South Florida Condo Activity Hits 16-Month Peak As Sellers Cut Prices At End Of Winter Season

In the April 2026 Monthly Virtual Meeting of the Miami Condo Investing Club™, expert Peter Zalewski outlines a South Florida market characterized by a desperate attempt by sellers to offload their units in the waning days of the ever-important Winter Buying Season of November through April.

All chart shown during the April 2026 Monthly Virtual Meeting are available with this link.

During his 84-minute presentation, Zalewski details the mounting pressure of the Florida Condo Association Financial Cliff on the tricounty region of Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach where the South Florida Overall Condo Cliff Index™ has reached record highs, signaling accelerating price cuts as cash-strapped unit owners scramble to exit before Summer’s heat, humidity and hurricane warnings thin out the buyer pool.

The current surge in pending sales validates Zalewski’s earlier warnings that sellers would abandon pandemic-era pricing expectations as 2026 condo association budgets hit unit owners with the reality of the post-Surfside legislation.

South Florida condo associations are grappling with changes that include mandatory structural inspections, capital reserve funding and special assessments that Zalewski estimated range from $25,000 per unit in lowrise buildings up to four floors to at least $100,000 per unit in towers that are at least 15 stories tall.

Zalewski described the current market climate as resembling a trading pit, pointing out that condos are increasingly being dumped like commodities—such as salty snacks, oil or pork bellies—by sellers, especially those owners who overpaid during the 2021-23 buying frenzy based on the false premise of permanent remote work.

This shift is forcing unit owners to begrudgingly abandon pandemic-era pricing expectations in favor of commodity-based valuations if they need to sell.

Zalewski’s presentation provides a detailed examination of disparities in the South Florida condo market, contrasting Palm Beach County which emerged as the strongest area—powered by the Mar-a-Lago effect, billionaire ecosystem builders and the commitment by Vanderbilt University to build a new campus—against Miami-Dade County that is showing signs of having peaked due to declining foreign passenger traffic at Miami International Airport.

Broward County sits at the bottom of regional rankings, making it the place where discount buyers should be searching for condo deals.

He guides viewers through a fast-moving assessment supported by charts of the South Florida markets where Vintage condos that are at least 30 years old are already being offered at sharp discounts, with bank-owned REO inventory increasing across the region.

Zalewski notes that nearly 400 listings were pulled from the market in a single week—with about 80% of the units being Vintage—by sellers who are unwilling to cut their prices low enough to attract the attention of buyers.

He said many of those sellers are expected to sit on the sidelines waiting for the 2026-27 Winter Buying Season rather than venture into what could be the weakest Summer Buying Season in recent memory.

After the FIFA World Cup tournament—with matches scheduled in Miami—in June and July, the South Florida condo market will face the traditional August vacation lull before the expected September ramp up of campaign marketing leading into the midterm elections in November.

Zalewski wraps up his presentation by combining the data with a disciplined strategy—the ”1% Rule” of real estate investing or a basic capitalization rate—for buyers seeking to identify real value and avoid “falling knives” as the South Florida condo market pricing continues to unwind before the arrival of the 2026 Summer Buying Season that stretches from May through October.

Episode Top 10 Takeaways

1. The South Florida Overall Condo Cliff Index™ reached record highs since its January 2025 launch, confirming the market is at peak activity in 16 months as sellers finally cut prices.