The County Real Estate Market Miami-Dade had a robust third quarter as total homes sold and median prices rose compared with the same period in 2014, according to a report by the Association of Realtors of Miami and the local Multiple Listing Service (MLS) system.
There were 7,811 home sales in the period analyzed, which represented an increase of 2.3 percent compared to 7,632 in the third quarter of 2014.
Sales of single-family homes rose 4.1 percent, from 3,522 to 3,699 and the report notes that despite the increase in the supply of preconstruction apartments in Miami East of Interstate 95, transactions for pre-built apartments rose 0.8 percent from 4,080 to 4,112.
” Miami’s real estate market remains a bargain compared to other blue-chip cities,” said Christopher Zoller, real estate broker and president of the association’s residential sector.
4.1%single-family home sales up
0.8%increased transactions of apartments already built
4.8%increased the average price of apartments already built
” Miami’s single-family home prices are at 2004 levels, considerably lower than those of world-class cities such as New York, London and Hong Kong. Today’s prices, coupled with historically low mortgage rates and South Florida’s diversified job market, are encouraging more people to buy property in Miami.”
The interest rate on 30-year fixed mortgages averaged 3.95 percent in the third quarter of 2015, according to Freddie Mac, down from an average of 4.14 percent in the same period last year.
The median price of single-family homes in Miami-Dade rose to $273,200 in the third quarter, up 9.3 percent from $250,000 in the same period last year. The median price of apartments already built increased 4.8 percent from year-time levels to $189,900 to $199,000.
Miami-Dade has had 15 consecutive quarters of price increases in the single-family homes and apartment segments.
Despite rising median prices, Miami’s residential properties remain more affordable than those in other first-class cities, according to the National Association of Realtors’ 2015 International Client Buying Activity Profile.
That association analyzed the cost of a 120-square-meter (1,291-square-foot) apartment in several foreign cities based on prices reported in the Global Property Guide. A 120-square-meter apartment in the Miami-Fort Lauderdale-Miami Beach region costs an average of $149,900. The price of an apartment of the same size in London was $960,840; of $776,280 in Hong Kong and $1.6 million in New York, at least five times higher.
As for the profile of buyers, it was indicated that the large number of people buying homes in cash reflects the “important position of Miami as the main real estate market in the US forforeign buyers, who tend to buy in cash”.
About 81 percent of international buyers in South Florida pay in cash, compared to 60 percent nationwide, according to the Survey of Home Purchases by Foreigners conducted by the national association for the organization in Miami.
