Florida’s existing home sales up 12%
By southflorida.bizjournals.com - December 23, 2009The extension of the homebuyer tax credit, combined with lower prices, continued to push up existing home and condo sales in the tri-county area and across Florida in November.
However, foreclosures continued to take their toll on prices, with the median price for existing homes down 12 percent statewide, according to figures from Florida Realtors.
November existing home sales in West Palm Beach were up 63 percent, year-over-year, to 733 from 450. The median price fell 8 percent, to $227,500 from $247,400. West Palm Beach condo sales climbed even higher – up 93 percent to 690 from 358 a year earlier. The median price of a condo fell 17 percent, to $103,000 from $123,900.
Existing home sales in Fort Lauderdale rose 39 percent, to 707 from 507 a year ago. But, prices fell 21 percent, to $182,100 from $229,100. Condo sales more than doubled, to 898 from 442 units. Prices were down 21 percent, to $86,500 from $109,400.
In Miami, existing home sales rose 24 percent in November, to 455 from 366. However, the median sales price fell 18 percent, to $184,800 from $224,700 in November 2008.
Miami condo sales were up 98 percent, to 609 from 308, while the median price fell 14 percent, to $149,000 from $172,600.
Statewide, a total of 14,026 existing homes sold, up 61 percent from 8,694 in November 2008, according to Florida Realtors. The median price for existing homes last month was $139,000, down from $158,200 a year ago.
“The extended and expanded federal homebuyer tax credit will continue the positive momentum of the housing sector’s recovery,” Florida Realtors President Cynthia Shelton said in a news release. “People will want to take advantage of this incredible, not-to-be-missed opportunity to buy a home of their own in Florida.”
Nationwide, existing home sales were up 7.4 percent in November, to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 6.54 million units from 6.09 million in October, and are 44.1 percent higher than the 4.54 million-unit pace in November 2008, according to the National Association of Realtors. Current sales remain at the highest level since February 2007, when they hit 6.55 million.
Lawrence Yun, NAR’s chief economist, said the rush of first-time homebuyers looking to take advantage of the tax credit led to the increase. And, while he expects sales to drop in the months ahead, buying activity is expected to surge in the spring as more first-time homebuyers look to claim the credit.
“In all, 4.4 million households are expected to claim the tax credit before it expires, and balance should be restored to the housing sector, with inventories continuing to decline,” Yun said in a news release.
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