Author Archives: House Keys

Broward County Median Prices 2011
$165,100 — January
$167,000 – February
$175,400 – March
$177,000 — April
$188,500 — May
$196,000 — June
$193,000 — July
$191,800 — August
$188,800 — September
Source: Florida Realtors

If you’re looking for the bottom of Broward County’s housing market, Brad Hunter of the Metrostudy research firm in West Palm Beach suggests paying attention to this figure: $165,100.

That’s the county’s median price for January, according to the Florida Realtors. While home prices in much of South Florida continue to fall when compared with a year ago, Broward’s median hasn’t dropped lower than $165,100 in any month in 2011 — a possible sign of a market bottom, Hunter says.

‘Most likely, we’re not going to see prices return to that low,” he said.

Palm Beach County’s median has been more volatile this year, an indication that prices there still have more room to fall. “Prices are moving in a more favorable direction in the Fort Lauderdale market than in the West Palm Beach market,” Hunter said.

Hunter has an interesting theory, though he is in the minority. Most analysts expect home prices in South Florida to continue dropping into next year.

The Standard & Poor’s Case-Shiller Home Price Index, released this week, showed that prices in Palm Beach, Broward and Miami-Dade counties collectively fell 0.3 in August from July and 4.6 percent from a year ago.

Unlike the Florida Realtors trade group, the index tracks the price of the same home over time, which many real estate observers say is the most accurate way to measure prices.

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