As buyers battled rising interest rates and excessive home prices, some areas in southern Florida grew to be more popular among homeshoppers, a new survey reveals.
Of the 10 “hottest” ZIP codes among homebuyers, four were located in Broward County, three were in Palm Beach County, two were in Miami-Dade County, and one was found outside of the tri-county area, according to a survey from Opendoor, a digital platform for selling residential real estate.
Port St. Lucie, located just outside of South Florida, a little north of Palm Beach County, was the most popular ZIP code in the rankings.
Its inclusion on the list reflects a growing trend of 2022, where many homebuyers, pushed out of Palm Beach County due to affordability issues, flocked farther north to Martin County, where homes prices were cheaper.
“Many people moved there who would not have considered it,” said Jeff Lichtenstein, founder of Echo Fine Properties in Palm Beach Gardens. “They couldn’t find what they wanted in Palm Beach County so they were forced to look elsewhere.”
Here is Opendoor’s full ranking:
- 34953 — Port St. Lucie
- 33160 — Sunny Isles Beach
- 33411 — Royal Palm Beach
- 33321 — Tamarac
- 33139 — Miami Beach
- 33319 — Lauderhill
- 33467 — Greenacres
- 33446 — western Delray Beach
- 33009 — Hallandale Beach
- 33063 — Margate
“We’ve seen a trend where a lot of homeshoppers love the Miami heat, but not the associated costs. Homeowners are heading West and North of the city,” said Chelsea Goyer, National Head of Brokerage at Opendoor.
Port St. Lucie is a more affordable option for many homebuyers. According to RedFin, the median sale price of a home in Port St. Lucie is about $393,540, far less expensive than the median sale price of a home in Palm Beach County, which is $565,000.
“Port St. Lucie also has a lot of new construction starts. We’ve moved a lot of people there,” said Patty DaSilva, broker with Green Realty Properties in Cooper City. “It’s attractive to some people to sell here [in South Florida] and move to a new construction because even if they did some upgrades on their [previous] home, it was still built decades ago.”
To find the hottest ZIP codes, Opendoor looked at the number of homes sales that went under contract within 90 days of listing in 2022, collecting data from Jan. 1 to Dec. 1.
Many of the ZIP codes on the list are either located in areas where home prices are cheaper for many buyers, such as Tamarac, Margate, Lauderhill and Greenacres.
“In a lot of areas where affordability is possible, buyers are getting homes there so they can get some housing where they couldn’t otherwise,” DaSilva said. “As rents continue to stay really high, and affordability continues to be an issue, people have to go toward the cheaper places.”
The median sale price of a single-family home in the 33063 and 33319 ZIP codes, both located in Broward County, are significantly cheaper than the county’s median single family home price of $540,000.
The median sale price for 33063 is about $265,000, while the median sale price of a home in the 33319 ZIP code is about $175,000.
Other ZIP codes, such as Miami Beach or Sunny Isles Beach, are popular likely due to the migration of Wall Street south, and the presence of high-rise condos, added Lichtenstein, while Delray Beach’s ranking is likely attributed to the mix of more normally priced homes, combined with areas of expensive homes and the availability of some land to build on.
Lichtenstein cautions that moving forward in 2023, the hottest ZIP codes will likely be far different as the market adjusts.
