Luxury real estate is bouncing back nicely

On Behalf of | Jan 28, 2013 | Real Estate Transactions

Although our South Florida readers probably know by now that the local real estate market is improving overall, it appears that luxury residential real estate is seeing quite a nice rise in particular. According to a recent article, some higher-end properties in South Florida, including Broward County and Palm Beach County in particular, saw their values drop almost 50 percent during the worst of the housing bubble crisis. However, those prices have rebounded in recent months, and real estate transactions involving properties valued over $750,000 have begun to increase as well.

There are not only single-family homes in this slice of the market that are seeing a recovery, but condos and townhouses too. In the South Florida area of the country in particular, prospective buyers seem to be more willing to pay more for a smaller property – if that property is closer to some of the more attractive parts of the local area, such as restaurants and nightlife spots.

To put the luxury real estate rebound in context, the recent report indicated that two South Florida counties combined for over 1,000 residential properties sold in 2012 which were priced over $1 million. Broward County reported 464 sales and Palm Beach County reported 791. Miami-Dade County is seeing large increases as well, as that county holds most of the luxury real estate market – with more properties currently in development.

When approaching a potential real estate sale, both buyers and sellers should be aware of the extreme fluidity of the South Florida market. It almost seems like for some properties a good sale today could be a bad sale tomorrow. Although the housing rebound has been on the upward trajectory for most of the last year, South Florida is one particular part of the country where the strength of the housing market could actually contribute to more problems at a real estate closing.

Source: SunSentinel, “S. Fla. luxury housing market on the comeback,” Paul Owers, Jan. 21, 2013