South florida house price boost

Home prices continued to rise in February as sales slow, reflecting a dearth of inventory in South Florida, Realtors say.

Home prices in Miami-Dade and Broward counties jumped for the third consecutive month in February despite flat or declining sales volume, as the inventory of listings dwindles, real estate figures released Wednesday show.

Realtors say that heightened demand for bank-owned properties and an improvement in the processing of short sales has resulted in rapid absorption of listings and has contributed to rising prices in South Florida.

At the same time, the bulk of purchases continue to be from buyers who pay with cash, and many of them are international purchasers.

In Miami-Dade, the median sales price of condominiums surged 40.4 percent to $131,950 in February compared to a year earlier, according to the Miami Association of Realtors. The median sales price of single-family homes rose 19 percent to $175,000.

In Broward, the median sales price of single-family homes in February increased 8 percent to $180,000, compared to February 2011. The median sales price for condominiums increased 12 percent to $75,000, compared to the same month last year.

"We definitely have rebounded a lot stronger than we expected," said Patricia Delinois, president of the Miami Association of Realtors.

Source: Miami Herald