Residential Real Estate News
Greater Fort Lauderdale Area Residential Sales Down 32 Annually in February
According to the Miami Association of Realtors, Broward County Florida February 2023 total sales decreased 31.6% year-over-year, from 2,687 to 1,839, because it's in comparison to a historic February 2022 and the current market has lower inventory in specific price points and higher rates.
Broward existing condo sales decreased 32.4% year-over-year, from 1,489 in February 2022 to 1,006 in February 2023, due to lack of inventory and rising mortgage rates.
Single-family home sales decreased 30.5% year-over-year, from 1,198 in February 2022 to 833 in February 2023 because of its comparison to a historic February 2022 and the current market has lower inventory in specific price points and higher rates.
Total pending sales rose 12.2% month-over-month, from 2,541 in January 2023 to 2,850 in February 2023. Pending sales are an indicator of future sales, but it takes up to 40 days for pending transactions to close and not all pending sales end in deals.
Home sales are sensitive to mortgage rate changes and homebuyers are taking advantage of any rate declines. According to Freddie Mac, the average commitment rate for a 30-year, conventional, fixed-rate mortgage is 6.60% as of March 16. That's down from 6.73% from the previous week but up from 4.16% one year ago.
Broward County single-family home median prices increased 7.9% year-over-year in February 2023, increasing from $519,000 to $560,000. Existing condo median prices increased 13.3% year-over-year, from $240,000 to $272,000.
Total active listings at the end of February 2023 increased 79.2% year-over-year, from 4,310 to 7,723.
Inventory of single-family homes increased 93.8% year-over-year in February 2023 from 1,639 active listings last year to 3,176 last month. Condominium inventory increased 70.2% year-over-year to 4,547 from 2,671 listings during the same period in 2022.
New listings of Broward single-family homes decreased 24.2% to 1,248 from 1,646 year-over-year. New listings of condominiums decreased 10.2%, from 2,088 to 1,874 year-over-year.
Months' supply of inventory for single-family homes increased 154.5% to 2.8 months year-over-year, which indicates a seller's market. Inventory for existing condominiums increased 113.3% to 3.2 months, which also indicates a seller's market. A balanced market between buyers and sellers offers between six- and nine-months supply.
Only 0.9% of all closed residential sales in Broward were distressed last month, including REO (bank-owned properties) and short sales, compared to 1.2% in February 2022.
Short sales and REOs accounted for 0.05% and 0.9% year-over-year, respectively, of total Broward sales in February 2023.
The median percent of original list price received for single-family homes was 94.8% in February 2023, down from 100% last year. The median percent of original list price received for existing condominiums was 96.5%, down from 98.5% last year.
The median number of days between listing and contract dates for Broward single-family home sales was 42 days, up from 15 days last year. The median time to sale for single-family homes was 78 days, up from 57 days last year.
The median number of days between the listing date and contract date for condos was 29 days, up from 23 days. The median number of days to sell for condos was 69 days, even with last year.
Cash sales represented 43.4% of Broward closed sales in February 2023, compared to 44.9% in February 2022. About 28% of U.S. home sales are made in cash, according to the latest NAR statistics.
Cash buyers are not deterred by rising rates. The high percentage of cash buyers reflects South Florida's top position as the preeminent American real estate market for foreign buyers, who tend to purchase with all cash as well as some moving from more expensive U.S. markets who can buy more with their profits from real estate sales.
Cash sales accounted for 55.8% of all Broward existing condo sales and 28.5% of single-family transactions.
