Why Do South Beach Medians Run So Far Apart? Reading the Condo Index, the Assessment Clock and the Census Seasonal Homes

Why do the South Beach medians differ so much?

Start with the month. The market page shows monthly medians for the last year: $555,000 for August 2026 on 59 closings, $534,000 for September on 61, $430,000 for July on 87, $371,000 for June on 97 and $655,000 for February on 72. The gap from $371,000 to $655,000 is 76.5%, computed here, within eight months. A mix of studios and penthouses closes in each month, and a few large sales move a median. A listing-data page shows $375,000 for September on 39 closings, which is 29.8% below the $534,000 shown for the same month on the other page, computed here. The two pages count different sales.

Next is the window. The market page shows a twelve month median of $500,000 on 897 closings, up 3%, and $614 per square foot, up 1%. It also shows 978 sales and $607 per square foot in another block, and its supply reading is 12.1 months in one place and 11.1 in another. The two supply figures follow from the two sales counts: 901 listings over 897 sales a year is 12.05 months, and over 978 is 11.06, both computed here. The page does not explain the two counts, and a reader should take the figures as printed.

Realtor.com's neighborhood page uses another base. It shows a median sold price of $461,000 and a median listing price of $489,000, which is 6.1% above the sold median, computed here, and 967 active listings against the market page's 901. It shows a median of 114 days on market, which is 1.4 times the market page's 82 days to contract, computed here. The statistics page shows $490,000, 891 active listings and 105 average days. These differences come from home types, dates and definitions, which the pages do not set out.

Price per square foot is steadier than price. Realtor.com shows $687, the market page shows $614 sold and $671 asking, and the listing-data page shows $600, up 21.2%. A $600 to $687 range is 14.5% wide, computed here, while the monthly medians span 76.5%. The market page splits sales by size: studios sold at a median of $231,000, one-bedrooms at $371,000, two-bedrooms at $820,000, three-bedrooms at $3,500,000 and units of four bedrooms or more at $10,950,000. A median that mixes those is a median of the mix.

The page also splits by floor and by view. Floors 1 to 10 sold at $555 per square foot and floors 31 and up at $2,468, which is 4.4 times as much, computed here. Units flagged waterfront sold at $864 a square foot against $466 for the rest, 85.4% more, computed here. New buildings sold at $1,708 a square foot in the 43 sales of buildings finished since 2020, while 310 sales in buildings from before 1990 sold at $628, a ratio of 2.7 to one, computed here. A seller's number depends on floor, view and building age more than on the town.

Sources as cited. The windows, counts and definitions differ and the figures are not directly comparable. Commercial content; not independently verified.

How fast do South Beach condos sell, and how many take price cuts?

The clocks run from 82 to 114 days. The market page shows a median of 82 days to contract for the twelve months, and 83 days in its index over six months. Realtor.com shows 114 days for listings and the statistics page shows 105 average days. The listing-data page shows 103 days for sold homes, down 7.2%. All four are over 80 days, so the pages agree that a South Beach condominium is on the market for about three months, and they disagree on how many days more.

Supply is where they differ most. The market page shows 12.1 months and calls it a buyer's market with a reading of 34 out of 100. The statistics page shows 17.1 months, which is 41% more, computed here, and its 52 sales for the month are one month's count, so the supply figure rests on a single month, an inference from the page's own numbers. Realtor.com shows active listings down 24.60% in a year, and the statistics page shows them down 25.0% over six months, from 1,188 to 891. Fewer listings but more months of supply means sales slowed faster than listings fell.

Prices relative to list tell the same story. The market page shows that sold homes achieved a median 92.0% of their original asking price and that 9% closed at or above ask. On a $500,000 original ask, the 8.0% gap is $40,000, computed here. The statistics page shows 93.9% for list to sold. 35% of the market page's listings have cut the price, by a median 5.5%, which is $27,500 on $500,000, computed here. About 315 of the 901 listings have cut, computed here from the 35%.

The price bands differ in pace. The market page shows 474 listings under $500,000 against 447 sold in twelve months, 12.7 months of supply. It shows 74 listings at $750,000 to $1 million against 63 sold, 14.1 months, and 41 listings at $5 million or more against 52 sold, 9.5 months. The bands add up to the 901 listings and the 897 sales, computed here. The tightest band is the dearest, and the slowest is the middle, which is the page's data and not a forecast.

Rentals are the other benchmark. Realtor.com shows a median rent of $3,300 a month and 1,192 rental listings, down 22.35%, and the listing-data page shows $2,700, down 1.8%, with 152 leases closed. The Census median rent is $1,822, so the Realtor.com figure is 81.1% above it and the listing-data figure 48.2%, both computed here. Asking rents for homes offered now and the rents renters actually pay are different things, which is why the Census figure is lower.

What do inspection clocks and assessments add to a South Beach condo price?

A brokerage article dated September 3, 2026 argues that the building's paperwork now decides what a unit costs to own. It says buildings of three stories or more within three miles of the coast in Miami-Dade and Broward must complete a first inspection at 25 years, not 30, and that South Beach sits entirely in that band. A second article, from July 2026, says covered buildings generally need an initial milestone inspection at 30 years and every ten years after, and that a local authority may require one as early as 25 years because of proximity to saltwater (Brokerage guide, South Beach due diligence). The first says it must, the second says it may. A seller should ask the association which applies.

The first article reports assessment ranges. It says guides published earlier in 2026 put per-unit assessments at $50,000 to $200,000 for older South Beach buildings, against about $30,000 to $75,000 for towers built from 1975 to 1995 in nearby neighborhoods, with some above $100,000. Against the market page's $500,000 median sold price, $50,000 is 10.0% and $200,000 is 40.0%, computed here. Against the Census median owner value of $480,900, they are 10.4% and 41.6%. These are ranges from one brokerage's reading of other guides, and they are not assessments of any building.

Why now? Both articles tie the change to state law passed after the 2021 collapse of a condominium tower in Surfside, which one says killed 98 people. The first article says a 2022 law ended boards' ability to waive reserves, that a 2025 law moved the deadline for reserve studies to December 31, 2025, and that buildings that had waived reserves had to start funding them on January 1, 2026. The second says a 2022 framework introduced statewide milestone inspections and structural reserve requirements and that 2023 amendments refined them. These are the articles' summaries of law, and this brief did not check them against the statutes.

The inspections have two phases, according to the second article. Phase 1 is a visual examination by a licensed architect or engineer, and Phase 2 is required if the professional finds signs of substantial structural deterioration, with testing and repair recommendations. It advises buyers to ask for the full report, not the owner summary, and says buyers should look at whether recommended work has been funded, contracted, started or completed. For a seller, the same documents are what an informed buyer will ask for, and a clean file is part of the price.

The Census shows how much of the stock this touches. In the postal area that includes South Beach, 19,996 homes, 66.1%, were built before 1980 and 6,232, 20.6%, were built in 1949 or earlier, computed here. The largest decade is the 1960s, with 6,630 homes, 21.9%. Homes built since 2010 number 1,282, 4.2%. The market page shows that new buildings sell at far higher prices a square foot, so the older stock, which is most of it, is where assessments, inspection clocks and financing questions are concentrated. That is an inference from the pages.

What does the Census say about vacancy, tenure and building sizes in South Beach?

The Census postal area that includes South Beach has 30,259 housing units and 33,753 residents, so each occupied home averages 1.7 residents, computed from 33,753 and 19,822. By building type, 1,414 homes are detached houses, 4.7%, and 441 are attached. Buildings of 5 to 9 units hold 1,313 homes, 10 to 19 hold 5,123, 20 to 49 hold 5,390 and 50 or more hold 15,145. Buildings of 20 or more hold 20,535 homes, 67.9%, and those of 50 or more hold 50.1%, computed here. Buildings of five or more units hold 26,971, 89.1%. This is a condominium and apartment postal area.

Renters are the majority. Of 19,822 occupied homes, 7,379 are owned, 37.2%, and 12,443 are rented, 62.8%. The median household income is $69,793 and the median rent is $1,822. The median owner value is $480,900, plus or minus $32,175, a margin of 6.7%, computed here. The Census value is 3.8% below the market page's $500,000 sold median, computed here, which is close for two different measures.

Vacancy is high. Of 30,259 homes, 10,437 are vacant, 34.5%. Of them, 5,785 are held for seasonal, recreational or occasional use, which is 19.1% of all homes and 55.4% of the vacant stock, computed here. Another 2,640 are vacant for other reasons, 25.3% of the vacant stock, 1,403 are for rent, 341 for sale, 226 rented and not yet occupied and 42 sold and not yet occupied. The 341 for sale is 3.3% of the vacant stock. The Census counts a home as for sale on the survey day and averages five years, so it does not measure the 901 live listings.

When did owners move in? The Census shows 378 owner households arrived in 2023 or later, 1,742 in 2020 to 2022 and 2,482 in 2010 to 2019, so 4,602 owner households, 62.4%, moved in since 2010, computed here. Owners who arrived from 2000 to 2009 number 1,461, 19.8%, and those from 1999 or earlier 1,316, 17.8%. Renters turn over faster. Of 12,443 renter households, 11,467, 92.2%, moved in since 2010, and 6,072, 48.8%, moved in since 2020, computed here.

One more point on the Census figures. They cover a postal area, which is larger than the part of Miami Beach that people call South Beach, and a sibling post on another South Beach neighborhood shares the same Census figures. The vacancy, tenure and building cuts apply to the whole area, and a seller should read them as the setting and not as a statement about one building. The condominium pages and the Census agree on one thing: the market is mostly buildings, mostly older and partly seasonal. Readers comparing markets can also read the Port Saint Joe brief and the Flamingo-Lummus brief.

Source: Census Reporter, American Community Survey 2020-2024 five-year estimates, tables B25024, B25003, B25038, B25004, B25034, B25077, B25064 and B19013. Percentages and ratios are this brief's arithmetic.

What should an owner ask, and what does a private sale change?

The first question is which building the home is in. A studio in an Art Deco building, a two-bedroom in a 1960s tower, a unit on a high floor with an ocean view and a unit in a building finished since 2020 do not share a median, a buyer or a clock. A seller should ask for closed sales in the same building from the last twelve months, with the days to contract, the first ask and the final price. In a building with 20 or 30 sales a year, a seller's comparison may be a few units.

The second question is what a number measures. Ask whether it is a sale price or an ask, a median or an average, one month or twelve, studios or three-bedrooms. The pages above differ on every one of those points, and a seller who reads $555,000 as the price of a typical home will overshoot the twelve month median of $500,000 by 11.0% and the listing-data page's $375,000 by 48.0%, computed here.

The third question is the cost of selling, and the arithmetic is simple. Each 1% of $375,000 is $3,750. At 3% the figure is $11,250 and at 5% it is $18,750. At $500,000, each 1% is $5,000, 3% is $15,000 and 5% is $25,000. At $555,000, each 1% is $5,550, 3% is $16,650 and 5% is $27,750. These illustrate the size of each percentage point and are not quotes of any rate a seller would be charged. No page in this brief names a South Beach commission rate, and the medians are not the price of any one home. An assessment is a separate cost, and the pages do not say who pays it in a sale.

The fourth question is exposure and time. With a median of 82 to 114 days, 35% of listings cutting the price and a median 92.0% of the original ask, a public listing can mean three months of showings, a visible price history and a buyer's inspection of the building's reserve file. A private sale has no showings and no neighbors talking about a sale, which matters in a building where the neighbors are also the board.

The benefits are plain. Maison Off-Market buys luxury homes and estates directly from their owners and speaks only to sellers. A private sale has no showings. It allows closing dates that give a seller time to find a new home. It has no commission costs and no closing costs, and it avoids inspection repairs, which matters in a postal area where 66.1% of homes predate 1980, though the Census says nothing about the condition of any one building. The company does not say that a private sale always beats a public listing, and in a market where one page shows $375,000 and another $555,000, an owner is right to ask what each route yields. If you would like a private, no-obligation offer for a South Beach home, call 401-219-4207 or use the contact form on this site.

Methodology and limitations

Each page's date, title and place were read before use. The market page shows 897 and 978 sales and 12.1 and 11.1 months of supply on the same page, and its table runs to months after its stated date. The statistics page's months of supply appears to rest on one month of sales. The assessment ranges and the summaries of Florida law are from brokerage articles and were not checked against the statutes or any association's records, and the two articles differ on whether the 25-year inspection is required or optional. The Census figures are five-year estimates for a postal area that is larger than South Beach. Percent changes were taken as printed, and ratios and sums are this brief's arithmetic.

Conclusion

The South Beach record shows condominium medians from $375,000 to $555,000 by month and page, 12.1 to 17.1 months of supply, assessments reported at $50,000 to $200,000 for older buildings, and a postal area where 34.5% of homes are vacant and 67.9% are in buildings of 20 or more units. The useful number for an owner is a closed sale in the same building, not a median.