Miami has shown a rise in home sales this year compared to the same period in 2018. Encouraging advantages of buying in Miami have pushed condo sales up, such as low mortgage rates and the new tax law. The first trimester of 2019 showed a 6.6% increase in home sales and a 3.5% in condo sales (compared to 1.6% statewide).
Firstly, average 30-year conventional mortgage rates decreased to 4.07% in May 2019 compared to 4.54% the same period the previous year. However, there is a lack of mortgage loans where out of 9,307 condos in Miami Dade and Broward counties, only 12 are approved by the Federal Housing Administration Loans. Last year there were 29 accepted condos which shows a 41% drop. This decrease has limited the full sales growth of Miami home industry.
Condo prices, on the other hand, have decreased by 0.8% this first trimester compared to the same period in 2018. The average condo closing price also decreased by 9.4%, a drop of over 60 million dollars. The median percent of the listing price compared to the actual closing price was 93.1%. Condos like the Apogee or Murano Grande suffered a big drop of -75% each and some others like the Yacht Club at Portofino or Portofino Tower remained steady.
Miami real estate shows a healthy market as distressed sales decreased by 7.1% this year. There has been a great evolution since the 2008 crisis, as in 2009 70% of Miami sales were distressed sales. Regarding cash buyers, that usually represent international homebuyers decreased from 39% last year to 36.2% in 2019. Cash transactions are still almost double than nationwide (19%), and out of the total percentage (36.2%), 48% is comprised of condo purchases.
In terms of inventory, there was an increase of 2.5% in 2019 for condo units. Currently, there is an average of 13.7 months wait for a condo under inventory to change status. This shows that it's a buyer's market, with high supply and low demand.
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