Florida Real Estate Market Flourished in November

With an 11-percent year-over-year increase in sales of existing single-family homes and condos, the Florida real estate market continued its recovery and growth in November. Sales of pre-owned single-family homes also increased in 17 of Florida’s 19 metro areas while sales of pre-owned condo units increased in 10 areas.

A total of 12,993 existing homes were sold across Florida in November, up by 11 percent from the 11,664 units sold in November 2010. Sales of pre-owned condos surged by two percent to 5,590 units from 5,464 units in November 2010. Market analysts said that the continued improvement of the Florida market was due in large part to lenders’ efforts in improving their systems in dealing with foreclosed properties and short sales.

The 5 metro areas with the biggest rates of increases in existing single-family home sales year-over-year were the following:

As to sales of existing condos, the following areas had the biggest improvements in the Florida real estate market:

The statewide median sales price for existing homes sold in November 2011 dropped slightly over the year from $130,600 to $130,100, but the median sales price for existing condos increased from $83,000 to $86,700. In the condo sector, seven metro areas posted median price increases, with Panama City and Fort Pierce-Port St. Lucie both registering the highest rate of increase, which was 24 percent.

In the existing single-family homes sector, five metro areas posted median price increases, with Fort Myers-Cape Coral, Fort Lauderdale and Ocala posting increase rates of 20, 18 and 17 percent, respectively.

The Orlando and Tampa areas again surpassed all other Florida real estate markets in terms of sales of existing single-family homes. These metro areas were the only two markets that shot up past the 2,000-unit mark.

View homes for sale in Tampa, among the most popular in the Florida real estate market.