Bank-Owned Condo Sales Plummet 42% In Palm Beach County Winter Buying Season
A review of the lender-owned condo sales shows that about 21 Palm Beach County REO condos transacted between November 2023 and April 2024.
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Buyers paid nearly five percent less per square foot for Palm Beach County’s distressed condos - also known as real estate owned (REO) by lenders - during the recently concluded Winter Buying Season, according to an analysis of statistics compiled by CondoVulturesRealty.com.
Despite the reduced average transaction price of about $177 per square foot, the total number of REO condo transactions plummeted by nearly 42 percent on a year-over-year basis in the 2023-24 season compared to the 2022-23 season in Miami-Dade.
For this report, REO condos are defined as foreclosed units that failed to sell at auction and were ultimately deeded over to the lender.
It is worth noting, this report does examine South Florida’s shortsale condo market.
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The Winter Buying Season traditionally extends from November through April when visitors flock to the tricounty South Florida region of Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach to take advantage of the weather, events and vibe.
Distressed-oriented investors who came to Palm Beach County this Winter Buying Season looking for deals ended up purchasing the fewest number of REO condos in more than a decade.
Buyers purchased about 21 REO condos in Palm Beach County in the 2023-24 season compared to 36 REO condo transactions in the 2022-23 season. A year earlier in the 2021-22 season, about 47 REO condos traded in Palm Beach County.
It has now been nine consecutive Winter Buying Seasons that REO condo sales were down on a year-over-year basis in Palm Beach County.
In reviewing the statistics from the last decade, the peak time for distressed condo deals during a Palm Beach County Winter Buying Season was in 2014-15 when about 824 REO units traded at an average price of $170 per square foot.
It is worth noting, a combined total of nearly 2,835 REO condos have transacted during the Winter Buying Seasons spanning from the 2013-14 season through the 2023-24 season. That’s an average of about 258 REO condo transactions per Palm Beach County Winter Buying Season.
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Since the 2019-20 season, the number of REO condo transactions has fallen dramatically as 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 most condo prices and triggered new development.
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.