County home prices static in January

Median price falls slightly to $310K; entry-level homes and rentals see high interest, Realtors say.

Palm Beach County’s home prices and sales volumes are in a holding pattern, according to statistics released Wednesday by the Realtors Association of the Palm Beaches.

The median price of a house sold in January was $310,000, down a bit from December but up 9 percent from a year ago. House sales totaled 1,146, also down from December but up from a year ago.

The supply-and-demand balance continues to shift away from the strong buyer’s market of recent years. There was a 5.3-month supply of houses for sale last month, up 10 percent from a year ago. And the typical listing needed 57 days to find a buyer willing to sign on the dotted line, also up 10 percent.

“We consider six months to be a healthy, balanced market, and we’re moving in that direction,” said Jeff Levine, president-elect of the Realtors Association and managing broker at Continental Properties in West Palm Beach.

As for condos and townhouses, the median price of a unit sold last month was $150,000 — the lowest level since February 2016.

In another market shift, lower-priced homes are the focus of the most intense demand. In recent years, the strongest appreciation in Palm Beach County homes came at the high end of the market. But mansion prices have been falling, and now Realtors report intense interest in entry-level homes.

Townhouses that sold a year or two ago for $100,000 now are fetching $150,000, said Myles Minns, owner of the 400-agent Continental Properties.

“If it’s under $300,000, you’re probably looking at a contract in the first 10 days,” Minns said. “The reason for that is very simple: There’s nothing being built in the last 10 years under $300,000. But I have properties for half a million, and I can’t give them away.”

Meanwhile, investors are showing strong interest in properties, Minns said. With the stock market at record highs, affluent investors have money to spend. Meanwhile, the U.S. homeownership rate is near a 50-year low, which means greater demand for rental units.

“The rental market is on fire,” Minns said.

The Realtors Association also reported city-by-city breakdowns of median prices. Here are the regions with 50 or more sales last month — and the caveat that the median price combines houses and condos:

■ Boca Raton: $306,000, up 7.4 percent from January 2016.

■ Boynton Beach: $221,500, up 8.1 percent from January 2016.

■ Delray Beach: $180,000, up 33.3 percent from January 2016.

■ Greenacres: $125,505, up 9.6 percent from a year ago.

■ Jupiter: $335,750, up 3.8 percent from a year ago.

■ Lake Worth: $ 207,500, down 3 percent from a year ago.

■ P a l m B e a c h C o u n t y : $238,000, up 5.8 percent from a year ago.

■ P a l m B e a c h G a r d e n s : $334,250, up 6.1 percent from a year ago.

■ Wellington: $339,000, down 5.8 percent from a year ago.

■ West Palm Beach: $ 160,000, up 6.7 percent from a year ago.

Over the past decade and a half, Palm Beach County’s real estate market has whipsawed from boom to bust and back. The median price of an existing house sold in the county topped $400,000 in 2005, the era of easy money, rampant mortgage fraud and outsized appreciation.

During the Great Recession, prices fell in half and the county was flooded with foreclosures.