September to Remember - Buyers snapping up Boca Raton homes

Boca Raton’s real estate market is no longer in recovery mode, according to September statistics released by the Realtors of Broward, Palm Beaches and St. Lucie counties (Beaches MLS).

Spring Covid-19 restrictions led to a dramatic downturn in South Florida home sales – Boca Raton off 53 percent in the month of May alone.

Now, year-to-date single family city home sales are on pace with 2019 numbers – 1883 sales through this September, 1,892 through September of 2019.

With the increase in sales comes an uptick in home prices.

The median sales price ($517,750) for the first nine months of 2020 is up 12.9 percent compared to 2019 ($458,500) – average sale price ($813,614) is up 11.5 percent against 2019 ($729,693).

September sales play a big part in the market rebound.

Single family city home sales (266) increased 46.2 percent last month compared to September of 2019 (182). Coupled with a 28.7 percent increase in the number of pending sales – 233 this September vs. 181 last September – it’s fair to say a lot of deals were made.

With all that action, the single family total dollar volume for September jumped to $220,168,266 – a 57.3 percent increase from September of 2019 ($139,985,682).

The September blitz comes at what traditionally is a slower period in the housing market.

“While mortgage rates remain near record low, The Mortgage Bankers Association reports that lending standards are tightening, which makes it a bit more difficult for some buyers to qualify,” the report states. “At the same time, unemployment remains substantially higher than a year ago due to Covid-19.

“Despite all this, buyers are out in full force this fall, showing amazing resilience in the middle of a pandemic.”

On the negative side, September home sales cut into an already low inventory. At the start of October, there were just 680 single family homes for sale in Boca Raton, compared to 1,113 last September – a drop of 38.9 percent.

Other single family Beaches MLS September stats are:

• Medium sale prices were up 8 percent – $527,500 for 2020, $488,500 for 2019
• Average sale prices were also up 8 percent – $830,822 in 2020, $769,152 in 2019
• Percent of original list price received was up 3.8 percent – 94.2 in August 2020, 91.4 percent in 2019.
• Median time to contract dropped 30.2 percent – 60 days in 2020, 86 days in 2019
• New Listings were up 8 percent – 283 in 2020, 262 in 2019
• Months supply of inventory dropped 41.8 percent – 3.2 months in 2020, 5.5 months in 2019

Action on the townhouse/condo side was up, too.

Closed sales increased 28.4 percent – 267 in September 2020 vs. 208 in September 2019 – and pending sales were up 30.6 percent in the month-over-month comparison (235 this September, 180 in 2019).

There were also significant increases in the townhouse/condo September median and average sale prices. Median sale prices were up 27.3 percent ($254,000 in 2020, $199,500 in 2019), while the average sale price increased by 26.3 percent ($314,367 in 2020, $248,994 in 2019).

Those sales added up to a huge 60.3 percent increase in the townhouse/condo total dollar volume for September 2020 – $83,007,862 last month vs. $51,790,814 in 2019.

Other townhouse/condo Beaches MLS September stats are:

• Percent of original list price received was up 2.7 percent – 92.5 percent in September 2020, 90.1 percent in September 2019
• Median time to contract dropped 20.5 percent – 66 days in 2020, 83 days in 2019
• New Listings increased .3 percent – 325 in 2020, 323 in 2019
• Inventory of townhouse/condos for sale dropped .4 percent – 1,098 in 2020, 1,102 in 2019
• Months supply of inventory increased 6.3 percent – 5.1 months in 2020, 4.8 months in 2019

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