Neither boom nor bust, the Palm Beach County, Fla., housing market ended the summer selling season with a steady but unspectacular performance.
The median price of a house sold in the county in August was $355,000, up 4% from August 2018 but below the price levels achieved in May, June and July.
Realtors recorded 1,566 sales of houses for the month, down slightly from August 2018, according to a report released Thursday by the Realtors of the Palm Beaches and Greater Fort Lauderdale.
In one headwind for the real estate market, there are few houses for sale. The supply of houses for sale fell by 6% over the past year, and there was just a 4.3-month supply.
A supply of less than six months is considered a sellers' market, one that favors sellers over buyers.
"There's no real relief in sight for the inventory shortage," said Florida Realtors Chief Economist Dr. Brad O'Connor.
While large-scale homebuilding has returned to Palm Beach County, fewer big projects are under way today than in decades past.
In a bit of a disconnect, property prices are rising only slightly, despite the meager supply of houses. Other factors that typically push up home prices include a strong job market, a robust stock market and mortgage rates near historic lows. The
Despite all of those favorable forces, neither prices nor sales volumes are exploding.
"The housing sector has been broadly underperforming," National Association of Realtors Chief Economist Lawrence Yun said Thursday in a statement.
Demand for entry-level homes remains intense. Houses priced at $250,000 to $300,000, sold in just 28 days, Realtors said.
Townhouses and condos in the $250,000 to $300,000 range needed just 36 days to sell.
The mansion market, on the other hand, saw long marketing times. Houses priced at $1 million or more needed 157 days to sell, up sharply from a year ago, Realtors said.
Palm Beach County's condo and townhouse market turned in a tepid performance. The median price was $182,500 in August, down 1.4% from a year earlier, and sales volumes fell nearly 5%.
