Greater Palm Beach Area Residential Sales Dip 5 Percent Annually in Mid-2023
According to the Miami Association of Realtors, Palm Beach County total home sales decreased 5.1% year-over-year in July 2023, from 2,222 transactions in July 2022 to 2,109 in July 2023.
Most of the homes purchased in July 2023 came to terms in June when mortgage rates peaked at 6.71%. Rates, in comparison, were 5.09% on June 2, 2022. Even with the elevated rates, Palm Beach single-family pending sales rose 2.6% year-over-year to 1,245 transactions in July 2023.
Home sales are sensitive to mortgage rate changes. According to Freddie Mac, the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 7.09% as of August 17. That’s up from 6.96% the prior week and 5.13% one year ago.
Palm Beach single-family home sales decreased 2.2% year-over-year, from 1,190 in July 2022 to 1,164 in July 2023 because of its comparison to a historic month and the current market has lower inventory in specific price points and higher rates.
Palm Beach existing condo sales decreased 8.4% year-over-year, from a historic 1,032 in July 2022 to 945 in July 2023, due to lack of inventory and rising mortgage rates.
Palm Beach total luxury ($1-million-and-up) rose 8.4% year-over-year in July 2023 to 309 transactions. Palm Beach single-family luxury transactions rose 3.8% to 246 transactions. Palm Beach condo luxury transactions increased 31.3% to 63 transactions.
Palm Beach County single-family home median prices stayed even year-over-year in July 2023 at $600,000. Existing condo median prices increased 8.3% year-over-year to $315,000 from $290,777.
Historically, a market with less than 6 months of supply will have appreciating prices. Palm Beach single-family homes and existing condos are at 2.9 and 3.6 months, respectively.
The monthly historical average for Palm Beach County inventory is 16,196 and current inventory is at 6,959.
Total active listings at the end of July increased 6% year-over-year, from 6,562 to 6,959.
Inventory of single-family homes decreased 11% year-over-year in July 2023 from 3,854 active listings last year to 3,430 last month. Condominium inventory increased 30.3% year-over-year to 3,529 from 2,708 listings during the same period in 2022.
New listings of Palm Beach single-family homes decreased 28.1% to 1,980 from 1,423 year-over-year. New listings of condominiums decreased 16.1%, from 1,499 to 1,257 year-over-year.
Months’ supply of inventory for single-family homes increased 7.4% to 2.9 months year-over-year, which indicates a seller’s market. Inventory for existing condominiums increased 80% to 3.6 months, which also indicates a seller’s market. A balanced market between buyers and sellers offers between six- and nine-months supply.
Nationally, total housing inventory at the end of July was 1.11 million units, up 3.7% from June but down 14.6% from one year ago (1.3 million). Unsold inventory sits at a 3.3-month supply at the current sales pace, up from 3.1 months in June and 3.2 months in July 2022.
Only 0.7% of all closed residential sales in Palm Beach were distressed last month, including REO (bank-owned properties) and short sales, lower than 0.4% in July 2022.
Short sales and REOs accounted for 0.2% and 0.4% year-over-year, respectively, of total Palm Beach sales in July 2023.
Palm Beach’s percentage of distressed sales are on par with the national figure. Nationally, distressed sales represented 1% of sales in July 2023, virtually unchanged from last month and the prior year.
The median number of days between listing and contract dates for Palm Beach single-family home sales was 22 days, up from 14 days last year. The median time to sale for single-family homes was 66 days, up from 57 days last year.
The median number of days between the listing date and contract date for condos was 28 days, up from 12 days. The median number of days to sale for condos was 72 days, down from 54 days.
Cash sales represented 48.1% of Palm Beach closed sales in July 2023, compared to 51% in July 2022. About 26% of U.S. home sales are made in cash, according to the latest NAR statistics.
Cash sales accounted for 54.5% of all Palm Beach existing condo sales and 42.9% of single-family transactions.
