In Miami’s hot housing market, sellers aren’t fleeing — they’re pausing until fall.
“It isn’t necessarily a bad thing,” Douglas Elliman agent and managing director Joe Azar told Fox News Digital. “It’s a natural cycle of the market because inventory may tighten. So if those homeowners remove their properties off the market, it actually may create a little bit more urgency.”
According to Realtor.com’s July housing report, Miami homes are coming off the market faster than anywhere else in the country. Instead of cutting prices, sellers are pulling their listings entirely.
Miami now has the highest ratio of delistings to new listings in the U.S. — 59 for every 100, up from 27 for every 100 in May.
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Though some might assume this means Miami’s market is showing signs of cooling, Azar argues it’s all part of a summer slowdown mixed with rate cut anticipation and indicators around new construction and old inventory.
“Many of the clients I speak to were going to come back onto the market typically October, November, which is quote-unquote our busy season here in South Florida,” Azar said.
Azar, who specializes in new construction, said builders often pull listings until projects are finished — a strategic pause rather than a sign of weak demand.
“The builders that we work with are not taking it off due to the lack of demand, but taking it off so that they can finish it to completion and the buyer can have that vision of what it’ll actually look like,” he explained.
“Any buyer making a multimillion-dollar commitment wants to see a finished product. So my builders are saying, you know what? We’ll take it off the market for 60 to 90 days,” Azar added. “But the truth is my builders want to finish the product and come to market when it’s 100% complete.”
Older inventory is also likely tied to delistings, with the real estate expert offering less desirable outdated condos, older resale homes, or owners choosing to rent or renovate as reasons to take properties off the market.
“Owners may say, you know what, it may be better for me to rent out the property instead, specifically condo apartments,” Azar said. “I spoke to an owner… $6 million in Coconut Grove. He took it off the market and said, ‘I’m going to spruce it up, do some [remodeling], maybe change the appliance package, and then we’ll come back in October.’”
What this means for the broader housing landscape is a healthy balance, according to the agent, as delistings cause shrinking supply and a sense of urgency among buyers.
“If there’s buyers out there looking, essentially, that could help boost the interest in those specific homes that are still currently on the market,” Azar said. “I think it’s a natural [progression] of the market. It’s not anything specific.”
There’s also still an influx of buyers from New York, California, Chicago and abroad as the Sunshine State’s lifestyle, tax benefits and continued corporate relocations drive demand.
“The growth of Florida and specifically South Florida is why I am bullish, so to speak, on the market here locally in the next six months.”
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