Fort Lauderdale Housing Market Speeds Up for May
The Fort Lauderdale real estate market has been steady for the spring, but May has shown a spike in activity in recent reports. The number of sales for both single families and condos has increased significantly despite inventory levels holding steady according to the Greater Fort Lauderdale Realtors Association.
A total of 1,671 single family homes were sold in May which was a 9.5% increase from May of last year at 1,526 sales. Coincidentally, townhome and condo sales were also up by 9.5% from 1,434 in May of 2015 to 1,570 this year.
The increase in momentum of sales is also surge from April’s numbers as well which were somewhat moderately paced. Inventory levels have posed their challenges while prices are still increasing with median prices of condos and townhomes increasing by $10,000 up from a year ago. Single family median prices also rose significantly by $22,000.
Inventory levels showed slight increases in both property types in May. Single family homes increased 1.2% year over year while the number of condos for sale bumped up only by 0.2%.
The slim inventory and faster paced sales may be an indication that the Fort Lauderdale market is tightening up, but it is still too early in this trend to speculate if it will be the case for the balance of the year.
One thing is for sure is that it doesn’t look like prices will be falling anytime soon. Arch Mortgage Insurance Company reports that the Fort Lauderdale area has a very small chance at prices lowering in the next two year forecast. “The chance that we see prices falling [in Fort Lauderdale] is minuscule,” Ralph DeFranco, chief economist for Arch. “We are not expecting a correction.”