July housing numbers show Boca's real estate market bouncing back

That was a quick turnabout.

Boca Raton’s real estate market, on the skids just weeks ago, is now on the rise – according to July statistics released by Realtors Broward, Palm Beaches, St. Lucie.

Closed single family home sales in the city were up 2.6 percent for July 2020 (276 sales), compared to July 2019 (271), the local market update reported.

And while that is a small year-over-year increase, when played out against May’s 53.3 percent drop in single family sales (127 in 2020, 272 in 2019), it shows how much Boca Raton’s industry has improved in a just eight weeks.

The turnaround has played out against employment uncertainty over Covid-19 and a shrinking inventory of available properties. That, however, did not stop sellers from getting higher prices from an increasing number of eager buyers.

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The average single family closed sales price for July was $859,579 – up 21 percent from July 2019 ($710,312). Plus, sellers received 94.4 percent of their asking price – a 2.3 percent increase (92.3 percent in July 2019).

“Healthy buyer demand and constrained supply continue to be the story for much of the country,” the report states. “Nationally, showing activity in July remained substantially higher than a year before and multiple offer situations are a frequent experience in many markets.

“With the inventory of homes for sale still constrained … mortgage rates remaining near record-low levels and home purchase mortgage applications up from a year ago, high buyer activity is expected to continue into the late summer and early fall market.”

Other single family Beaches MLS stats are:

• Median sales price increased 11.2 percent – $535,000 in July 2020, $481,000 in July 2019
• Overall dollar volume increased 24.1 percent – $238,962,987 in 2020, $192,494,682 in 2019
• Median time to contract dropped 3.9 percent – 74 days in 2020, 77 days in 2019
• Pending sales increased 13.8 percent – 239 in 2020, 210 in 2019
• New Listings increased 8.6 percent – 330 in 2020, 304 in 2019
• Inventory of homes for sale dropped 32.4 percent – 784 in 2020, 1,159 in 2019
• Months supply of inventory dropped 28.6 percent – 4 months in 2020, 5.6 months in 2019

Metrics for townhouse/condo sales were much the same, when comparing the hard-hitting effects of the pandemic.

Townhouse/condo closed sales were still down 9.5 percent – 248 in July 2020, 274 in July 2019 – but that’s a far cry from May’s numbers, when closed sales were off 59.1 percent year-over-year (124 in 2020, 303 in 2019).

The average townhouse/condo sales price was also up markedly, 29.9 percent, with sellers getting an average price of $330,058 in July 2020 compared to $254,070 in July 2019.

A 32.4 percent spike in new townhouse/condo listings, (405 in 2020, 306 in 2019) helped turn the inventory of properties for sale to rarely-seen positive numbers in recent years – plus 4.4 percent, 1,144 available properties in 2020, 1,096 in 2019.

Other townhouse/condo Beaches MLS stats are:

• Median sales price increased 14.4 percent – $243,750 in July 2020, $213,000 in July 2019
• Overall dollar volume increased 17.9 percent – $81,194,711 in 2020, $68,853,221 in 2019
• Percent of original list price received dropped 0.3 percent – 91.3 percent in 2020, 91.6 percent in 2019
• Median time to contract increased 14.7 percent – 78 days in 2020, 68 days in 2019
• Pending sales increased 7.7 percent – 252 in 2020, 234 in 2019
• Median time to contract increased 14.7 percent – 78 days in 2020, 68 days in 2019
• Months supply of inventory increased 19.1 percent – 5.6 months in 2020, 4.7 months in 2019

For more information on single family, townhouse/condo housing and commercial properties in Palm Beach and Broward counties, contact Petruzzelli Real Estate at the 2325 N. Ocean Blvd. (A1A) office in Boca Raton or call them at 561.362.8413.