Real Estate Market Conditions for Miami shores, Bay Harbor Islands, Surfside and El Portal - Florida

Real Estate Market Conditions in Miami have not changed much since last month except for a slight increase in sales as I had projected because of the end of the Summer and start of school. The price range that is still most active in all four cities shown is from $400,000 to $600,000 and we have seen the sales in the $1 million and above pick up a bit.

Miami Shores Real Estate – The amount of inventory remains the same and with 7 sales last month, it shows 9% of sales this year ocurring in the month of August. Please note that there have been only 10 sales East of Biscayne Boulevard the whole year – which makes the “East of The Blvd” market slower than the rest of Miami Shores.

There are currently 206 single-family listings in Miami Shores, Florida:

Highest priced listing: $3,295,000
Lowest priced listing : $350,000
Properties currently under contract: 15
Closed properties since 1/1/2007: 71
According to the closed sales – there are 23 months of inventory in Miami Shores alone.

Bay Harbor Islands Real Estate – experiencing a decrease in inventory, although there were 3 sales last month with 42% of this year’s sales ocurring in the month of August. Bay Harbor Islands has the highest movement in luxury properties from all cities shown.

There are currently 22 single-family listings in Bay Harbor Islands, Florida:

Highest priced listing: $5,800,000
Lowest priced listing : $575,000
Properties currently under contract: 1
Closed properties since 1/1/2007: 7
There are currently 25 months of inventory in Bay Harbor Islands with 3 closings in the month of August.

Surfside Real Estate – most of its inventory is in the price range between $600,000 and $800,000, but most sales are ocurring in the lower price range between $400,000 and $600,000 – which means either sellers adjust their prices, or the inventory will continue increasing.

There are currently 85 single-family listings in Surfside, Florida:

Highest priced listing: $8,000,000
Lowest priced listing : $479,900
Properties currently under contract: 7
Closed properties since 1/1/2007: 30
There are currently 23 months of inventory in Surfside with 5 closings in the month of August (compared to only 1 closing in July).

El Portal Real Estate – has seen the most change of all 4 cities with a drastic decrease in inventory because it does have the lowest price ranges from all 4 cities.

There are currently 54 single-family listings in El Portal, Florida:

Highest priced listing: $925,000
Lowest priced listing : $295,000
Properties currently under contract: 2
Closed properties since 1/1/2007: 8
There are currently 54 months of inventory in El Portal with 3 closings in the month of August. (compared to 72 months of inventory last month)

I would be doing you a disservice if I didn’t tell you that the mortage mess IS affecting the real estate market. We have seen a lot of people that were pre-approved for loans, not qualify, making deals fall through. We have also seen a lot of people choosing to rent rather than buy until their credit improves or until they can save up for a bigger down payment. But there are a lot of changes in the horizon, from Federal help for those in trouble with their mortgages and the tax changes starting next year.

The truth is that sellers are more flexible than they have ever been and there are great deals out there. Talk to your Realtor and ask them their opinion on great buys in the areas they work, I am sure there will be plenty of them.