Miami Single-Family House Contracts Spike 3% In A Week

Spooked by the violent swings of the U.S. stock market combined with plummeting real estate prices, buyers moved aggressively in the last week to purchase single-family houses in Greater Miami, according to a new report from Condo Vultures® LLC.

The number of single-family houses under contract in Miami-Dade County increased 3 percent in the last seven-day period ending March 9, according to the report from the Bal Harbour, Fla.-based consultancy using data from the Florida Association of Realtors.

In Miami-Dade, there are now 2,682 houses under contract, up from 2,603 on March 2. That's a net increase on a weekly basis in pending sales of 79 properties, or an average of 11 new contracts per day.

Pending contracts in Broward County, where Fort Lauderdale is located, are also on the rise, increasing 1.2 percent in the last seven day period ending March 9. In Broward, there are now 2,222 pending contracts on single-family homes, up from 2,195 contracts on March 2.

Palm Beach County, where West Palm Beach and Boca Raton are located, experienced a 0.3 percent decrease in pending sales to 1,171 contracts on March 9 compared to 1,174 accepted offers on March 2, according to the report.

"Single-family houses are the product of choice for today's buyers," said Peter Zalewski, a principal with Condo Vultures® LLC. "In terms of where buyers are focusing their efforts, Miami-Dade is the clear focal point with Broward second. Palm Beach is a distant third in terms of buyer interest based on pending contracts."

Surging single-family house sales in Miami-Dade and Broward combined with minimal changes in Palm Beach have worked to put all three counties into a statistical tie in terms of available inventory.

Each of the three South Florida counties has slightly more than 33 percent of the 40,514 single-family houses on the market as of March 9, according to Condo Vultures®.

Miami-Dade, considered by most to be the epicenter of Florida real estate downturn, has 13,881 single-family houses for sale, down -1.2 percent from the 14,044 available properties the previous week ending March 2.

Broward has 13,351 houses for sale, down -0.9 percent from 13,468 homes the previous week ending March 2.

Palm Beach County has 13,282 houses for resale, down 0.3 percent from the 13,327 single-family homes the previous week ending March 2.

On the condo and townhouse front, South Florida has 56,068 residential properties for sale, an increase of 0.1 percent, or 66 units, on a week-over-week basis ending March 9.

Condo and townhouse inventory remained steady in Miami-Dade (22,144 units for resale for a 0 percent change) and Broward (19,030 units for resale for a 0 percent change) while increasing 0.5 percent in Palm Beach to 14,894 units in a week from 14,823 condos on March 2, according to the report.

The tri-county South Florida region has 96,582 single-family houses, condominium units, and townhouses for resale, down 0.3 percent from 96,841 properties available on March 2. The week of Thanksgiving - Nov. 24 - there were 107,527 residential properties for sale, according to the report.

Pending sales of condos and townhouses increased by 1.8 percent in the last week to 5,685 deals, from 5,584 binding contracts on March 2.

Palm Beach experienced a 3.4 percent surge in pending sales to 1,077 deals on March 9 from 1,042 on March 2.

Pending contracts increased 2.6 percent in the last seven days in Broward to 2,051 deals on March 9 compared to 1,999 on March 2.

Pending deals were up 0.6 percent in Miami-Dade to 2,557 contracts on March 9 compared to 2,543 on March 2, according to the report.

There are currently 11,760 pending residential resale deals in South Florida, up 1.8 percent from the 11,556 existing contracts on March 2. For comparison, consider on Nov. 24 - Thanksgiving week - South Florida had 9,302 pending contracts.

Peter Zalewski is a principal with the consulting company Condo Vultures® LLC and a licensed real estate broker with Condo Vultures® Realty LLC. Peter can be reached at 305-865-5629 or by email at peter@condovultures.com. Be sure to check out Peter's blog at CondoDump.com. Don't forget to sign up for our weekly Market Intelligence Report. Looking for a property at a deep discount? You are encouraged to take a peek at the Vultures Database^TM .

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