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Despite the June collapse of a beachfront condo building in Surfside, Fla., condos near the oceans remain in high demand. In the second quarter, condo prices climbed by at least 20% annually in the majority of the country’s oceanfront counties, according to a new report from ATTOM Data Solutions, a real estate research firm.
Less expensive oceanfront condo markets, which are mostly located in the South, showed the largest year-over-year gains. The most expensive counties in the West, on the other hand, showed the smallest condo price gains, according to the report, which tracked 86 oceanfront counties. Researchers sought to determine whether the collapse of the Champlain Towers South condominium building in Surfside in June has affected the demand for oceanfront condos nationwide. It hasn’t, they found.
Condo prices in oceanfront counties have continued to climb, keeping up with the overall housing market nationwide.
“Condos in oceanfront areas appear to be right in the middle of the pack when it comes to the ongoing market boom,” said Todd Teta, chief product officer at ATTOM. “Broadly speaking, they are worth close to what condos around the nation are worth and are gaining value at around the same pace as all homes in the U.S. We will keep an eye on this trend to see if it changes following the Florida incident.”
In the second quarter, Florida had the highest number of oceanfront condo sales, followed by California, Hawaii, South Carolina, and Massachusetts, according to the report. The five counties with the highest number of second-quarter transactions in condo sales were: Palm Beach County (West Palm Beach), Fla.; Miami-Dade County, Fla.; Los Angeles County, Calif.; Broward County, Fla.; and San Diego County, Calif.
The largest increase annually in median condo home prices in the second quarter were in Pasco County, Fla. (median up 245%); Galveston County, Texas (up 102%); Indian River County (Vero Beach), Fla. (up 68%); St. Lucie County (Port St. Lucie), Fla. (up 66%); and St. Johns County (St. Augustine), Fla. (up 61%).