Prices in Palm Beach County Condo Market Continue Creeping Upward

Although single-family sales and prices posted significant declines over the month of January, the condo market in Palm Beach County, Fla., continues to show resilience, the Palm Beach Post reports.

In fact, Palm Beach County existing condos have now posted year-over-year price appreciation - except for a month when prices stayed the same - for 13 straight months.

In January, the Post reports, the median price of an existing condo rose 2 percent to $213,100 in January from $209,100 in January 2006.

By comparison, the median price of existing single-family homes in Palm Beach County was $388,000, down 1 percent from $393,700 in January 2006.

“With condos generally lower in cost, this market is getting attention from first-time home buyers and second home buyers,” said Nigel Fullick, vice president and branch manager for HomeBanc Mortgage in Palm Beach Gardens.

Across the U.S., new home buyers typically are 32 years old and earn about $58,000 a year, according to a recent study conducted by the National Association of Realtors.

Such buyers spend an average of $165,000 on their first home purchase, the association said - making Palm Beach County one of the worst destinations for housing affordability.

And there’s no relief in sight. Even with Florida mortgage rates remaining low, the average existing condo prices in PBC will rise to nearly $300,000 in 2009, economists believe.

One expert thinks the glut of inventory of unsold condos for sale in Palm Beach County could shoot up in a couple of years when all units currently under construction are reaching completion.

Existing condo prices for January also jumped in the nearby Treasure Coast - at three times the rate of Palm Beach County’s price increase, and to a higher median price, making it even more of a stretch for potential home mortgage applicants to make a purchase.

The median price of an existing condo in Martin and St. Lucie counties rose 6 percent in January, to $225,000 from $211,500 in January 2006. Treasure Coast condo sales, however, declined sharply in January compared with the same month a year ago - to 51 sales from 62, an 18 percent drop.

Statewide, as mortgage costs continue to price people out of the market, the median price of existing condos fell 1 percent, to $209,000. The number of condo sales throughout Florida fell 30 percent.

SOURCE: Palm Beach Post