New Condo Reality: Sellers Face Buyers Market In Greater Downtown Miami
A review of 2023 condo statistics shows that Greater Downtown Miami has about 8.6 months of supply listed for sale at the peak of the South Florida Winter Buying Season.
Greater Downtown Miami is in a buyers market for condos with about 8.6 months of supply currently listed for sale at the peak of the South Florida Winter Buying Season that generally stretches from November through April, according to an analysis of statistics compiled by CondoVulturesRealty.com.
In the 12 months of 2023, buyers purchased an average of nearly 203 units per month for a total of nearly 2,435 units between January and December.
Based on the current active listings in the Multiple Listing Service – a database used by Realtors to market condos – the Greater Downtown Miami neighborhood is in a buyers market with a supply of nearly 1,750 units available for purchase.
Generally, six months of supply is considered equilibrium for the housing market. Less months indicates a sellers market and more months points to a buyers market from a negotiating perspective.
This is an about-face from the sellers market of the pandemic years when a plethora of work-from-home employees relocated to South Florida from places such as California, Illinois and New York. The influx of transplants to South Florida bought up or leased out much of the available housing supply, which increased prices and triggered new development.
Rising property values from strong demand, skyrocketing insurance prices following the Surfside condo collapse disaster and high interest rates from a series of hikes by the Federal Reserve brought the South Florida housing market to a standstill in the second half of 2023.
Industry watchers are at odds as to the direction of the South Florida housing market in 2024. Bullish investors are predicting housing demand will reignite once interest rates begin to fall. Bearish investors contend that home prices are too high and likely to collapse in the months ahead.