Our South Florida readers have heard it before, and now it appears they’ll hear it again: Broward County is still one of the pockets of good news for the housing market.
A recent report shows that residential real estate transactions were up about one percent higher in June than the same time last year. The median price for existing homes also increased from the June 2011 numbers — up about 8 percent to $215,000.
This is good news for everyone involved in the real estate market, but especially sellers and prospective buyers. Sellers are getting better prices for their homes, and buyers are getting property that they know has been increasing in value for some time now. That fact stands in stark contrast to the housing markets throughout the rest of the country.
The report also detailed information which could be even more impressive: the inventory of available homes on the market in Broward County is half of what it was in June of 2011. As the supply dries up, the demand is getting stronger, and some realtors are seeing bidding wars for particularly desirable property. Anyone selling real estate knows that this gives them quite a bit of leverage in contract negotiations and in determining the terms of sale.
And while Broward County could be seen as the tip of the spear in the housing recovery, the state of Florida as a whole received some good news in the report as well. Sales of existing homes in the state were 5 percent higher than last year, and the median sales price increased 8 percent from June of last year, up to $151,000.
The current conditions may present a nice balance of good news for both buyers and sellers, but it appears the good news won’t be stopping any time soon. If it keeps up, Broward County could return to a being a “seller’s market.”
Source: Sun Sentinel, “Broward home prices rise amid recovering market,” Paul Owers, July 20, 2012