Miami November 2008 Home Sales

January 15, 2009

Miami region homes sold at their slowest pace in more than 11 years during November as the median price continued its 14-month slide, a real estate information service reported.

In November 4,282 new and resale houses and condos closed escrow in the region encompassing Miami-Dade, Palm Beach and Broward counties. That was down 25.9 percent from 5,776 in October and down 24.1 percent from 5,639 in November 2007, according to MDA DataQuick of San Diego, Calif. The firm tracks real estate trends nationally via public property records.

Total escrow closings were the lowest for any month since at least January 1997, when DataQuick's complete Miami region stats begin. November marked the 38th consecutive month in which metro area sales have fallen on a year-over-year basis. The weak sales were exacerbated by the relatively low number of business days - 17 - in November, compared with at least 19 in the typical November.

The Miami region's median price for new and resale homes combined was $210,000 in November, down 2.3 percent from $215,000 in October and down 22.2 percent from $270,000 in November 2007. The November median stood 27.6 percent below the peak $290,000 median in June 2007 and was the lowest since it was $210,000 in September 2004.

November's $140,000 median for resale condos marked a 36.1 percent decline from the $219,000 peak in July 2006, while November's $230,000 median for resale single-family detached houses was 32.4 percent off its $340,000 June 2007 peak.

The Miami region's new-home median is a special case: It was $314,000 in November, up 12.2 percent from a year ago and down just 3.4 percent from its July 2008 peak. However, those figures do not reflect price appreciation or market strength. Rather, the new-home median has held up only because, as builders' sales have plunged nearly 70 percent over the past year, lower-priced condos have come to represent a smaller share of what's sold. Compared with a year ago, what's left selling now tends to be detached, larger or located in more expensive areas, hence the higher median, even in an environment of price depreciation.

Another price gauge analysts monitor, the median price paid per square foot for resale single-family (detached) houses, fell to $130 in November. That was down 29 percent from a year ago and down nearly 39 percent from the Miami region's $211 peak in summer 2006. The median paid per square foot has fallen on a year-over-year basis for 26 consecutive months.

Miami-Fort Lauderdale-Miami Beach MSA

Number of sales	Nov-07	Nov-08	%Chng
Resale houses	2,345	2,258	-3.70%
Resale condos	1,702	1,495	-12.20%
New homes	1,592	529	-66.80%
All homes	5,639	4,282	-24.10%

Median price	Nov-07	Nov-08	%Chng
Resale houses	$318,000	$230,000	-27.70%
Resale condos	$195,000	$140,000	-28.20%
New homes	$279,900	$314,007	12.20%
All homes	$270,000	$210,000	-22.20%