Palm Beach Single-Family Home, Total Luxury Transactions Rise in April
MIAMI (PRWEB) May 21, 2019 -- Palm Beach County existing single-family home sales and total luxury $1-million-and-up transactions increased year-over-year in April, according to the MIAMI Association of Realtors (MIAMI) and the Multiple Listing Service (MLS) system.
Palm Beach single-family home sales increased 1.4 percent, from 1,690 to 1,714. Total luxury transactions increased 5.2 percent, from 210 to 221.
“Homebuyers are attracted to Palm Beach real estate not just because of the recent federal tax overhaul, but because of the community’s incredible growth in academic, health care and cultural institutions,” 2019 JTHS-MIAMI President Kim Price said. “Palm Beach is becoming more of an established community. More residents of high-tax states such as New York and California are looking to live here because of Palm Beach’s overall growth as a county.”
Total Home Sales Increase in April
Total Palm Beach County home sales increased 0.03 percent year-over-year in April 2019, from 3,097 to 3,098. Palm Beach single-family home sales increased 1.4 percent, from 1,690 to 1,714. Palm Beach condo sales decreased 1.6 percent, from 1,407 to 1,384.
Total sales volume stayed about even at $1.4 billion. Single-family home dollar volume decreased 5.2 percent from $1 billion to $988.8 million. Condo dollar volume increased 2.2 percent from $442 million to $451.6 million.
According to Freddie Mac, the average commitment rate for a 30-year, conventional, fixed-rate mortgage decreased to 4.14% in April from 4.27% in March. The average commitment rate across all of 2018 was 4.54%.
Palm Beach Single-Family Home Median Prices Continue Rising
Palm Beach County single-family home prices stayed even in April at $350,000. Existing condo prices increased 1.8 percent, from $181,750 to $185,000 in April.
Palm Beach Distressed Sales Comprise Just 3.5 Percent of Total Sales
Only 3.5 percent of all closed residential sales in Palm Beach were distressed in April 2019, including REO (bank-owned properties) and short sales, compared to 3.2 percent in April 2018.
Total Palm Beach distressed sales increased 6.1 percent year-over-year, from 98 to 104.
Short sales and REOs accounted for 0.8 and 2.5 percent, respectively, of total Palm Beach sales in April 2019. Short sale transactions increased 18.2 percent, from 22 to 26. REOs increased 2.6 percent, from 76 to 78.
Nationally, distressed sales represented 3% of sales in April, equal to the 3% in March and down from 4% in April 2018. One percent of April 2019 sales were short sales.
Palm Beach Real Estate Selling Close to List Price
The median number of days between listing and contract dates for Palm Beach single-family home sales was 55 days, a 31 percent increase from 42 days last year. The median number of days between the listing date and closing date for single-family homes was 97 days, a 11.5 percent increase from 87 days.
The median time to contract for condos was 56 days, a 9.8 percent increase from 51 days last year. The median number of days between listing date and closing date was 97 days, a 6.6 increase from 91 days last year.
The median percent of original list price received for single-family homes was 94.4 percent. The median percent of original list price received for existing condominiums was 93.4 percent.
National and State Statistics
Nationally, total existing-home sales fell 0.4% from March to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.19 million in April. Total sales are down 4.4% from a year ago (5.43 million in April 2018).
Statewide closed sales of existing single-family homes totaled 26,992 last month, up 6.2% over April 2018, according to Florida Realtors. Looking at Florida’s condo-townhouse market in x, statewide closed sales totaled 11,817, up 3.2% compared to a year ago.
The national median existing-home price for all housing types in April was $267,300, up 3.6% from April 2018 ($257,900). April’s price increase marks the 86th straight month of year-over-year gains.
In April, statewide median sales prices for both single-family homes and condo-townhouse properties rose year-over-year for the 88th consecutive month. The statewide median sales price for single-family existing homes was $259,470, up 2.6% from the previous year, according to data from Florida Realtors Research Department in partnership with local Realtor boards/associations. Last month’s statewide median price for condo-townhouse units was $194,050, up 2.1% over the year-ago figure. The median is the midpoint; half the homes sold for more, half for less.
Palm Beach Cash Buyers Represent More than Double the National Figure
Palm Beach cash transactions comprised 45.6 percent of April 2019 total closed sales, compared to 48.8 percent last year. Palm Beach cash transactions are more than double the national figure (20 percent).
Condominiums comprise a large portion of Palm Beach’s cash purchases as 58.5 percent of condo closings were made in cash in April compared to 35.2 percent of single-family home sales.
Seller’s Market for Palm Beach Single-Family Homes, Balanced Market for Condos
Inventory of single-family homes increased 3.9 percent in April from 7,233 active listings last year to 7,515 in April 2019. Condominium inventory decreased 1.5 percent to 6,400 from 6,495 listings during the same period in 2018.
Months supply of inventory for single-family homes increased 6 percent to 5.3 months, which indicates a seller’s market. Existing condominiums have a 5.7-month supply, which indicates a balanced market. A balanced market between buyers and sellers offers between six and nine months of supply.
Total active listings at the end of April increased 1.4 percent year-over-year, from 13,728 to 13,915.
New listings of Palm Beach single-family homes decreased 4.2 percent to 2,087 from 2,179. New listings of condominiums decreased 7.3 percent, from 1,774 to 1,645.
Nationally, total housing inventory at the end of April increased to 1.83 million, up from 1.67 million existing homes available for sale in March and a 1.7% increase from 1.80 million a year ago. Unsold inventory is at a 4.2-month supply at the current sales pace, up from 3.8 months in March and up from 4.0 months in April 2018.
To access April 2019 Palm Beach County Statistical Reports, visit http://www.SFMarketIntel.com
Note: Statistics in this news release may vary depending on reporting dates. MIAMI reports exact statistics directly from its MLS system.
About the MIAMI Association of Realtors
The MIAMI Association of Realtors was chartered by the National Association of Realtors in 1920 and is celebrating 99 years of service to Realtors, the buying and selling public, and the communities in South Florida. Comprised of six organizations, the Residential Association, the Realtors Commercial Alliance, the Broward-MIAMI Association of Realtors, the Jupiter Tequesta Hobe Sound (JTHS-MIAMI) Council, the Young Professionals Network (YPN) Council and the award-winning International Council, it represents 47,000 real estate professionals in all aspects of real estate sales, marketing, and brokerage. It is the largest local Realtor association in the U.S. and has official partnerships with 212 international organizations worldwide. MIAMI’s official website is http://www.MiamiRealtors.com
Lynda Fernandez, MIAMI Association of Realtors, http://www.MiamiRealtors.com, 3054687040, [email protected]
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