Miami's real estate woes are far from over, but the sales numbers from March bring hope that things are getting better. Sales of existing condos jumped 85 percent in the Miami metropolitan area in March 2011 compared to March 2010, and jumped 80 percent compared to February 2011. Though, the median price of homes continue to fall.
The Miami Association of Realtors says that 1,542 existing condos were sold in March, compared to just 835 sold in March 2010.
The group also says sales of existing single family homes rose from 649 to 1,031 over the year, which is a 59 percent jump. Sales were also up 90 percent over the previous month.
So who's buying all of these condos? Well, it isn't locals or even other Americas in large part. Sixty percent of closed sales on existing properties and 90 percent of pre-construction condo sales were sold to international buyers. That helped the percent of cash sales rise to 64 percent overall.
While more properties are selling, they also seem to be selling for less. The median price of single-family homes fell 19 percent compared to last year. The media price of condos dropped 30 percent but did see a slight increase from the previous month. Though, MAR says that the median price drop is reflected by the number of foreclosed properties that have been bought up at low prices by banks.
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