25% Drop for Real Estate Sales in South Florida

According to statistics provided by the Realtor
Association of Greater Fort Lauderdale, South Florida's Broward County
residential real estate sales continued to fall by double digits in
May, as for-sale inventory soared from a year ago.

The
single-family home sales totaled 808 in May, down 25 % from a year ago
when 1,071 homes were sold. May saw 944 condominium-townhouses sold,
down 32 % from 1,379 sales in May 2005.

The major
factor in the region's sales slowdown is the huge increase in inventory
has been a , as 9,537 single-family homes were available in May, up 8 %
from April's numbers (8,838), and an increase of almost 300 % from last
year's figure of 2,412 available homes. The condominium-townhouse
inventory reached 12,297 units in May, up 7 % from April's 11,490, and
up 383 % compared to May 2005 when the market had 2,547 units available.

The
association reported that prices continued to rise despite increased
availability. The median sales price for single-family homes rose to
$365,000 last month, up 4 % from last year's figure of $350,000. The
median sales price of condominiums-townhouses climbed to $209,250 last
month, up 11 % from the year-ago price of $188,000.

One
of the largest Realtor associations in Florida is the Realtor
Association of Greater Fort Lauderdale Inc., representing more than
12,000 real estate agents in Broward County.

By Mabelle Sese
Miami Real Estate