Pending Contracts Stall In South Florida As Winter Tourism Season Ends

The number of residential resale contracts executed in South Florida in the last week of the winter tourism season grew by the tiniest of amounts, causing fear that buying activity may be stalling, according to a new report from Condo Vultures® LLC.

Pending contracts on single-family houses in the tricounty region of Miami-Dade, Broward, and Palm Beach counties were up by 0.4 percent on May 4 on a week-over-week basis, but that increase wasn't enough to overcome a 0.2 percent drop in deals on condominium units and townhouses that weighed down the overall average, according to the Condo Vultures® report compiled using Florida Association of Realtors data.

On May 4, South Florida had 14,397 pending sales, up minimally from 14,378 pending sales a week earlier on April 27. Two week prior on April 20, pending sales totaled 14,183 single-family houses, condos, and townhouses in the region, according to the report.

"All throughout the winter tourism season, pending sales were growing by between 1 percent and 4 percent per week," said Peter Zalewski, a principal with the Bal Harbour, Fla.-based real estate consultancy Condo Vultures. "To suddenly see pending sales stall in the last week of April will raise questions in the minds of many industry watchers focused on trying to determine whether the region is nearing a bottom or simply a plateau."

On a product basis, pending sales of single-family houses increased by 0.4 percent to 7,477 on May 4 compared to 7,446 contracts on April 27. Pending sales in Miami-Dade increased by 0.7 percent and in Broward by 0.4 percent. Palm Beach was unchanged, according to the report.

Pending sales on condos and townhouses shrunk by 0.2 percent to 6,920 contracts on May 4 compared to 6,932 deals on April 27. On a county-by-county basis, pending contracts increased by 0.4 percent in Miami-Dade, but fell by 0.8 percent in Broward and 0.3 percent in Palm Beach, according to Condo Vultures®.

As for inventory, the number of single-family homes for resale in South Florida dropped 2.4 percent in the last week to 35,787 homes. The single-family house product is distributed equally in the tri-county area with 34 percent in Miami-Dade and Palm Beach counties each and 32 percent in Broward county.

In just over five months since Thanksgiving week, total single-family house inventory has slipped by 23 percent, or 10,812 houses.

Condominium and townhouse inventory has fallen to 52,006 units, a drop of 1.9 percent in the last week. Miami-Dade has the most condo and townhouse inventory available for resale with 40 percent of the market. Broward is second with 33 percent, and Palm Beach is third with 27 percent.

Since Thanksgiving week in November, total condo and townhouse inventory has fallen by 14.6 percent, or 8,922 units.

Peter Zalewski of Condo Vultures® can be reached at 800-750-0517 or by email at peter@condovultures.com Don't forget to sign up for our weekly Market Intelligence Report™ for detailed condo reports. Looking for a property at a deep discount? You are encouraged to take a peek at the Vultures Database™. Our new books, the Official Condo Buyers Guide to Miami™ and Miami's Great Condo Crash: A Chronicle of the Boom and Bust™ are now available. Want to see every foreclosure filed in South Florida since 2007? Check out our Foreclosure Database™.

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