Home / News / Market Studies / Miami Home Sales, Prices Rise Steadily Supported by Cash Buyers
Print This Post Print This Post

Miami Home Sales, Prices Rise Steadily Supported by Cash Buyers

As home sales and home prices in the Miami metro area continue to post gains, absentee buyers and cash purchases make up a sizable portion of the market, according to San Francisco-based ""DataQuick's"":http://www.dataquick.com/ March report.

[IMAGE]

March was the 11th consecutive month of annual home sale gains in Miami and the 15th consecutive month of annual median price increases in the metro.

Home sales posted an 18.8 percent increase over the month in March and a 7.1 percent annual gain.

Prices rose 0.7 percent over the month and 14.1 percent on an annual basis. The median home price--including new and resale homes and condominiums--was $154,000 in March, according to DataQuick.

Absentee buyers--investors, vacation-home buyers, and others who will not be immediately residing in the purchased home--contributed to 43.6 percent of home sales in Miami in March. This is up from both last month and last year when buyers in this category contributed to 43.4 percent and 41.8 percent of sales, respectively.

[COLUMN_BREAK]

Cash buyers also increased their market share over the month of March, claiming 66.6 percent of all Miami home purchases, up from 65.5 percent in February but down from 67.5 percent last March.

Foreign buyers accounted for 5.3 percent of Miami home purchases in March. They were more active in the condo resale market, where they contributed to 9.1 percent of sales.

DataQuick also observed home sales on a quarterly basis, finding a 14.2 percent rise from the first quarter of last year to the first quarter of this year. Single-family resales experienced the greatest growth, rising 19.5 percent from the first quarter of 2012 to the first quarter of 2013.

New single-family home sales increased 18.9 percent, and condo sales increased 9.2 percent over the same period.

Higher-end home sales are driving most of the improvement in the Miami market, according to DataQuick.

Among homes priced between $200,000 and $600,000, sales increased 24.9 percent annually in March. Homes costing more than $800,000 increased by an even greater 27 percent.

In March, 124 homes sold for more than $2 million, an increase of 63.2 percent from last March, according to DataQuick.

At the other end of the spectrum, sales of homes less than $100,000 declined 11.2 percent year-over-year, and sales of homes below $200,000 declined 3.3 percent.

Median prices rose more among single-family detached homes--24.2 percent--than among resale condos--14 percent--on an annual basis in March. However, both categories have been on the rise for many months. Single-family detached homes have risen in price for the past 14 months, while resale condos have risen in price for the past 18 months.

x

Check Also

Dip in Rates Brings Resurgence in Bidding Wars

Redfin’s latest analysis of homebuyer trends has found that bidding wars are heating up as mortgage rates have dipped and the nation’s housing supply remains strained.