Miami home sales fall again in February, prices still rise

An aerial view of Miami Beach

Now three months into the new year, Miami is well past blaming its home sales slump on a winter chill.

February saw a steep drop in Miami-Dade County home sales year-over-year, a new report shows, all while median prices spiked upward.

The area had 16 percent fewer home sales when comparing this February to the same month last year, according to the report from listing and research service Redfin. That figure includes sales for single-family homes, townhouses and condos.

Much of Miami’s recent residential slowdown is thanks to shrinking pools of South American buyers, whose purchasing power has suffered in recent months because of a strong U.S. dollar and ailing economies at home.

Meanwhile, median prices have continued their upward climb. The cost of a home in February climbed 11 percent year-over-year to $240,000, according to the report.

(Click to enlarge) A chart of Miami home sales

Even previously dormant neighborhoods like Little Haiti are seeing prices surge. The median price of a Little Haiti home was $194,562 last month, an explosive 64 percent growth year-over-year.

Homeowners in Wynwood and Edgewater are looking to cash in on their neighborhoods’ new-found value: there were 502 homes on the market in both areas during February, up 56 percent compared to the previous year.

“When buyers see a house listed at $500,000 that sold three years ago for $350,000, they wonder, ‘Wow, is it really worth it?’” Redfin agent Aaron Drucker wrote in the report. “Most times, though, buyers move past the initial sticker shock and end up purchasing because they realize prices are continuing to rise and if they buy now they can lock in a low interest rate.”