Residential Real Estate News
Greater Palm Beach Area Residential Sales Dip 6 Percent in May
According to the Miami Association of Realtors, Palm Beach County total home sales decreased 6.1% year-over-year in May 2023, from a historic 2,956 transactions in May 2022 to 2,775 in May 2023, because of elevated mortgage rates and lack of supply in certain price points.
Palm Beach single-family home sales decreased 4.4% year-over-year, from 1,527 in May 2022 to 1,460 in May 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 8% year-over-year, from a historic 1,429 in May 2022 to 1,315 in May 2023, due to lack of inventory and rising mortgage rates.
Palm Beach County single-family luxury $1M-and-up home sales rose 3.3% year-over-year to 348 transactions. South Florida showing appointments, meanwhile, increased 1%, from 245,225 in May 2022 to 248,540 in May 2023, providing another example of the strong foot traffic and demand for local properties.
Palm Beach County single-family home median prices increased 1.2% year-over-year in May 2023, increasing from $615,000 to $622,500. Existing condo median prices increased 2.4%, from $307,500 to $315,000.
While inventory is rising, Palm Beach County inventory is still near all-time lows. The monthly historical average for Palm Beach inventory is 16,196 and current inventory is at 7,198. Total inventory is down 46.8% from pre-pandemic (May 2019), from 13,386 to 7,126.
Total active listings at the end of May increased 56.9% year-over-year, from 4,586 to 7,198.
Inventory of single-family homes increased 34.1% year-over-year in May 2023 from 2,631 active listings last year to 3,529 last month. Condominium inventory increased 87.7% year-over-year to 3,669 from 1,955 listings during the same period in 2022.
New listings of Palm Beach single-family homes decreased 28.4% to 1,591 from 2,222 year-over-year. New listings of condominiums decreased 18.1%, from 1,754 to 1,437 year-over-year.
Months' supply of inventory for single-family homes increased 76.5% to 3 months year-over-year, which indicates a seller's market. Inventory for existing condominiums increased 184.6% to 3.7 months, which also indicates a seller's market. A balanced market between buyers and sellers offers between six- and nine-months supply.
Palm Beach total dollar volume totaled $2.4 billion in May 2023. Single-family home dollar volume increased 11.29% year-over-year to $1.7 billion. Condo dollar volume decreased 7.2% year-over-year to $692 million.
Only 0.7% 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 May 2022.
Short sales and REOs accounted for 0.03% and 0.6% year-over-year, respectively, of total Palm Beach sales in May 2023.
Palm Beach's percentage of distressed sales are on par with the national figure. Nationally, distressed sales represented 2% of sales in May, virtually unchanged from last month and the prior year.
The median percent of original list price received for single-family homes was 95% in May 2023, down from 100% last year. The median percent of original list price received for existing condominiums was 94.4%, down from 100% last year.
The median number of days between listing and contract dates for Palm Beach single-family home sales was 27 days, up from 11 days last year. The median time to sale for single-family homes was 75 days, up from 51 days last year.
The median number of days between the listing date and contract date for condos was 32 days, up from 10 days. The median number of days to sale for condos was 73 days, down from 50 days.
Cash sales represented 52.2% of Palm Beach closed sales in May 2023, compared to 57.4% in May 2022. About 25% of U.S. home sales are made in cash, according to the latest NAR statistics.
In May 2023, cash sales accounted for 60.9% of all Palm Beach existing condo sales and 44.3% of single-family transactions.
