Miami Home Sales Enjoy Best May
According to the Miami Association of Realtors, May 2017 saw 1,344 single-family home sales in the greater Miami area, the most in any May in Miami real estate history, and a 9.9 percent jump from the 1,223 homes sold a year ago. Miami existing condo sales (up 5.7 percent), total residential sales (up 7.7 percent), total dollar volume (up 14.7 percent) and single-family luxury transactions (up 23.5 percent) also increased. Sales for single-family luxury ($1 million or above) have risen for three consecutive months. "Pent-up demand is fueling a historic Miami home buying season," said Coral Gables Realtor Christopher Zoller, the 2017 Miami Realtor Association chairman of the board. "Two months after posting its most March single-family home sales ever, Miami-Dade County broke another record for the most May sales. Local job growth and impending interest rate hikes are fueling purchases." According to Freddie Mac, the average commitment rate for a 30-year, conventional, fixed-rate mortgage was 4.01 percent in May. The average commitment rate for all of 2016 was 3.65 percent. Total existing Miami-Dade County residential sales -- which posted a record year in 2013 and near record years in 2014 and 2015 -- increased 7.7 percent year-over-year from 2,532 to 2,728. Sales for existing condominiums, which are competing with a robust new construction market, increased 5.7 percent year-over-year from 1,309 to 1,384. The existing condo market could see future growth, according to new pending sales data. The number of existing Miami condo properties that went under contract in May rose 6.8 percent year-over-year. New pending sales for single-family homes also increased (up 5.4 percent in May). Lack of access to mortgage loans is inhibiting further growth of the existing condominium market. Of the 9,307 condominium buildings in Miami-Dade and Broward counties, only 12 are approved for Federal Housing Administration loans, down from 29 last year, according to Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation and FHA.
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