Nearly 5 Distressed Coral Gables Condos Listed For Sale In South Florida Amidst COVID-19 Pandemic

Only 1 Distressed Condo Unit Traded In Coral Gables In Q1 2020

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

Based on distressed condo sales of less than one unit monthly in the first three months of 2020, Coral Gables now has about a 10-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.

This being said, zero distressed condo units are currently under contract - or pending - and waiting to transact in Coral Gables.

On the REO front, two Coral Gables REO condos are currently listed for sale at an average asking price of about $237,400 or about $273 per square foot, according to the data compiled by CondoVulturesRealty.com.

In the first three months of 2020, the transaction price of the sole Coral Gables REO condo to transact was about $400,000 or about $270 per square foot.

This means the current asking price of a Coral Gables REO condo listed for sale is nearly 41 percent lower than the average transaction price achieved on a per-unit basis and about one 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 lender that was able to unload the REO unit needed about 145 days to transact the Coral Gables condo listed for sale. The current Days-On-The-Market average for Coral Gables REO condos listed for sale is about 41, according to the statistics.

On the shortsale front, one Coral Gables shortsale condo is currently listed for sale at an asking price of $334,900 or about $265 per square foot, according to the data compiled by CondoVulturesRealty.com.

In the first three months of 2020, no shortsale condos transacted in Coral Gables.

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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