Total Miami-Dade County home sales increased 7% year-over-year in November, marking the market's fifth consecutive month of year-over-year transaction gains, according to a new report by the MIAMI Association of Realtors.
Total Miami home sales have now increased year-over-year in July, August, September, October and November, putting the market on pace to post more total sales this year than 2017.
Luxury sales played a role in the rise of the total sales volume. Miami single-family $1 million-and-up luxury sales increased 35.5 percent, from 62 to 84. Existing luxury condo sales increased 19.5 percent, from 41 to 49.
Luxury single-family home sales have now increased or stayed even for seven consecutive months. Luxury existing condo sales have increased in seven of the last nine months.
Low mortgage rates make purchasing a home more affordable. According to Freddie Mac, the average commitment rate for a 30-year, conventional, fixed-rate mortgage increased to 4.87 percent in November from 4.83 percent in October. The average commitment rate for all of 2017 was 3.99 percent.
Miami Real Estate Selling Close to List Price
The median percent of original list price received for single-family homes was 95.2 percent. The median percent of original list price received for existing condominiums was 94.1 percent.
Miami cash transactions comprised 36.9 percent of November 2018 total closed sales, compared to 39.4 percent last year. Miami cash transactions are almost double the national figure (21 percent).
Miami's high percentage of cash sales reflects South Florida's ability to attract a diverse number of international home buyers, who tend to purchase properties in all cash. Miami has a higher percent of cash sales for condos due to lack of financing approvals for buildings.
Condominiums comprise a large portion of Miami's cash purchases as 50.1 percent of condo closings were made in cash in November compared to 23.1 percent of single-family home sales.