Here’s what’s cookin’ for the first time in years:  Inventory!  Finally after years of declining available inventory for sale, the number of condo & townhouse properties listed for sale in Broward County, Florida is on the rise.  The robo-signing litigation back in 2010 removed thousands of distressed condo properties from the market and inventory dwindled for the next few years.  After bottoming out last spring, there were 7,895 units listed for sale in February.  This is a level we haven’t seen in several years and a welcomed sight for potential buyers.

How about average sale prices in Broward County?

The average selling price of a condo/townhouse unit dipped slightly in February to $165,904, down from $170,508 in January. It should be interesting to see how all of the additional supply impacts prices going forward.  With more units to choose from, buyers will finally regain some negotiating power.

As far as the types of transactions making it to the closing table, there were 1,172 closings in the month of February and they are broken down as follows:

• 884 were traditional sales, making up 75% of all closings
• 180 were foreclosure/REO sales which made up roughly 15% of closings
• 108 were short sales that made up the remaining 10% of closings

Next, let’s take a look at how the different transaction types impact prices.

In February, the median sale prices for each transaction type was as follows:

• Traditional sales – $137,950
• Foreclosure / REO sales – $77,250
• Short sales – $98,500

It is obvious from the chart that the distressed sales (foreclosures and short sales) sell at a significant discount to the traditional sales.  This is why it remains important to monitor the flow of new foreclosure filings.  There is still a large shadow inventory of foreclosures in South Florida, and here is a quick look at the monthly foreclosure filings for Broward County, Florida through March.