According to the Miami Association of Realtors, Palm Beach County total home sales declined 7.3% year-over-year in May 2024, from 2,775 to 2,573. The decline is due to a lack of inventory at key price points. The statistics would be much stronger if they included South Florida’s robust developer new construction market and volume.
Palm Beach County single-family home sales declined negligibly by 1.4% year-over-year, from 1,439 to 1,460. Palm Beach County existing condos decreased 13.8% year-over-year in May 2024, from 1,315 to 1,134.
“High mortgage rates continue to derail sales, but home prices are still rising in over half of markets across all counties,” Miami Realtors Chief Economist Gay Cororaton said. “The price appreciation reflects the rising share of million-dollar home sales and the competition for lower priced homes. I don’t foresee this appreciation abating with mortgage rates heading towards a quarter percent below 7% by the end of 2024 and a quarter percent below 6% by the end 2025, boosted by the entry of frustrated buyers from the past three years.”
According to Freddie Mac, the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage 6.87% as of June 20. That’s down from 6.95% the prior week but up from 6.67% one year ago.
Palm Beach County new listings are nearing pre-pandemic levels. This has added to total inventory and is giving home buyers more variety.
Palm Beach County total new listings increased 13.53% year-over-year in May 2024, from 3,053 to 3,466.
Total inventory is down 27.6% from the historical average for Palm Beach County. The monthly historical average for Palm Beach County existing inventory is 16,196 and current inventory is at 11,726.
Total active listings at the end of May increased 62.9% year-over-year, from 7,198 to 11,726.
Inventory of single-family homes increased 44.7% year-over-year in May 2024 from 3,529 active listings last year to 5,108 last month. Condominium inventory increased 80.4% year-over-year from 3,669 to 6,618 listings during the same period in 2023.
Months’ supply of inventory for single-family homes is 4.4 months, which indicates a seller’s market. Inventory for existing condominiums is 7 months, which indicates a balanced market. A balanced market between buyers and sellers offers between six- and nine-months supply.
Palm Beach County single-family home median prices increased 3.6% year-over-year in May 2024, increasing from $622,500 to $645,000. Existing condo median prices increased 7.9% year-over-year from $315,000 to $340,000.
Palm Beach County total dollar volume totaled $2.4 billion in May 2024. Single-family home dollar volume increased 7.28% year-over-year to $1.8 billion. Condo dollar volume decreased 6.95% year-over-year to $644 million.
Only 0.4% of all closed residential sales in Palm Beach County were distressed last month, including REO (bank-owned properties) and short sales, lower than 0.7% in May 2023.
Short sales and REOs accounted for 0.07% and 0.3% year-over-year, respectively, of total Palm Beach County sales in May 2024.
Palm Beach County’s percentage of distressed sales are lower than the national figure. Nationally, distressed sales represented 2% of sales in May 2024, virtually unchanged from last month and the prior year.
The median percent of original list price received for single-family homes was 94.1% in May 2024. The median percent of original list price received for existing condominiums was 93.5%.
The median number of days between listing and contract dates for Palm Beach County single-family home sales was 39 days, down from 27 days last year. The median time to sale for single-family homes was 84 days, down from 75 days last year.
The median number of days between the listing date and contract date for condos was 44 days, up from 32 days. The median number of days to sale for condos was 85 days, up from 73 days.
Cash sales represented 52.2% of Palm Beach County closed sales in May 2024, compared to 52.1% in May 2023. About 28% of U.S. home sales are made in cash, according to the latest NAR statistics.
Cash sales accounted for 60.1% of all Palm Beach County existing condo sales and 46% of single-family transactions.
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