Nearly 100 Broward County Distressed Condos Listed For Sale In South Florida Amidst COVID-19 Pandemic

Buyers Purchased More Than 80 Distressed Condos In South Florida's Broward County In Q1 2020

(This Report Is Powered By The Condo Vultures® Podcast Series Featuring Expert Peter Zalewski

DOWNTOWN MIAMI (June 29, 2020) - Nearly 100 distressed condo units - both shortsales and real estate owned (REO) by lenders - are formally listed for sale in the South Florida county of Broward amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a new report from Condo Vultures® Realty LLC.

Based on distressed condo sales of more than 27 units monthly in the first three months of 2020, Broward County now has more than a three-month supply of REO and shortsale units available for purchase in the tricounty South Florida region of Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach at the traditional start of the Summer Buying Season, according to the report based on data from the Southeast Florida MLS Matrix.

A balanced market is generally considered to have about six months of supply. More months of condo supply listed for sale suggests a buyer’s advantage and less months typically indicates a seller’s advantage in the market.

In this new COVID-19 pandemic era, numerous questions exist about how the South Florida residential real estate market will perform going forward, both in the short- and medium-term periods. After a typical start to the new year, the South Florida residential real estate market began to change dramatically at the end of the first quarter of 2020. 

When Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis declared a "state of emergency to create a pathway to obtain funding and resources to stop the spread of COVID-19" on March 9, 2020, the South Florida residential real estate market continued to function, albeit with changes for safety that included social distancing and a push for virtual tours instead of buyer actually visiting properties.  

Nearly a month later on April 3, 2020, DeSantis instituted a 30-day "statewide stay-at-home order" that effectively shut down the Florida economy but in doing so deemed residential and commercial real estate businesses "essential services," according to an industry press report.

Despite the ability to transact real estate during the "stay-at-home order," it is unclear how many buyers have been willing to view properties - either in person or virtually - in hopes of purchasing residences. It is also unclear how many sellers have opened their properties to potential buyers given the contagiousness of the COVID-19 virus. 

Once the "stay-at-home order" was finally lifted on May 4, 2020 for nearly all of the state - excluding the tricounty South Florida region of Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach - the Florida economy was thought to be in recession like much of the United States. Palm Beach County eventually opened its economy on May 11, 2020, and a week later both Miami-Dade and Broward counties opened for business on a limited basis on May 18, 2020.

A month later during the week of June 22, 2020, Miami-Dade and Palm Beach counties instituted mandatory mask wearing in public areas in response to a "spike" in the number of COVID-19 cases in the South Florida region, according to the Palm Beach Post. 

Broward County - located between Miami-Dade and Palm Beach counties - has not mandated masks in public areas at this time.   

This being said, about 92 distressed condo units are currently under contract - or pending - and waiting to transact in Broward County. 

On the REO front, the average asking price of the 62 Broward County REO condos currently listed for sale is nearly $231,600. This works out to an average asking price of $172 per square foot, according to the data compiled by CondoVulturesRealty.com.

In the first three months of 2020, the average transaction price of a Broward County REO condo was about $158,655 or about $136 per square foot.

This means the current asking price of a Broward County REO condo listed for sale is about 46 percent higher than the average transaction price achieved on a per-unit basis and nearly 27 percent higher than the average transaction price on a per-square-foot basis between January and March of this year.

In the first quarter of 2020, the lenders that were able to unload their REO units needed about 70 days to transact a Broward County condo listed for sale. The current Days-On-The-Market average for a Broward County REO condo listed for sale is about 75, according to the statistics.

On the shortsale front, the average asking price of the 32 Broward County shortsale condos currently listed for sale is more than $167,700 per unit. This works out to an average asking price of about $158 per square foot, according to the data compiled by CondoVulturesRealty.com.

In the first three months of 2020, the average transaction price of a Broward County shortsale condo was about $152,536 or about $152 per square foot.

This means the current asking price of a Broward County shortsale condo listed for sale is nearly 10 percent higher than the average transaction price achieved on a per-unit basis and about four percent higher than the average transaction price on a per-square-foot basis between January and March of this year.

In the first quarter of 2020, the sellers that were able to unload their shortsale units needed about 185 days to transact a Broward County condo listed for sale. The current Days-On-The-Market average for a Broward County shortsale condo listed for sale is 148, according to the statistics.

CondoVulturesRealty.com is a licensed Florida brokerage that specializes in assisting buyers and tenants in value-oriented condo acquisitions and leases in the tricounty region of Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach.

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