Want sky-high living for $300,000? Here’s where S. Florida condo sales surged in 2020

New Yorkers searching for waterfront living on the cheap made North Beach hot in 2020, say Realtors. The ZIP Code 33141 had the highest number of sales for condo units and townhouses priced under $300,000 in Miami-Dade last year.

More than 320 condo units and townhouses in the under-$300,000 price range sold in ZIP Code 33141 during the first three quarters of 2020, according to data from the Miami Association of Realtors 2020 sales data.

North Beach attracted mostly New York and some California and Chicago buyers. That’s primarily because the units are a better value, said Vanessa Hernandez, a Realtor at Keyes Company, compared to other areas on Miami Beach.

In North Beach, the median price for a condo was $250,000 during the third quarter of 2020. South of Fifth, the median was $289,500. In Mid-Beach, the median was $452,500. ZIP Code 33154 — Surfside and Sunny Isles Beach — was $427,500.

“If you are coming from New York or somewhere else, you are not going to the suburbs. You want to go to Miami Beach,” said Hernandez, who has been selling residential real estate in North Beach for 17 years. “It’s far away from the busyness of South Beach. A lot of people want the beach life but a quiet life, away from the tourists and the traffic.”

Four other ZIP Codes also scored a high volume of transactions under $300,000. They were 33186 (Kendall and the Hammocks), with 277 sales; 33179 (North Miami Beach and Miami Gardens) with 216 sales; 33183 (Kendall and Kendale Lakes) with 208 sales and 33015 (Hialeah and other areas) with 195 sales.

In those neighborhoods, many customers were retirees looking to downsize and live mortgage-free, said Ana Gonzalez-Mir, a Realtor with Keller Williams Realty.

“They could move to condos on the beach, but [those areas] are much more expensive,” Gonzalez-Mir said.

Key to the popularity of condos and townhouses are relatively low prices. While the median price for a singlefamily home in Miami-Dade is now $450,000, the median condo price is $270,000.

And with interest rates at historic lows — a Freddie

Mac loan had a 2.65% interest rate on a 30-year mortgage this week — buying makes sense.

“Interest rates have gone down. Prices have gone up,” Gonzalez-Mir said. “This is a great opportunity for people with equity in their homes. They can use that money for retirement.”

Most median condo prices rose year-over-year.

●ZIP Code 33141: Up 5.9%, from $235,250 to $250,000

●ZIP Code 33186: Up 3.8%, from $264,550 to $275,000

●ZIP Code 33179: Up 1%, from $124,987.50 to $126,250

●ZIP Code 33183: Up 16.3%, from $184,977 to $221,000

In ZIP Code 33015, median prices dropped by 9.5%, from $198,195 to $181,000, as inventory grew.

Since most buyers prefer single-family homes, Hernandez said, condo and townhouse buyers have an advantage.

“We are in a buyers’ market for condos,” she said. “It is the perfect time to buy because we have a lot of inventory.”