Residential Real Estate News
Greater Miami Residential Sales Down 36 Percent Annually in March
The Miami Association of Realtors is reporting this week that greater Miami area total residential sales decreased 36.2% year-over-year in March 2023, from a high of 3,939 total transactions in March 2022 to 2,513 in March 2023.
Single-family home sales decreased 22.5% year-over-year, from 1,411 in March 2022 to 1,093 in March 2023 because the current market has lower inventory in specific price points and higher rates.
Miami existing condo sales decreased 43.8% year-over-year, from a historic 2,528 in March 2022 to 1,420 in March 2023, due to lack of inventory and rising mortgage rates.
Miami Pending Sales and Showing Appointments Rise for Third Consecutive Month
Total pending sales rose 10% month-over-month, from 2,674 in February 2023 to 2,929 in March 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.
Showing appointments increased 14% month over month to 270,143 showings in March 2023.
Miami Area Home Prices
Miami-Dade County single-family home median prices increased 5.6% year-over-year in March 2023, increasing from $540,000 to $570,000. Miami single-family median prices have risen for 136 consecutive months (11.3 years), the longest running-streak on record. Existing condo median prices stayed even year-over-year at $400,000. Condo median prices have increased in 136 of the last 142 months.
Home prices are determined by supply and demand. Lower supply and higher demand create higher prices. Inventory for Miami single-family homes (3.5 months) and condos (4.7 months) are low. Also, one of the supports for home prices is rents and rents are up.
Miami-Dade Active Listings Still Near Historical Lows
The average year-end Miami annual active inventory since 2008 is 19,537 and active listings at the end of 2022 totaled 10,730. Miami active listings are down 48.7% versus pre-pandemic (year-end 2022 vs. year-end 2019).
Total active listings at the end of March 2023 increased 36.2% year-over-year, from 7,040 to 9,818.
Inventory of single-family homes increased 49.6% year-over-year in March 2023 from 2,205 active listings last year to 3,299 last month. Condominium inventory increased 34.8% year-over-year to 6,519 from 4,835 listings during the same period in 2022.
New listings of Miami single-family homes decreased 23.5% to 1,325 from 1,732 year-over-year. New listings of condominiums decreased 19.6%, from 2,585 to 2,078 year-over-year.
Months' supply of inventory for single-family homes increased 105.9% to 3.5 months year-over-year, which indicates a seller's market. Inventory for existing condominiums increased 104.3% to 4.7 months, which also indicates a seller's market. A balanced market between buyers and sellers offers between six- and nine-months supply.
Nationally, total housing inventory at the end of March was 980,000 units, up 1.0% from February and 5.4% from one year ago (930,000). Unsold inventory sits at a 2.6-month supply at the current sales pace, unchanged from February but up from 2.0 months in March 2022.
Miami Distressed Sales Remain Low
Only 1.2% of all closed residential sales in Miami were distressed last month, including REO (bank-owned properties) and short sales, compared to 1.3% in March 2022. In 2009, distressed sales comprised 70% of Miami sales.
Short sales and REOs accounted for 0.2% and 0.9% year-over-year, respectively, of total Miami sales in March 2023.
Miami's percentage of distressed sales are on par with the national figure. Nationally, distressed sales represented approximately 1% of sales in March, nearly identical to last month and one year ago.
Miami Cash Sales
Cash sales represented 40.7% of Miami closed sales in March 2023, compared to 43.5% in March 2022. About 27% 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 Miami'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 53.7% of all Miami existing condo sales and 23.8% of single-family transactions.
