Quiet Hurricane Season Yields More Fort Lauderdale Home Sales

Thanks to Mother Nature, the 2018 hurricane season here in South Florida was a relatively quiet one. The stresses of arduous preparation and painstaking recovery were dodged this year unlike what we all experienced last year with Irma. As a result, the real estate market has shown a much more robust increase in sales this fall. While it makes sense that an uninterrupted season would be better, it is great to see an overall continued strength in the market.

Broward County has seen single family home sales increase by 18.5% while median sale prices decreased by a small 2.1% according to Realtors of Palm Beaches and Greater Fort Lauderdale. Listings available for sale have increased in numbers but only to a supply of 4.3 months which is still considered a seller’s market.

Condos in Broward saw an increase in sales of 8.8% that came with an increase in sale price by 5.8%. The number of listings available for sale only increased by 1% where it is around 5.5 months. This is still deemed a sellers market being under 6 months.

“Median time to contract remains below 40 days, and this number may drop in the coming months,” said Ron Lennen, president of Realtors of the Palm Beaches and Greater Fort Lauderdale. “With the volatility of the stock market, consumers could choose to invest in real estate and look to close quickly to lock in lower interest rates.”

On the mortgage front, interest rates are inching upwards which is making mortgages more expensive for those who need financing. According to Freddie Mac, the interest rate for a 30 year fixed mortgage is now at 4.63% which is up from 3.81% from a year ago.

All of that being said, these statistics show that the market is still robust with positive activity. If you are looking to buy or sell in the near future, please contact me.