Palm Beach Post Staff Writer – Thursday, November 29, 2007
Condominium sellers blinked first.
Prices of existing condos in Palm Beach County plunged 30 percent in October – the sharpest annual decline since the Florida Association of Realtors started tracking them in January 2006.
The median price of an existing condo in Palm Beach County was $158,900 in October, the association said Wednesday, down from $225,500 in the same month last year.
“Individual sellers are becoming more realistic and lowering prices,” said Jack McCabe, a Deerfield Beach real estate consultant specializing in the condo market. Seller incentives have failed, he said, and appraisers have “returned to fundamentals.”
Palm Beach County has a 35-month supply of existing condo units, McCabe noted.
On the Treasure Coast, prices of existing condos remained unchanged from a year ago at $225,000, the association said.
Despite falling condo prices, sales continued to decline.
In Palm Beach County, sales of existing condos fell 12 percent, and on the Treasure Coast they fell 13 percent.
Statewide, condo sales fell 20 percent, with 16 of 20 markets posting declines compared with a year ago. The markets that increased were: Lakeland (9 percent), Miami (7 percent), Tampa (8 percent) and Tallahassee (17 percent).
In the single-family home market, the Treasure Coast had a 41 percent plunge in sales compared with October 2006, the Florida Association of Realtors said.
Single-family home prices on the Treasure Coast also fell, to a median of $201,000 from $242,400. The 17 percent price drop was the highest-percentage decline in sales in the state.
Palm Beach County single-family home sales fell 27 percent, while the median price of an existing single-family home in Palm Beach County fell 5 percent, to $348,300 from $365,600 a year ago.
There’s a record four-year supply of condos and single-family homes for sale in Palm Beach County, according to Illustrated Properties Real Estate.
“The high inventory shows that there is still a gap between buyer and seller expectations regarding price,” said Mike Pappas, chief executive of The Keyes Co. In a normal market, six months is the standard supply of homes for sale.
Statewide, single-family home sales plunged 29 percent from a year ago, while median prices fell 8 percent, to $222,100 from $242,700.
Not all single-family markets had falling prices.
Pensacola prices rose 3 percent to a median of $161,900, the Florida Association of Realtors said. Miami prices remained basically unchanged at $354,800, and Fort Lauderdale prices rose 1 percent to a median of $354,000.
Sales of existing single-family homes nationwide fell 21 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.4 million, the National Association of Realtors said.
The median price fell 6 percent to $205,700 from $219,600.
Condo sales nationwide fell 20 percent in October to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 600,000 from 752,000 in October 2006.
The median price of an existing condo nationwide fell 5 percent to $223,500 from $213,100.
