Palm Beach Home Prices Rise, Broward Prices Fall

GSIG LLC

The Florida Association of Realtors made an error with the Palm Beach County median price for January 2009. The number should have been $232,100. This means Palm Beach County's median rose nearly 3% last month to $238,600 from a year ago.

This is a far cry from the 30% decline that the Realtors' group announced previously. This is the second month in a row that Palm Beach County prices have increased compared to a year ago. In December, the county's median rose 1% to $247,900 from December 2008.

There were no problems with the Broward County figures. In Broward, the January median was $180,000, a 6% decline from a year ago.

Sales of existing homes increased in both counties last month, as they have for more than a year. Sales in Palm Beach County shot up 34% to 546, while Broward sales rose 5% to 492.

Prospective buyers are looking to take advantage of low prices and interest rates. They also want to beat the April 30 deadline for two federal tax credits.

In the existing condominium markets, the median price dropped 14% in Palm Beach County to $93,700, while Broward’s median fell 18% to $69,500. Condo sales skyrocketed by 56% in Palm Beach County and 47% in Broward.