WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — Sales of homes are slowing down across the country and in South Florida as mortgage rates rise.
According to Realtors of Broward, Palm Beaches and St. Lucie, sales in January from the same time last year were down 33% in Palm Beach County, 20% in Martin County and 27% in St. Lucie County.
"The number of transactions is certainly down from what it was last year," Phin Wish of Echo Fine Properties said. "You’re seeing properties sit on the market a lot longer, and it's not the market where you used to throw something on one weekend, and it sells the next day over asking price."
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Buyers these days, Wish said, are also in a better position than they were a year ago.
"You are seeing price reductions, but in cases where sellers have priced things too aggressively," Wish said.
He added that sellers in South Florida have one advantage because of a steady supply of cash buyers from the northeast still entering the market.