Palm Beach County Home Sales Down 40 Percent Annually in December
According to the Miami Association of Realtors, Palm Beach County sold 28,838 total homes (or 79 transactions per day) in 2022.
When looking at monthly sales, Palm Beach County December 2022 sales decreased 40.2% year-over-year, from 3,062 to 1,830. Transactions decreased because it is in comparison to a historic December 2021, today’s mortgage rates have doubled vs. 12 months ago and the market has low inventory in specific price points.
While overall inventory is on the rise, most of the growth in listings is at the top end or luxury segment of the market. Palm Beach single-family inventory in the $400K to $600K price range, for example, is at 2.4 months of supply, well below a balanced market (6 months).
In fact, Palm Beach County active listings are still down 37% versus pre-pandemic numbers (year-end 2022 vs year-end 2019).
Single-family home sales decreased 37.6% year-over-year, from 1,601 in record-breaking December 2021 to 999 in December 2022, due to lack of inventory and rising mortgage rates.
Palm Beach existing condo sales decreased 43.1% year-over-year, from 1,461 record-breaking December 2021 to 831 in December 2022, due to lack of inventory and rising mortgage rates.
Palm Beach County single-family home median prices increased 3.8% year-over-year in December 2022, increasing from $525,000 to $545,000. Existing condo median prices increased 14% year-over-year, from $263,125 to $300,000.
Total active listings at the end of December 2022 increased 109.8% year-over-year, from 3,597 to 7,545.
Inventory of single-family homes increased 120.6% year-over-year in December 2022 from 1,832 active listings last year to 4,042 last month. Condominium inventory increased 98.5% year-over-year to 3,503 from 1,765 listings during the same period in 2021.
New listings of Palm Beach single-family homes decreased 17.9% to 1,076 from 1,311. New listings of condominiums increased 98.5%, from 1,765 to 3,503.
Months’ supply of inventory for single-family homes increased 190.9% to 3.2 months year-over-year, which indicates a seller’s market. Inventory for existing condominiums increased 158.3% to 3.1 months, which also indicates a seller’s market. A balanced market between buyers and sellers offers between six- and nine-months supply.
Only 0.5% of all closed residential sales in Palm Beach were distressed last month, including REO (bank-owned properties) and short sales, compared to 0.7% in December 2021.
Short sales and REOs accounted for 0% and 0.5% year-over-year, respectively, of total Palm Beach sales in December 2022.
Palm Beach’s percentage of distressed sales are on par with the national figure. Nationally, distressed sales represented approximately 1% of sales in December, virtually unchanged from one year ago.
The median percent of original list price received for single-family homes was 93.3% in December 2022, down 6.1% from 99.4% last year. The median percent of original list price received for existing condominiums was 95.6%, down 3.2% from 98.8% last year.
The median number of days between listing and contract dates for Palm Beach single-family home sales was 36 days, up from 14 days last year. The median time to sale for single-family homes was 77 days, a 30.5% increase from 59 days last year.
The median number of days between the listing date and contract date for condos was 27 days, up 92.9% from 14 days. The median number of days to sell for condos was 67 days, up from 53 days last year.
Cash sales represented 51.3% of Palm Beach closed sales in December 2022, compared to 50.4% in December 2021. About 28% of U.S. home sales are made in cash, according to the latest NAR statistics. Cash sales accounted for 58% of all Palm Beach existing condo sales and 45.7% of single-family transactions.
