Nearly 20 Distressed Miami Beach Condos Listed For Sale Amidst COVID-19 Pandemic

Buyers Purchased 18 Distressed Condos In Miami Beach In Q1 2020

DOWNTOWN MIAMI (May 22, 2020) - Nearly 20 distressed condo units - both shortsales and real estate owned (REO) by lenders - are formally listed for sale in the Miami Beach market of South Florida amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a new report from Condo Vultures® Realty LLC.

Based on distressed condo sales of about six units monthly in the first three months of 2020, Miami Beach now has about 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 start of the traditional 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.

This being said, about 13 distressed condo units are currently under contract - or pending - and waiting to transact in Miami Beach. 

On the REO front, the average asking price of the 13 Miami Beach REO condos currently listed for sale is about $454,438 per unit. This works out to an average asking price of about $448 per square foot, according to the data compiled by CondoVulturesRealty.com.

In the first three months of 2020, the average transaction price of a Miami Beach REO condo was more than $282,190 or about $290 per square foot.

This means the current asking price of a Miami Beach REO condo listed for sale is about 61 percent higher than the average transaction price achieved on a per-unit basis and nearly 55 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 57 days to transact a Miami Beach condo listed for sale. The current Days-On-The-Market average for a Miami Beach REO condo listed for sale is about 133, according to the statistics.

On the shortsale front, the average asking price of the five Miami Beach shortsale condos currently listed for sale is more than $2.8 million per unit. This works out to an average asking price of about $667 per square foot, according to the data compiled by CondoVulturesRealty.com.

In the first three months of 2020, the average transaction price of a Miami Beach shortsale condo was about $257,000 or about $387 per square foot.

This means the current asking price of a Miami Beach shortsale condo listed for sale is nearly 993 percent higher than the average transaction price achieved on a per-unit basis and more than 72 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 191 days to transact a Miami Beach condo listed for sale. The current Days-On-The-Market average for a Miami Beach shortsale condo listed for sale is more than 235 days, 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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