Florida existing home sales rise in December

Florida existing home sales rose on a year-over-year basis by 4 percent in December, and 5 percent during 2010 overall, according to new data from Florida Realtors. In Miami, sales rose 18 percent for single-family homes and 29 percent for condominiums between December 2009 and December 2010. The West Palm Beach-Boca Raton area also saw increases, with single-family existing home sales up 9 percent and condo sales up 26 percent during that period. Broward, meanwhile, saw a 7 percent increase in condo sales, but a 14 percent decrease in sales of single-family homes. Although sales picked up in most segments of the South Florida residential sales market, values continued to fall from last year. The median sales price in December was $133,100 in Florida, down another 5 percent from the median of $139,800 in December 2009 and slightly higher than the $132,700 recorded in November 2010, Florida Realtors said.