…The housing market in Miami’s coastal communities
continued to show increases in nondistressed
sales, falling inventory, and demand
from foreign buyers from Europe and South
America.

The median sales price jumped 20.9% to
$196,500 from $162,500 in the prior year quarter.
The $399,440 average sales price and $257 price per square foot both showed the same pattern,
with respective gains of 17.7% and 14.2% over
the same period. The 28.5% year-over-year gain
in median condo prices largely outpaced the
4.4% gain in median single-family home prices.
This was largely due to the drop in lower priced
distressed sales activity over the past year,
related to the “robo-signing” scandal at the end of
2010. In addition to the court-related foreclosure
backlog, servicers slowed the volume of property
entering the market during most of 2011 and early
2012. Condo sales saw more of a decline related
to this matter; distressed condo sales fell 31.9%
over the past year, while distressed single family
sales fell only 11.7% over the same period…