Once red-hot, South Floridas real estate market is in a months-long slump heres why
Whether it’s a market meltdown or a much-needed course correction, dismal home sales in South Florida are sticking around. New data compiled by the Miami Association of Realtors reflects a once-hot market in a persistent state of rebalancing. The dollar volume of sales across Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties clocked in at $5.6 billion in May — a marked decline from $6.1 billion last May, the Real Deal reported.“It’s a validation of what we’ve anticipated and seen in the marketplace over the past few months, maybe even the last couple of years,” Miami-based broker Mick Duchon of Corcoran told The Post.“Since interest rates peaked, we’ve seen a slowdown across the market, especially in parts of the commoditized condo space.”New waterfront villas and glittering penthouse condos are still selling at a healthy pace, but success in that corner is tempered by the grim realities of the middle market — namely condos. While cash-rich luxury buyers can afford to breeze through the market, the average South Florida buyer is still chafing at high mortgage rates and insurance costs.
New upkeep requirements on condos following the fatal 2021 Surfside condominium collapse are making older units increasingly difficult to sell.Miami-area sales dropped 20% compared to May of last year, according to the Miami Association of Realtors.Condo sales took a particular hit with a 25% dive.
Nearby Broward County, which encompasses Fort Lauderdale, saw a 18% drop in sales, with a 24% dip in condo closings. Real estate insiders confirmed a steady decline in the housing market in recent months, but told The Post that numbers vary wildly across South Florida’s polarized housing stock, from embattled, aging condos to attractive, multimillion-dollar new builds.“There’s different generations of our market, particularly Miami Beach,” Miltiadis Kastanis of Compass told The Post.“There’s pre-COVID and post-COVID.
And there’s pre-Surfside collapse and p...