South Florida housing trends: Real estate inventory shrunk, prices skyrocketed

Fort Lauderdale  – Matthew Cerulla has been working with a realtor for months trying to find a new family home in East Fort Lauderdale.

“They are gone the day they are listed. It’s happened several times,” he said.

He’s not alone. The inventory of available houses has shrunk and that has made it difficult for buyers in South Florida.

It’s so competitive at times there are bidding wars for an available house with some sellers getting more than their asking price.

“Nine out of ten transactions for three years has been cash buyers,” said Larry Revier of TrustLarry Real Estate.

Revier, who has been selling real estate in Broward County for almost four decades, said what’s happening is unprecedented.

He said the South Florida real estate market exploded when COVID began gripping the country in 2020.

“They discovered our town was spectacular. The best place to be with 200 miles of water,” he said.

Higher popularity has brought higher prices.

Still, Revier said currently he is noticing changes happening with the real estate market.

“Overall, there is less activity. There are less transactions,” he said. But sellers feel like they have hit the jackpot.

Ron Weinbaum sold his Fort Lauderdale home in 8 days getting close to one million dollars.

He’s moving to a bigger house in Boca Raton.

“Obviously, the more money the better. I roll it over and it means a lower mortgage,” he said.

There won’t be any meltdown like we experienced in 2008 when South Florida became the epicenter of the housing market collapse.

“Back then it was about bad financing and bad actors everything is cash now and with the new federal law you can’t make a bad mortgage,” he said.