After a long, rough winter, certainly weather-wise and somewhat economy-wise, it looks like the national real estate market is on the path to recovery. The most recent real estate data revealed that the country had solid home sales in spring. Specifically, existing home sales rose 4.9% in May, at a rate of 4.89 million homes, the highest since October when home sales exceeded 5 million. The rate of sales has fluctuated a fair amount over the last year, largely because of the fluctuating interest rates. Last month, however, interest rates dipped to a six-month low. The average rate for a traditional 30-year fixed rate mortgage is about 4.17%, but many economists expect interest rates to begin climbing to about 5% by the end of the year. Hopefully, the anticipated rise in rates won’t hinder the current progress.
In addition, the national median home price increased from last year, and it is currently hovering around $213,000. Fortunately, housing inventory across the nation has been increasing as well. Of course, this is likely fueling the buyer demand that has generated the increase in sales. Interestingly, even though existing home sales rose last month, the number of first-time buyers participating in those sales actually declined. This decline is probably due to the continuation of tight lending standards, as well as the fact that much of the inventory is priced at levels beyond the budget of many first-time homebuyers. Regardless, this is good news for the real estate market.
Even though these are national statistics, the numbers are quite similar for Miami-Dade County. There has been healthy supply and demand over the last few months, and the median home value for South Florida is roughly equivalent. There has also been a flurry of sales for Miami’s pre-construction condo projects. The spring is often considered the beginning of the busy season for real estate activity, so hopefully we’ll continue to see positive news throughout the summer months.