Residential Real Estate News
Palm Beach Area Home Sales, Prices Both Down in April
Yet total local residential listings inventory doubles in size
Based on new data by the Miami Association of Realtors, Palm Beach total home sales decreased 17.4% year-over-year in April 2023, from a historic 2,956 transactions in April 2022 to 2,441 in April 2023, because of rising mortgage rates, the recent banking crisis and overall economic uncertainty.
Palm Beach single-family home sales decreased 15% year-over-year, from 1,484 in April 2022 to 1,262 in April 2023 because of its comparison to a historic month and the current market has lower inventory in specific price points and higher rates.
Palm Beach existing condo sales decreased 19.9% year-over-year, from a historic 1,472 in April 2022 to 1,179 in April 2023, due to lack of inventory and rising mortgage rates.
Palm Beach County single-family home median prices decreased 2.7% year-over-year in April 2023, increasing from $560,000 to $575,000. Existing condo median prices increased 3.2% year-over-year, from $293,500 to $303,000.
Total active listings at the end of April increased 97% year-over-year, from 3,805 to 7,497.
Inventory of single-family homes increased 69% year-over-year in April 2023 from 2,155 active listings last year to 3,642 last month. Condominium inventory increased 133.6% year-over-year to 3,855 from 1,650 listings during the same period in 2022.
New listings of Palm Beach single-family homes decreased 27.8% to 1,481 from 2,052 year-over-year. New listings of condominiums decreased 16.4%, from 1,729 to 1,446 year-over-year.
Months' supply of inventory for single-family homes increased 121.4% to 3.1 months year-over-year, which indicates a seller's market. Inventory for existing condominiums increased 245.5% to 3.8 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 April was 1.04 million units, up 7.2% from March and 1.0% from one year ago (1.03 million). Unsold inventory sits at a 2.9-month supply at the current sales pace, up from 2.6 months in March and 2.2 months in April 2022.
Only 0.5% of all closed residential sales in Palm Beach were distressed last month, including REO (bank-owned properties) and short sales, lower than 0.6% in April 2022.
Short sales and REOs accounted for 0.2% and 0.3% year-over-year, respectively, of total Palm Beach sales in April 2023.
Palm Beach's percentage of distressed sales are on par with the national figure. Nationally, distressed sales represented 1% of sales in April, unchanged from last month and the prior year.
Cash sales represented 53.8% of Palm Beach closed sales in April 2023, compared to 45.8% in April 2022. About 28% of U.S. home sales are made in cash, according to the latest NAR statistics.
Cash sales accounted for 62.4% of all Palm Beach existing condo sales and 45.8% of single-family transactions.
