South Florida's Red-Hot Housing Market Doesn't Appear To Be Slowing Down Anytime Soon
MIAMI (CBSMiami) – South Florida's real estate market is a sellers dream right now.
"I've never seen a market like this one. The prices are increasing at an astronomical rate," said Melissa Miller, a top real estate broker in Weston.
Miller said most houses are selling for above asking.
In Miami-Dade County, house prices are up 21.6% from this time last year. Condos are up 17%.
One of Miller's clients, who now live in Kansas, just put their Parkland house on the market Sunday.
"Probably, what about 100?" CBS4's Keith Jones asked sellers Marcy and Amit Patel.
"Yeah a $100,000 difference," said Amit Patel.
They were renting out the Parkland home, but long-distance landlording wasn't their thing.
A year ago, they couldn't get a nibble.
"Lots of showings, but there were so many properties listed at the time, the prices were just dropping," said Marcy Patel.
From Parkland to Coral Gables, "out of staters" are moving in droves. But inventory has dried up.
"As soon as a property becomes on the market, we have multiple offers and then we go into a multi-offer situation," said Belinda Sime of Sime Reality.
Sime has one Coral Gables that's modest from the outside. But inside, it needs a ton of work.
Still, this 3-bedroom, 2-bath, 2100-square-foot home is listed for $1.4 million.
Which begs the question: Are homes way overpriced?
"I'm having my buyers pay what the market should be, not necessarily what the hype is. So when you go to an auction, you get caught up in it. I think we have managed our expectations and we're just waiting for the market to level, which it hasn't yet," said Sime.
If you ask any realtor or broker, they'll tell you the market is healthy.
And there's little chance of a repeat of 2008, when housing crashed.
Andrea Heuson, a professor of finance at UM's Herbert School of Business, agrees.
She said that's because in 2008, banks handed out loans like Oprah handed out studio gifts.
"This time around, the credit market has been very, very disciplined. Lenders are being careful about not allowing buyers to borrow too much money," she said.
The sellers market of top dollar prices isn't going anywhere for a while.
"I think we're going to see a continuation of that going into next year," said Miller. "But I think it'll level out by the end of 2021."
And almost every realtor can sum up real estate in a few words.
"It has been a wild market, but a fun market," said Sime.