Both home sales and prices were on the rise in the South Florida housing market in 2015. Despite a small dip in the fourth quarter slowing its momentum heading into 2016, the overall market has performed well showing many signs of good health.

The Florida Realtors shared that 49,238 existing single family homes were sold in the tri-county region last year which was up nearly 10% from the year prior. The median sales price also was up by 6.4% at $282,000. Sales isolated to just the 4th quarter were up by 1.6%.

South Florida growth was faster compared to the rest of the state. Florida had 274,769 single-family home sales in 2015, a 12.4 percent increase, while the median sales price rose 10.1 percent to $196,000.

In the condo market, South Florida had 47,173 sales of existing units in 2015 which was a 1.8% increase. The median sales price also grew by nearly 7% up to $154,900. The fourth quarter showed a small decline in sales. Cash deals have been decreasing due to REO’s drying up in supply along with the number of foreign buyers thinning as the U.S. dollar has been gaining value.

Statewide the condo market has been performing well. There were 114,969 sales of condos in 2015 which was a 6.1% increase from the year prior. The median sales price also increased by 7.1% to $150,000.

“In each of the first three quarters of 2015, we observed double-digit percentage increases in [single-family home] sales on a year-over-year basis,” Florida Realtors Chief Economist Dr. Brad O’Connor said. “Year-over-year growth in 2015’s final quarter was more subdued, signaling a possible return in 2016 to more stable rates of sales growth. We expect home prices, on the other hand, to continue to rise at an elevated pace in 2016, as much of the state is in the midst of an inventory shortage that is likely to persist throughout the year.”

Whether you are planning to buy or sell 2016 shows to be a great year to make a real estate move.

The prices of homes have been on the rise as we enter 2016 but buyers have been taking a closer look at what they are willing to pay.

In both Broward and Palm Beach counties, single family homes hit a median price of $285,000 per local Realtor boards. Prices were up annually by 8% in Broward county and 4% in Palm Beach county while closed sales also experienced increases by 7% in Palm Beach and 6% in Broward.

Inventory still remains tight with fewer homes on the market in South Florida. The low supply typically would give sellers more power, yet a slight shift in the market has been seen as buyers are resisting overpriced homes. Sellers have become accustomed to the lack of homes for sale and were trying to leverage this by setting the price of their home slightly higher as a result.

The resistance is causing for a shift towards more of a normalcy in the marketplace and a “gradual rebalancing.” Although average days on market for a home in Palm Beach County was down to 44 days from 52 a year ago, that is still a higher level since last spring. Broward county inched its way up to 59 days up from 49 according to the Greater Fort Lauderdale Realtors Association.

The general consensus by local realtors is that homes that are priced correctly are selling in approximately 30 to 45 days. If you price your home right, there are plenty of buyers out there. However, if you are priced too high, buyers are becoming savvy enough to decipher that and your home may sit on the market and become stale. The longer that a home stays on the market, typically the lower the sale price. It is also shared that there is still a healthy demand by buyers, yet there are signs showing of more “normal” market conditions.

The tri-county South Florida region ranks sixth nationwide among the top markets for buyers, according to a report released Tuesday by the Zillow.com real estate website. Philadelphia, Chicago, Baltimore, Hartford, Conn., and New York are the top five.

The number of home sales that were “all cash” transactions has recently decreased this past fall. These types of sales represented 33.9% or just over a third of all transactions, a decrease by 2.6% year over year according to a report released by CoreLogic.

The number of cash sales has been slowly declining each year since their height back in the beginning of 2011. During that year the number of cash transactions had represented 46.6% of all sales. Prior to 2011 when the market was in full swing, the average amount of cash sales was approximately 25%. CoreLogic anticipates that we will see this rate by mid 2018 should the year over year amounts decrease at the current speed.

So why are the number of cash sales declining? The biggest cause of this trend is the rapid decline of REO sales. When REO sales peaked in January of 2011 they made up nearly a quarter of all residential sales at 23.9%.That number had declined to only 7.3% by this past October of 2015.

The trend of diminishing REO sales has been congruent with the drop in foreclosure activity. CoreLogic reports that the amount of foreclosure inventory has reached similar numbers to 2007 at 1.2%. These numbers are now in line with the market before our most recent economic crisis.

“Foreclosure completions have fallen substantially over the past few years across the nation,” CoreLogic Chief Economist Frank Nothaft said. “This has led to a drop in REO sales. Roughly one-half of REO homes are bought for all cash. Thus, the drop in REO has been an important reason for the national decline in the cash share of all sales.”

The amount of cash sales were still made up mostly of REO sales for this past October at 59.7%. Runner up were resales at 33.2%, short sales at 31.3.% and new home sales at 16.7%. CoreLogic reported that there were many states where cash sales were still prevalent at levels higher than 40% as of this past October. Alabama showed the most at 51.7% making it the state with the highest amount of cash sales. Following Alabama were Florida, New York, West Virginia and Indiana according to CoreLogic. However, one thing to keep in mind is we do know that some states do have many foreign investors. Namely Florida and New York from this list tend to experience a lot of investing from foreign buyers where many of these transactions are done in cash.

Goodbye avocado green kitchens, hello clean and green features. Some of the desired trends for 2016 are not necessarily new ideas, but they are certainly gaining popularity. For example, green and environmentally friendly is not a new concept, but it has reached the top of the list of many developers and tech companies and now is on many buyer’s lists.

The NAHB’s International Builders Show (IBS), the Consumer Electronics Show (ECS) and the 2016 Kitchen and Bath Industry Show (KBIS) all had latest trends and products for the latest in healthy and technologically advanced homes.

If you are considering about putting your home on the market in the near future, take note of these top trends should your home be in need of any upgrades. Here are just a few of the trends that are popular for 2016.

Luxury Amenities – Popular high-end amenities will include outdoor shower and private museums. Another trait is for buyers to be purchasing the house next door to be utilized as guest quarters.

Clean Surfaces – Luxury vinyl flooring and larger tiles with less grouting will be more popular this year. Larger tiles in shower surrounds and walls in bathrooms will also have more of a simple and clean design using less grout making for easier maintenance.

Simplicity and Technology – Family friendly layouts with open floor plans and smart technology will be more prevalent this year. Well-designed homes with more space in common areas along with creative storage space will be sought after. Square footage is being trumped by technology. Homes that respect the environment with reduced energy consumption and sophisticated technology will be in pursuit especially by the millennial buyer.

Lighting – This year there will be a release by GE of a new smart LED bulb that can change the color of the light that is projected to sync with the body’s circadian rhythm. It will be called “C by GE” and uses Bluetooth connectivity to communicate with your smartphone so you can personalize color temperatures all day long.

Water Quality – Whole-home water filtration systems will be an ongoing trend. With clean living being promoted as much as it now is today, this feature will be common for those to include who are doing their renovation projects.

Cushioned Flooring – Cold flooring surfaces like concrete are phasing out. Cork flooring is now making a comeback and it comes in a variety of colors. This material makes for a much more comfortable surface than traditional wood flooring or ceramic tile.

Finishes – Stainless steel is phasing out and getting replaced by matte finishes. Stainless, black and white color themes will still exist, but matte finishes will hide fingerprints, smudges and dirt making for less maintenance and easier care.

Lower Pile Rugs – Shorter shags and patterned carpets will be replacing the standard plush variety. Cut and loop are now in as pattern and texture is often perceived as being a higher quality and compliment other home design elements very well.

Health Quality and Clean Living – Top trends will be materials and fabrics that don’t promote dust retention. Quartz stone countertops are lower maintenance with antibacterial properties and are durable. Undermounted sinks also promote cleanliness as there are no lips for bacteria to lurk.

Multifamily Construction – As Millennials and Gen Xers are forecasted to make up the majority of buyers for this year, new construction is beginning to consider the needs of these demographics. Factoring in amenities such as pet friendly facilities, spa services and on-site work spaces are all of great appeal for these crowds.

The elements of clean living and technology are certainly here to stay. Consider all of these trends when it comes time to update your home so that you have a desirable home for today’s modern lifestyle.

New construction has been on the rise in South Florida with many projects being proposed over the past few years. Specifically, the South Florida tri-county region had experienced at 52% increase in construction contracts in 2014 which was a significant gain which then leveled out in the second half of 2015 back to normal levels.

Dodge Data reported $10.34 billion in construction contracts were awarded in South Florida in 2015, up from $10.04 billion in 2014.

The 2014 levels had seen unusually large gains at 62% growth in the residential sector. The slight decrease of only 2% to $6.55 billion is nothing to be alarmed about seeing as 2014’s surge was so great. In fact, South Florida had ranked second behind New York City in annual multifamily construction starts last year.

The nonresidential sector (commercial real estate, hotels, education, government and public works) had construction contracts up 12 percent to $3.79 billion. Increases in this sector again were skewed very greatly as 2014 had spiked substantially by the start of the $478 million renovation and expansion of the Miami Beach Convention Center. Meanwhile, David Beckham’s soccer stadium does have the potential to begin construction this year and should this go as planned in Miami, we could see construction numbers have yet another boost in the near future.

It is anticipated that where construction costs had soared over the past handful of years, they may see some decline soon as we had experienced such a burst. The level in costs may assist the projects that were placed on hold due to lower profit margins and encourage them to now move forward.

This leaves us asking one question remaining. How are things in the rental market? Reports are showing that there are many projects in the pipeline that will be on the rental market. Specifically, there are 12,400 rental units under construction in South Florida where there continues to be a strong demand from tenants for quality rental spaces. The retail, office, industrial and hospitality sectors all have significant projects under construction and in the planning stages.

Foreign buyers have been playing an enormous part in representing sales in the South Florida residential market. According to a recent survey by the Miami Association of Realtors, foreign buyers made up 36% of the dollar value of home sales and accounted for 22% of unit sales or 10,600 homes. Foreign buyers paid an average of $590,000, compared to the market average of $329,869 and in many cases, approximately 75% of all of their transactions were cash deals.

The survey covered Miami-Dade, Broward, Palm Beach and Martin counties for 12 months ending August 2015. The astounding dollar figure was $6.1 billion in home sales to foreign buyers.

The majority of sales were in Miami at 78.9% of the total. Broward was runner up at 18% with Palm Beach at 2.7% and Martin ringing in at .3%. The Miami Association study found that 14 percent of foreign home purchases in South Florida were for above $1 million.

“Miami members have unparalleled access to foreign buyers compared to the rest of the country,” said Mark Sadek, chairman of the Board of the Miami Association. “Miami and South Florida attract foreign buyers unlike any other U.S. market and increasingly from a more diverse group of countries.”

Time will tell should this trend remain at this magnitude in the market. The U.S. dollar has been strengthening making it more expensive for foreign buyers to purchase real estate. The recent survey stated that 37% of realtors said this had a moderate effect on buyers while 53% said it was a very significant effect.

According to the study, the top five countries of origin for foreign home buyers in Miami were:

1. Venezuela
2. Brazil
3. Argentina
4. Colombia
5. Italy and Mexico

The top countries of origin for foreign buyers in Broward were:

1. Canada and Venezuela
2. Colombia
3. Argentina
4. Brazil
5. India and Russia

Foreign buyers in Palm Beach county were primarily from Canada and Brazil.

The property of choice for these buyers were condos for 52% of the transactions. The majority of them were not relocating as 71% claim to use the property as a rental or for vacations.

Why are these buyers purchasing in the U.S.? The survey stated that 40% of the buyers were interested in a secure investment, 33% wanted a profitable investment while 25% were interested in the location. What this translates to is that a substantial amount of investors were at ease with leasing a property out to break even as it was a better investment than they can get in their own home land.