Condos account for more Miami area sales

Existing-home sales in Miami rose 17.8% last month from a year earlier, making it the best April in five years, according to information released by DataQuick. Sales of home and condos across the region fell 5% from March to 9,727. In the condo market alone, sales jumped 28.5% over last year, with 5,113 condos sold. “It was the highest number of condo resales for the month of April since 2005, when 6,332 condos resold,” DataQuick said. “Condo resales made up a near-record 52.6% of total Miami-area home sales last month, compared with 48.2% a year earlier and a monthly average of 33.1% over the past decade.” New-home sales in Miami were a different story, with builders still battling against a weak economy and competition from distressed real estate. In April, the market had 569 new home sales, up 1.6% from March and 4.4% from last year, but still the third-lowest on record for that month. “Last month’s new-home sales made up just 5.8% of all transactions — close to an all-time low and far below the new-home market’s decade-long average of 19% of total monthly sales,” DataQuick said. Write to: Kerri Panchuk.