Condo Prices in US Oceanfront Markets Surge Past Pre-Pandemic Levels
Prices rose at least 20 percent in half of oceanfront counties since last year
By Chava Gourarie August 26, 2021 6:30 am
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Condos in the country’s oceanfront counties are moving in line with the roaring housing market overall, with prices surging above pre-pandemic levels, according to a new report from ATTOM Data Solutions.
In 90 percent of oceanfront counties nationwide, median prices were back above pre-pandemic levels in the second quarter of 2021, and one-third saw prices jump 30 percent since the same time last year, according to data provided to Commercial Observer.
The report looked at 86 counties in the United States that front the ocean and had at least 25 condo sales in each of the last three quarters. Of those, Palm Beach led the country in the number of condo sales in the second quarter, with more than 10,000, punching way above its weight in terms of its population. The next four counties were some of the most populous in South Florida and Southern California: Miami-Dade, Los Angeles, San Diego, and Broward counties.
While median prices rose across most regions, the highest jumps were concentrated in Florida, in counties that are generally less expensive than metro areas or superrich enclaves outside of them.
Four Florida counties saw their median price rise faster than anywhere in the country, spiking more than 60 percent since 2019: Hillsborough (Tampa), Pasco (north of Tampa), St. Johns (south of Jacksonville), and St. Lucie (Port St. Lucie).
Prices also rose sharply in the three counties along the South Florida coast, though not at the same pace. Of the three, the median price in Palm Beach rose fastest, up 55 percent since 2019 and 47 percent since last year. In Miami-Dade and Broward, median condo prices are up 19 and 25 percent since last year, respectively.
The report attempted to highlight counties similar to Surfside, Fla., where the 12-story Champlain Towers South collapsed in late June. Though the collapse would not have affected second-quarter sales, the report sets a baseline for understanding how those markets differ — if at all — from the condo market overall.
“This report is not, in any way, an attempt to show where condos may be vulnerable to the kind of disaster that hit in Florida. That’s not what our data can address,” Todd Teta, chief product and technology officer with ATTOM, said in a statement. “Rather, it’s a look at the markets for those kinds of homes, which look to be going strong.”
In fact, despite the tragedy claiming 98 lives, the Miami condo market continues to soar, with the number of completed condo transactions jumping by 159.4 percent earlier this month compared to the two weeks following the tragedy, as Commercial Observer previously reported.
Unsurprisingly, the majority of the nine counties where prices remain below pre-pandemic levels were in metro areas hit hardest by the pandemic: San Francisco, New York and Boston. In Queens, condo prices were down 5.4 percent since 2019 and 7.8 percent since last year. In Brooklyn, condo prices were back up compared with 2020, but 4.8 percent below 2019 levels.
Chava Gourarie can be reached at cgourarie@commercialobserver.com.
