Wondering what's selling in Broward? How many Homes Sold in Broward in October?  How many homes sold in Ft. Lauderdale and other Broward cities? Looking for a monthly Broward Real Estate Market Report?

When considering buying or selling a Home, it is important that you're familiar with REAL data/facts about homes sold (NOT rumors about how many homes are selling, which homes sold, and what they're selling for). When you're ready to place an Offer to purchase a home, this data also assists you with placing an Offer that's based in reality, an Offer that's more likely to be accepted.

Single Family Home Sales

During the month of October, 2009, there were 1,259  Single Family Homes SOLD in Broward County (they were sold at final sales prices between $6,500 and $5,000,000) through Brokers and these sales comprise the vast majority of total sales. Of the 1,259 Single Family Homes SOLD in Broward County in October, 2009 (The "Sold" prices below mean the final sale price, NOT the listing price at the time of the sale):

299 were sold for $100,000 or less
334 were sold between $100,000 - $200,000
320 were sold between $200,000 - $300,000
149 were sold between  $300,000 - $400,000
67 were sold between $400,000 - $500,000
21 were sold between $500,000 - $600,000
16 were sold between $600,000 - $700,000
12 were sold between $700,000 - $800,000
11 were sold between $800,000 - $900,000
30 were sold at $900,000 and higher

After gathering this data, I looked at it very closely to find details that will help to explain the data in further detail.

Of the 1,259 Single Family Homes sold, 232 were listed as Short Sales and 417 were listed as Bank Owned properties, so distress sales were almost 50% of the total sales. 

In the $100,000 and less category of Sales, 211 of the Homes were Bank owned Foreclosures.  224 of the 299 total sales were indicated to have been purchased as Cash purchases.  Of 299 Homes purchased for $100,000 or less, only 75 of the purchases were financed!!!  Reasons for this include the following:

1. A large number of Investors in the market are purchasing Homes in this price range
2. Many Homes in this price range are in need of significant repair and/or updates so are not of interest to Buyers who are interested in immediately occupying the Home as their primary Residence
3. Many Homes in this price range are smaller than desired by non-Investor Buyers and/or not located in areas that are desireable to non-Investor Buyers
4. Because of necessary repairs and/or missing Appliances that are often an issue with these Homes, many of these Homes will not qualify for Financing, particularly not FHA Financing
5. Banks that are selling properties prefer Cash Buyers and, very often, when presented a strong Cash Offer, they will accept it instead of an Offer from a Buyer who requires Financing

What this means is that the $100,000 and less market for Single Family Homes is, in most cases, not a good fit for those who are seeking Homes in this price range as their primary residence, who are usually interested in financing their purchases.  Such Buyers are simply unable to compete with Investors in the current market and are left to continue Renting or to compromise and attempt to find a Condo or Townhouse that might be appropriate.

The largest number of sales occurred in the $300,000 and under price range, so the $300,000 and under price range is VERY competitive.  Homes in this price range are selling EXTREMELY quickly and Buyers searching for Homes in this price range often find that the availability of Homes that meet their search criteria is very limited. 

Homes in the upper price range still aren't selling as quickly and Buyers are still finding that there are challenges with obtaining Financing for Jumbo Loans (Loans over the amount of $417,000 are known as Jumbo Loans). A significant number of Buyers in the upper price range are Cash Buyers. Of 54 Single Family Homes that were purchased for $700,000 and above during the month of October, 24 of those were purchased by Cash Buyers.

Condo, Townhouse, Villa, and Co-op Sales

During the month of October, 2009, there were 1,393 Condos, Townhouses, Villas and Co-ops SOLD in Broward County with final purchase prices between $12,000 - $2,700,000 as follows:

828 were sold under $100,000 
375 were sold between $100,000 and $200,000
90 were sold between $200,000 and $300,000
32 were sold between $300,000 and $400,000
27 were sold between $400,000 and $500,000
44 were sold at $500,000 and above

NOTE:  My monthly Reports present information related to active, sold, and pending listings of Single Family Homes, Condos, Co-ops, Villas, and Townhouses sold through Brokers ONLY, however, these sales and listings are in no way inclusive of the ENTIRE Real Estate Market as there are Commercial Properties and Businesses that are sold, as well as Vacant Lots and Land, Docks, and multi-family dwellings (such as Duplexes, Triplexes, Fourplexes, and Apartment buildings).

Additionally, there are Developer-owned Properties (Condos, Single Family Homes, Townhouses, etc.) that are sold to Buyers directly from the Developer, many of which are not listed for sale through the MLS (non-MLS listed property sales data is available by searching local Tax Records).