With single-family homes hitting record prices—and record-low availabilities—many of today’s home shoppers are turning to their cheaper, sometimes-overlooked cousins: condominiums and townhouses, says Sharon Lurye, a Realtor.com contributor, in her recent article. Nationwide, there were twice as many condos sold in May 2021 as there were in May 2020, and the Realtor.com data team has identified the markets where condo and townhome prices are rising the most. Of the top 10, six are located in Florida and two are mountain towns with access to skiing.
People from the Northeast are saying, ‘If I’m going to get stuck because of mandatory quarantines, I’d rather have that happen in Florida than in New York,'” says Brad Hunter, the head of Hunter Housing Economics, a market advisory firm.
And plenty of folks are relocating for good. Hundreds of people a day are moving to Florida, especially from the Northeast, says real estate consultant Jack McCabe, CEO of Jack McCabe Expert Services.
It helps that several companies have moved operations to Florida as well. Goldman Sachs opened offices in West Palm Beach, and there is a booming space and drone industry near the Kennedy Space Center in Merritt Island.
“We’re seeing a lot of jobs coming down from the Northeast, and new, more high-tech positions that pay well locating in Florida,” says McCabe. “I think Florida is going to be the biggest boom state at least for the next 10 years to come.”
McCabe notes that the tragic collapse of the nearly 40-year-old Champlain Towers condo building near Miami in May made buyers more cautious about purchasing condos in older buildings. But it further increased the value of condos in newer buildings that comply with the latest safety codes.
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