Months of stay-at-home orders, growing numbers of infections and deaths, working remotely while the kids are attending school in the next room, stop-and-start business closures, and no end in sight to the COVID-19 pandemichave all had an unexpected impact on Miami-Dade’s real estate market. It’s just not what you probably think it is.

COVID-19 has turned out to be an unexpected boon for the residential real estate market and yet another hurdle for out-priced home buyers. Historically low interest rates and condo-cabin fever have driven up demand (and prices) for single-family homes and are even moving the needle on the sluggish, overstocked condo market.

According to the MiamiReport Q3 Update released this week by RelatedISG International Realty only 0.67% of all single-family homes in Miami-Dade County — or 4,516 out of 678,860 — are currently listed for sale or renton the Miami Multiple Listing Service.

The report shows that the percentages of foreign buyers versus domestic U.S. buyers have flipped since 2010, from 49% foreign and 21% domestic to the current 23% foreign to 49% domestic. Using data from tax returns, the study also indicates that Florida is the No. 1 choice for people relocating from New York, New Jersey, Illinois and Massachusetts.

Since May 2020, the single-family home inventory has shrunk dramatically, from 7.3 months of supply to 3.2 months at the end of August.

Median sales prices have also risen due to demand, from $375,000 in May to $425,000 in August (including last-minute closings). That’s the highest on record since 2007, when the median sales price hit a then-record $380,000, according to the Miami Association of Realtors, even though the existing inventory was much larger.

The change in the condo market is equally dramatic, from a 24-month supply in May to a 12.8-month supply by the end of August. Median sales prices in that market have also started to creep up — from $259,000 in May to $275,000 in August — but there is still enough inventory to make condos a buyer’s market.

One of the neighborhoods with the highest sales activity is Edgewater, specifically the 33137 ZIP code, where there was an increase in sales of 141% year-over-year and a decrease of cash sales from 47% to 24%. The median home value in that area, which consists primarily of condos and townhomes, is $310,000.

(source: miamiherald.com chart: RelatedISG International Realty)