State home sales decline continues
Falling numbers mean that limited houses on the market might give buyers a better chance
The number of pending home sales in South Florida has declined for the second straight month, suggesting that it might be easier to buy a house after more than a year of frustration for potential buyers.
Pending sales in Palm Beach County dropped 23% in July
compared with the year before, to 1,583, according to data from the Broward, Palm Beaches & St. Lucie Realtors. That was off from 1,760 in June.
For Broward County, sales totaled 1,969 in July, down from 2,155 in June. It was a slight increase, 2.5%, from the previous July.
Miami-Dade County recorded 1,507 sales in June and 1,365 in July, representing a 19% decrease from the year before.
Falling sales mean the limited number of homes on the market might not get snapped up as quickly, giving buyers a better chance that their offer will be accepted, said Brian Pearl, principal agent with The Pearl Antonacci
Group at Compass in Boca Raton.
Pending sales — the number of properties that went under contract during the month — are a better indicator of the short-term market conditions than closed sales, which often lag, Pearl said.
The median sales price for homes in South Florida changed only slightly in July, the data shows.
The median price was $500,000 in Palm Beach County for the second month in a row. It was $495,000 in Broward County, down slightly from June, and $515,000 in Miami-Dade, a slight increase.
“There will be a little bit more for buyers to choose from in the near future,” said Jeff Grant of ReMAX Realty in Palm Beach Gardens. “We are seeing people putting their second homes and rental homes on the market to capitalize on the high prices.”
Whether the trend indicates an emerging shift in the market or just the typical summer slowdown remains to be seen.
“We could just be picking up a natural trend where sales usually go down towards the end of summer,” said Ken H. Johnson, real estate economist at Florida Atlantic University. “We aren’t going to be able to tell for a few months.”