The median sales price of an existing single-family home in Palm Beach County soared to $249,894 in March, up 28 percent from the same time last year.
The pricing measure, released today in a report by the Realtors Association of the Palm Beaches, is the highest in at least the past 12 months.
Despite the substantial jump, some county Realtors remain unconcerned about another housing bubble, saying the economic conditions today are different than they were before the crash.
“Although the year-over-year median price of a single-family home in Palm Beach County increased 28 percent, the market conditions we are experiencing now are completely different,” said Realtors Association of the Palm Beaches President Elect Barb Kozlow. “Pre-bubble investors or ‘flippers’ had short-term investment goals. The financial objectives of today’s investor are long term.”
The number of closed sales on existing single-family homes in Palm Beach County last month showed a 12 percent increase to 1,266.
Sales of existing single-family homes statewide jumped 9 percent in March from last year to 19,631, with the median sales price showing a 15 percent gain to $160,000.
At the same time, the inventory of single-family homes stood at a 5.3 months’ supply, down from eight months in March 2012, according to a report released this morning from the Florida Realtors.
“We continue to be encouraged by the depth and breadth of the housing recovery,” said Florida Realtors Chief Economist Dr. John Tuccillo . “State numbers are up in virtually all important categories and down where they should be down. Even with the difficulty of access to financing for households, we still see the growth in the market continuing for at least the next 18 months.”
Palm Beach County housing numbers should be out shortly.
Nationwide, the number of homes sold last month dropped .6 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.92 million homes in March from February, but remain 10 percent higher than March of 2012.
Lawrence Yun, chief economist for the National Association of Realtors, said the dip in sales is because of the lack of inventory of homes.
“Buyer traffic is 25 percent above a year ago when we were already seeing notable gains in shopping activity,” he said. “In the same timeframe housing inventories have trended much lower, which is continuing to pressure home prices.”
The national median home price for all housing types last month was $184,300, which is nearly 12 percent higher than March 2012. The increase is the strongest since November 2005 when it rose 13 percent from the previous year.
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