The housing market in Miami-Dade and Broward counties showed little sign of letting up in October, despite incredibly low housing inventories.

By Peter Ricci

October was yet another smashing month of Miami home sales, with single-family home sales increasing 41.9 percent year-over-year and condo sales climbing by 13.1 percent.

And those sales come amidst a dwindling housing inventory; yet again, active housing inventory decreased in Miami-Dade, with residential listings falling 22.2 percent from last year.

Miami Home Sales Increase, in Spite of Tight Inventory

Those tight housing inventory levels have created an interesting housing market in Miami, one distinguished by high demand and home price increases:

• Median price for existing single-family homes in Miami-Dade rose 5.8 percent year-over-year, while for condos, the price leapt by 24.4 percent.
• The increase in single-family home prices marks the 11th straight month of yearly price increases, and the 16th straight month for condos.
• Median time on the market has also declined, with single-family homes and condos taking just 39 and 43 days to sell, respectively.
• And finally, cash remained king, particularly for foreign homebuyers, with all-cash transactions making up 63.7 percent of closed sales, 46 percent of single-family closings and 77.6 percent of condo closings.

Broward County Housing Hot as Well

Of course, Miami-Dade is not the only county in South Florida experiencing a hot housing market; Broward County has seen its housing stock heat up as well.

Single-family home sales in Broward rose 20.9 percent from October 2011, and townhouse/condo sales increased 16.5 percent. The housing inventory declines in Broward were even more radical than that of Miami-Dade, with single-family inventory plunging by 49.1 percent and condo/townhouse inventory by 43.2 percent.

Additionally, median sales price increased for both existing homes and condos/townhouses, rising a respective 15.9 and 14.6 percent.

And if pending sales are any indication, Broward’s housing market could just be getting started – the number of pending sales for single-family properties skyrocketed by 70.8 percent in October from the year before, with condos and townhouses following behind with an impressive 45.5 percent.