These are the South Florida neighborhoods where home and condo prices are rising, and also falling.
The overall cost of buying a home in South Florida continues to rise, according to the Douglas Elliman report that reflects sales prices in the first half of 2017.
But prices vary significantly from neighborhood to neighborhood.
In the Miami-Dade Peninsula area, median sales prices for all condos and single-family homes increased by 12.5 percent over the first half of 2016. But in Miami Beach , median prices were down 5.8 percent from the same time period.
Those maximum prices only define part of the picture, according to data from the Elliman Report for the first half of 2017, an analysis of real estate trends prepared by the firm Miller Samuel Real Estate Appraisers & Consultants.
In Miami Beach, for example, the median price of luxury single-family homes increased stratospherically by 56.5 percent, while the overall median price of a beachfront single-family home dropped by 25 percent. (The report defines luxury as 10 percent of sales.)
Single-family home prices dropped slightly in Surfside and significantly in Key Biscayne, while increasing by 56.3 percent in the Miami Beach Islands.
“The measures are a little chaotic,” said Jay Parker, chief executive of Douglas Elliman Real Estate Florida Brokerage. “But the region is seeing better results than in 2016. I’ve heard a lot of people talk about the imminence of a bloodbath or a collapse or an implosion. That’s not what we’re seeing, and our opinion is validated by statistics.”
Overall, Miller said, the report indicates that South Florida residential real estate prices are stabilizing, said Jonathan J. Miller, who prepared the analysis.
“Throughout 2016 there was a restart. Now it looks like we’re entering a period of stabilization in 2017, which is good for the market,” Miller said.
“The euphoria of the last two or three years led many sellers to put excessive prices, aspiration prices that had nothing to do with the market. I measure the health of the market by sales activity rather than prices.”
Single-family home prices in the Miami Peninsula area continued to grow, driven by high demand and low supply. The active inventory of homes for sale on the market was 3,035, down from 3,647. The median sales price rose 12.4 percent to $345,450 from $307,250 in 2016.
“This is a common problem across the country — we’re having issues with affordability because supply is lower,” Miller said. “The single-family home market is contracting, and that’s driving up prices. The meaning of the term ‘affordable housing’ has changed. That used to refer to the government, but now it’s the middle class.”
The problem is exacerbated in Miami, where the gap between incomes and home prices (which outside buyers have driven up) is so huge. The city has become one of the least affordable worldwide.
According to the Douglas Elliman report, the most expensive single-family home neighborhood in the peninsula area was Coconut Grove, with a median sales price of $1,727,500 (up 25.6 percent). In Miami Beach, it was the islands, with a median retail price of $3,791,000 (up 56.3 percent).
Despite the boom of the luxury condominiums, the
Downtown
of Miami was the most affordable neighborhood in the city, with a median sales price of $189,375 for condominiums and $325,000 for single-family homes. In Miami Beach, the least expensive condos were in North Beach, with a median sales price of $240,000, down 6.9 percent from 2016.
The median sales price of single-family homes in Fort Lauderdale was higher than Miami’s, at $300,000, an increase of 5.3 percent year-over-year. Median condo sales prices remained stable, rising to $263,000 from $261,500.
THE NUMBERS
MIAMI BEACH
▪ Overall median selling price: $385,000, down 5.8 percent from the first half of 2016.
▪ CondosAlthough overall median prices decreased by 8.1 percent, the median price of luxury condos increased by 14.2 percent to $3,025,000 ($1,328 per square foot) from $2,650,000 (or $1,211 per square foot) in the first half of 2016.
THE MIAMI PENINSULA AREA
▪ Single-family houses: The median sales price increased by 12.4 percent overall to $345,450. But prices in the luxury sector fell by 12.8 percent from the same period in 2016, to $1.2 million.
Results varied by neighborhood. Median single-family home prices increased in Coconut Grove (25.6 percent), the
Downtown
(14 percent), South Miami (26.6 percent) and Palmetto Bay (1.3 percent). But they were down in Coral Gables (13.7 percent) and Pinecrest (19.5 percent).
Prices in Pinecrest and Coral Gables had the most drastic drops, to $845,359 (19.5 percent) and $820,000 (13.7 percent) respectively.
▪ Condos: Median overall condo prices increased 3.5 percent from the first half of 2016, to $227,750.
In the luxury sector, median prices fell by 27.5 percent, to $785,000, or $419 per square foot in the first half of 2017, down from $1,082,500, or $605 per square foot, in the first half of 2016. The peninsula area includes the condominium-filled areas of Brickell, the
Downtown
and Edgewater.
BROWARD
In Broward, prices also rose, though not as aggressively as in Miami-Dade. The median sales price of single-family homes in Fort Lauderdale increased 5.3 percent from prices in the first half of 2016, to $300,000. Median condo sales prices remained essentially stable, rising to $263,000 from $261,500.
