Should I Buy A House In South Florida Now or Wait?

So you're thinking about buying a home in South Florida, and you've heard how absolutely crazy the market is in 2021, so you're wondering, should I buy a home in South Florida now or should I wait until next year when all the craziness calms down?

We're gonna answer that question in this video. Hey, my name's Andy Mandel. I'm a broker associate with the Mandel Team at RE/MAX Advisors, and if this is your first time to the channel, this is where we go over everything there is to know about eating, living, sleeping, playing and enjoying the South Florida lifestyle. So if that interests you, make sure you subscribe to our channel and tap that bell icon so you get notified every time we do a new video.

So a lot of people, we keep hearing it all the time, buyers are saying, "Oh, we're just gonna wait it out. "We're gonna wait 'til next year. "We're gonna wait 'til next year. "I don't want to compete in this market." And I get it, it's a crazy market. We bought a property this year. I understand firsthand exactly how crazy this market is, but this is why we think it's more important to buy now instead of waiting until next year. The median sales price in 2020 was $505,000 in the areas that we sell here in South Florida, so Northwest Broward County, South Palm Beach County, the Boca Parkland Coral Springs area. Last year, the median price was 505,000. So far in 2021, in just the first five months in 2021, home prices, the median price is up 16%. It's up to almost $585,000. Now I think this pace of appreciation is probably unsustainable, but that means currently, home prices are going up a little over 3% every month. So let's say hypothetically that the market slows down a little bit and home prices are only going up 1 1/2% per month.

One year from now, the median price for a home is going to be almost $700,000, so that price has gone up almost $100,000, over $100,000, and that's assuming that the pace of sales, the pace of appreciation is half of what it currently is. If it stays at about 3% per month, that median home is now just over $800,000. So by waiting a year, we don't know what's going on with interest rates, but just if interest rates stay the same, if we just go on what the prices are doing, unless you're gonna save up, you know, 100 to $250,000 in the next year, which realistically, most people just are not gonna do, that home that you're looking at right now is going to increase in price and it's going to be, for most people, a lot more unaffordable a year from now than it is, a year from now than it is now. So buying now is the better bet for most people as the months go on. I know you're probably saying, "Oh, I can't imagine paying $585,000 "for a property right now." But next month, it's over 590,000. The following month is over 600,000, then 610, 620. A year from now, you're gonna say, "Wow, I'm really glad "that I bought in at this price right now. "We locked in a really low interest rate. "It seemed like a crazy price at the time, "but now look at what they're selling for right now."

This housing market in South Florida, it's crazy, but there's nothing that we can see that's stopping this. South Florida is where everyone is moving to, so we have a ton of demand from people relocating from across the country, across the world, plus all the people who live here now who need that extra bedroom because they're working from home more often. You know, they have to, they need just more space. They appreciate their home more than they ever did. So this market is continuing to increase as far as prices go. It is our opinion that buying now, you're gonna lock in a low price, a lower price than what it will be in a year, and you're gonna thank yourself for buying now. So if you have any questions about the market, give us a call, shoot us a text, send us an email. We got your back when moving in South Florida.