Miami-Dade Real Estate Remains Strong in February

by Peter Thomas Ricci

March 25, 2013

The Miami-Dade real estate market remained on solid footing in February, with home sales and prices continuing their positive trends.

Real estate in Miami-Dade continued its stellar performance in February, with residential sales rising 6.5 percent over the previous year, according to the Miami Association of Realtors.

Median sales price was positive as well, with the price for condos rising 26.9 percent year-over-year and the price for single-family homes rising 10.9 percent, the 15th straight month that both condo and single-family home prices rose.

Housing Inventory in Miami-Dade’s Real Estate Market

There were also two key developments in Miami-Dade’s housing inventory in February:

First, total housing inventory continued to fall in Miami-Dade, with inventory dropping 9.6 percent from February 2012 to a 6.4-months supply; for active listings, single-family inventory fell 10.2 percent to a 5.3-months supply, while condos fell 6.6 percent to a 5.6-months supply.
Second, the proportion of distressed property sales shrunk from the year before, dropping from 53.6 percent of sales in February 2013 to 42.2 percent last month; still, Miami-Dade’s volume of distressed property sales far exceeds the rest of the nation, where distressed sales made up 25 percent of all home sales.

International Homebuyers Active as Ever

And of course, international homebuyers remained an active component to Miami-Dade’s marketplace, as Natascha Tello, MAR’s chairman of the board, explained.

“Demand for housing in Miami from both foreign and domestic buyers continues to deplete local inventory and to drive significant price appreciation,” Tello said. “Miami remains a top market for net migration from other states in addition to being the top market in the nation for foreign buyers. Such demand will continue to strengthen Miami real estate long into the future.”

In February, 66.8 percent of all close sales were all-cash, up from 65.5 percent last year and 64.7 percent in January; 90 percent of foreign homebuyers purchase their properties in with cash. And like distressed sales, the influx of cash sales and foreign investment are unique to Miami-Dade’s housing markets. For the nation on a whole, 32 percent of home sales in February were all-cash transactions.