Home Sales in Palm Beach County Jump Up 28%

Year over year home prices in Palm Beach County climbed 28% to $249,894 in March, a level not seen since November 2008. Comparatively, the median price statewide was only $160,000. Noted in the same report released Monday by the Florida Realtor Association, sales volume of single family homes was also up 12% over March of 2012. Statewide the number is 9%.

Contributing to these price increases are low inventory and high demand by investors, according to industry experts. Half of the sales in Palm Beach County last month were cash purchases. Nationally, sales numbers are up 10% over last year, with a median price of $184,300 (up 12%) for all housing types.

Housing inventory in Palm Beach County fell to 5.5 months in March. Six months of inventory is generally considered a balanced market. An increase in building activity could bring Palm Beach County's inventory numbers up. Time will tell.

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Peggy Berkoff & Andrea DiRico
North County Properties & Investments
19510 US Highway 1, Tequesta, FL 33469
561-427-0470 office, 561-427-0522 fax
Peggy 561-301-2243 cell/text, PBerkoff@NCPflorida.com
Andrea 561-543-8715 cell/text, ADiRico@NCPflorida.com

Search MLS in real time just like we do right from your iPhone,  no registration necessary...Visit http://www.NCPflorida.com for details or scan our free MLS search app to your mobile device right off this screen: 

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Home prices up almost 11%

Prices increased again in January, for the third month in a row, up almost 11% over January of last year according to the Standard & Poor Case Schiller price index.  This increase is higher than the national average of 8.1%, and puts Palm Beach County home prices back to where they were before the boom in July 2003.  Cheap mortgages, combined with low inventory, are creating a very competitive marketplace.  It's common to see multiple offers, and anything that's worth buying goes fast.  We expect to see prices continue to rise, hopefully slowly and at a balanced pace.

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Peggy Berkoff & Andrea DiRico
North County Properties & Investments
19510 US Highway 1, Tequesta, FL 33469
561-427-0470 office, 561-427-0522 fax
Peggy 561-301-2243 cell/text, PBerkoff@NCPflorida.com
Andrea 561-543-8715 cell/text, ADiRico@NCPflorida.com

Search MLS in real time just like we do right from your iPhone,  no registration necessary...Visit http://www.NCPflorida.com for details or scan our free MLS search app to your mobile device right off this screen: 

Enter Code 9575

What happened to all the real estate steals?

Palm Beach County home sales rebounded last year to boom-time levels as cash investors and traditional buyers competed for dwindling recession-era deals.

The 13,688 sales of single-family homes countywide during 2012 was a 10 percent increase from the previous year and on par with the number of purchases made during the real estate frenzy of 2005, according to a Tuesday report from the Realtors Association of the Palm Beaches.

But while December’s median sales price of $229,750 was the highest seen all year, it remained 43 percent below 2005’s median price of $408,200.

Statewide, home sales last year topped 204,400, with a December finish that reflected a 16 percent increase in sales volume from 2011. The median sales price statewide last month was $154,000, up 14 percent from the same time in 2011.

December marked the 12th consecutive month of higher statewide median sales prices for single-family homes.

Rising prices and low inventory are frustrating some homebuyers who aren’t finding the steals they once were in South Florida, Realtors said. Palm Beach County’s supply of homes was 5.9 months in December, 31 percent less than what was on the market a year earlier.  A balanced market that favors neither buyer nor seller is considered a 5.5 month supply of inventory.

“People are disappointed and disgusted because they hear of friends buying homes in the $80,000 to $120,000 range, which is good for investment, but the prices have gone up, and they’ve gone up as a result of there being less inventory,” said Realtor Ron Chazan, of Boca Raton-based Bristol Properties. “It’s definitely more difficult to find something today.”

About 15 percent of Palm Beach County’s December sales were of homes with a pricetag of $99,999 or less.

Nationally, 2012’s sales of single-family homes, condominiums and townhomes topped 4.6 million, up 9 percent from 2011 and marking the highest volume of sales in five years, according to the National Association of Realtors.

A generally upbeat forecast for 2013 wasn’t dampened by a 1 percent slip in sales in December from November, association experts said.

“The number of potential buyers who stayed on the sidelines accumulated during the recession, but they started entering the market early last year as their financial ability and confidence steadily grew, along with home prices,” said Lawrence Yun, chief economist for the National Association of Realtors. “Likely, job creation and household formation will continue to fuel that growth. Both sales and prices will again be higher in 2013.”

The median December sales price nationally for all home types was $180,800, 11.5 percent higher than the same time in 2011 and the 10th consecutive month of annual price gains. The last time that happened was from August 2005 to May 2006.

Anthony Sanders, a George Mason University real estate finance professor, said Tuesday on his blog that tight lending practices will “restrain” a housing recovery this year. At the same time, he said he fears that continuing low interest rates could spur another housing bubble.

The national average rate for a 30-year, conventional, fixed-rate mortgage was 3.35 percent in December, down from 3.96 percent the previous year.

“It’s still pretty difficult to get loans,” said Chazan, who is also a mortgage broker.

Buyers paid cash for 50 percent of Palm Beach County’s single-family home sales in December. Statewide, 47 percent of December home purchases were made in cash.

Sales of Palm Beach County condominiums and townhomes were up 6 percent in December compared to 2011. The median sales price jumped 34 percent to $98,750 from last year’s $73,500.

Statewide, condo sales were up 8.6 percent in December to 8,470 closed deals. The median sales price increased 26 percent to $117,500.

Source: Palm Beach Post

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Peggy Berkoff & Andrea DiRico
North County Properties & Investments
19510 US Highway 1, Tequesta, FL 33469
561-427-0470 office, 561-427-0522 fax
Peggy 561-301-2243 cell/text, PBerkoff@NCPflorida.com
Andrea 561-543-8715 cell/text, ADiRico@NCPflorida.com

Search MLS in real time just like we do right from your iPhone,  no registration necessary...Visit http://www.NCPflorida.com for details or scan our free MLS search app to your mobile device right off this screen: 

Enter Code 9575