Miami Metro Area September Home Sales

October 30, 2009

The number of Miami region homes sold last month edged higher as sub-$100,000 transactions accounted for nearly one-third of all sales. The median price paid slipped to $159,000 after holding steady at $160,000 in June, July and August, a real estate information service reported.

In September, 7,225 new and resale houses and condos closed escrow in the metro area encompassing Miami-Dade, Palm Beach and Broward counties. That was up 0.7 percent from August and up 31.1 percent from 5,509 in September 2008, according to MDA DataQuick of San Diego, Calif. The firm tracks real estate trends nationally via public property records.

Total escrow closings were the third-lowest for a September - behind 2008 and 2007 - since at least 1997, when DataQuick's complete Miami region stats begin. September marked the seventh consecutive month in which the region's sales have risen on a year-over-year basis.

Last month's 0.7 percent gain in total sales from August was abnormal. On average since 1997, sales have declined 10.6 percent between August and September.

September sales were also unseasonably strong in other markets nationally. The likely reasons: Short sales became more common this summer and they take longer to close, meaning some mid-summer transactions that normally would have closed in August instead closed in September. New appraisal rules that took effect in late spring likely resulted in longer escrows, too. September sales also got a boost from historically low mortgage rates and a surge of buyers trying to take advantage of a soon-to-expire federal tax credit for first-time buyers.

The share of total home sales occurring below $100,000 last month rose to 31.9 percent, up from 30.7 percent in August and up from 13.8 percent a year ago. Last month had the highest percentage of sub-$100,000 sales for any month this year.

At the other end of the price spectrum, the number of homes sold for $1 million or more rose to 179 in September. That was up 13.3 percent from 158 in August but down 9.1 percent from 197 in September 2008, based on an analysis of public property records where there was a purchase price or purchase loan amount of $1 million or more. For the first nine months of 2009, sales of $1 million-plus homes fell 42.8 percent from the same period last year. The peak month for $1 million-plus home sales was in June 2005, when 583 sold.

The median price paid for all new and resale houses and condos combined in September was $159,000, down 0.6 percent from August and down 30.0 percent from $227,000 in September 2008. Last month's median was 45.2 percent below the peak $290,000 median in June 2007. The median has fallen on a year-over-year basis for 24 consecutive months.

Another price gauge analysts monitor, the median price paid per square foot for resale single-family detached houses, fell slightly to $108 in September, down from $109 in August and down 22.2 percent from a year earlier. Last month's figure stood 48.8 percent below the region's $211 peak in summer 2006. The measure has fallen on a year-over-year basis for 36 consecutive months.

A popular form of financing used by first-time home buyers - government-insured FHA loans - accounted for 45.0 percent of all September purchases, while absentee buyers bought 29.7 percent of all homes last month, according to an analysis of public property records. Absentee buyers are often investors, but could include second-home buyers and any others who indicated at the time of sale that their property tax bill would be sent to a different address.

In the Miami area and across much of the nation, year-over-year declines in the median sale price can overstate the extent to which the value of the typical home has fallen. It's because the median - the point where half of the homes sold for more and half for less - is being tugged lower not just by price depreciation but by shifts in the types of homes selling. For example, compared with past years more of today's sales involve foreclosures, which tend to sell at a discount and be concentrated in more affordable areas. Also, the August 2007 credit crunch made larger "jumbo" mortgages more expensive and harder to obtain, which has led to sluggish sales in higher-priced neighborhoods. (A dropoff in high-end sales can pull down the median.)

Miami-Fort Lauderdale-Miami Beach MSA

Number of sales	Sep-08	Sep-09	%Chng
Resale houses	2,716	3,567	31.30%
Resale condos	1,932	3,068	58.80%
New homes	861	590	-31.50%
All homes	5,509	7,225	31.10%

Median price	Sep-08	Sep-09	%Chng
Resale houses	$250,000	$190,000	-24.00%
Resale condos	$150,000	$99,000	-34.00%
New homes	$310,350	$270,000	-13.00%
All homes	$227,000	$159,000	-30.00%