South Florida condominium sales picked up in October, showing the second consecutive year-over-year increase in more than two years.
The regional condo market had been reeling from the twin pressures of higher mortgage rates and reforms put in place for older buildings after the 2021 collapse of the Champlain Towers South condo building in Surfside that killed 98 people.
The pace of condo deals increased across the region, led by a 10.6% jump in activity in Broward County. Broward also had the lowest median price of condos at $259,000. That represents a 7.5% drop in the median price from a year ago, according to data from the Miami Association of Realtors.
The drop in prices and increase in sales underscores the affordability challenges the regional residential real estate market has experienced for several years, which was amplified during the COVID-19 pandemic thanks to historically low interest rates and a sharp acceleration in demand as new residents rushed to move to Florida.
Median condo prices also fell slightly from a year ago in Miami-Dade County in October to $400,000. The data reflects existing condos and not newly built units hitting the market for the first time. The realtors associated noted sales of condos in Miami-Dade priced between $150,000 to $199,000 “surged” almost 79% from a year earlier.
Palm Beach County saw both sales activity and median prices increase last month. The median price of a condo was $315,000, up 3.3% from last October.
Single family homes …