South Florida Pending Sales Jump 5.2% In 7 Days

South Florida experienced a 5.2 percent jump in pending sales during the last week as the tri-county region's available inventory for resale continues to decrease, according to a new report from Condo Vultures® LLC.

As of Feb. 16, buyers had 11,012 single-family houses, condominium units, and townhouses under contract in Miami-Dade, Broward, and Palm Beach counties, which is up 541 contracts from the previous week ending Feb. 9 when 10,471 residences were categorized as pending sales, according to a Condo Vultures analysis of Florida Association of Realtors data.

Leading the surge in contracts is South Florida's condominium and townhouse sector that experienced a 5.4 percent increase in pending deals in the last seven days. The tri-county region now has 5,313 condos and townhouses under contract, up 272 residences from 5,041 units the previous week, according to the report.

Single-family houses are also going under contract at a steady pace. Buyers in South Florida currently has 5,699 houses as pending sales, up 5 percent from the previous week when 5,430 homes were under contract, according to the data.

This is the first time in recent memory that the region has had more than 11,000 pending sales at any moment in time. As recently as Thanksgiving week, the region had only 9,300 pending sales. The last week in January is when the region surpassed the 10,000 pending contract threshold, according to Condo Vultures®.

"The logical question is, why are pending sales increasing if financing is virtually impossible to obtain?" said Peter Zalewski, a principal with the Bal Harbour, Fla.-based consultancy Condo Vultures®. "The answer is three-fold. First, many buyers are finding properties at prices that make sense from an investment perspective. Second, many buyers are withdrawing from the volatile stock market and moving to brick-and-mortar for their dollars.

"Finally, foreign nationals seem to think the U.S. Dollar will be strengthening in the months ahead as their home country currencies weaken. "

South Florida's inventory continues to be depleted. On a week-over-week basis, the number of available condos, townhouses, and single-family houses decreased by -0.2 percent to 98,530 from the prevous week's total of 98,748, according to the data.

Available single-family house inventory decreased by -0.6 percent to 41,697 compared to a 41,961homes a week earlier. Condos and townhouses increased slightly to 56,833 from 56,787 units a week earlier, according to the data.

Miami-Dade currently accounts for 37 percent, or 36,885 residences, of the total South Florida available inventory. Broward is second with 34 percent, or 33,188, and Palm Beach is third with 29 percent, or 28,457 residences for sale, according to Condo Vultures®.

Peter Zalewski is a principal with the consulting company Condo Vultures® LLC and a licensed real estate broker with Condo Vultures® Realty LLC. Peter can be reached at 305-865-5629 or by email at peter@condovultures.com. Be sure to check out Peter’s blog at CondoDump.com. Don't forget to sign up for our weekly Market Intelligence Report. Looking for a property at a deep discount? You are encouraged to take a peek at the Vultures Database™ .

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