher is considered affordable.

Des Moines, Iowa, and Baton Rouge, Louisiana, were the only two cities of the 100 metropolitan areas studied deemed both affordable and having a healthy supply of homes for sale.

The Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach area was identified as one of four metros, all of which are in Florida, to have a greater supply of homes on the market than the long-term national average of 17 for every 1,000 households. The Miami metro area had 19 listings for every 1,000 households, while North Port Sarasota-Bradenton had 18, Deltona-Daytona Beach-Ormond Beach 21 and Cape Coral-Fort Myers 24.

The Miami metro area was also was singled out for being one of five cities studied where listings were plentiful but not necessarily affordable. The city’s affordability score was 0.66 and the median listing price was $399,050.

“The lack of affordable homes for sale has been the No. 1 issue facing homebuyers for the last several years,” said realtor.com Chief Economist Danielle Hale. “The COVID pandemic has eased the affordability side of the equation by lowering interest rates, but it has also prompted many sellers to delay listing their homes. As buyers return, we’ll need to see sellers come back for the housing market to normalize.”

Read More Related to This Post

Join the conversation

New Subscribe

  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.