Fort Lauderdale Homes Are Taking A Lot Longer To Sell Than They Were

A year ago, a home going under contract in Fort Lauderdale did it fast. Homes were taking a median of 18 days to sell.

That number is gone.

Over the twelve weeks ending August 30, 2026, the median days on market in Fort Lauderdale rose to 57.5 days compared with a year earlier. That is not a small shift. That is a home sitting on the market roughly a month and a half longer than it would have last year.

Here is what makes this interesting: buyers did not disappear. Homes sold in Fort Lauderdale rose to 90 compared with a year earlier, up from 54 a year ago. More deals closed, not fewer. So this is not a story about buyers walking away from the table. It is a story about the pace of the decision changing.

The median sold price in Fort Lauderdale came in at $780,000 for the period. Sellers received a median of 95.3% of list price. Only 1.2% of sales in Fort Lauderdale closed above asking. Put those together and the picture is consistent: this is a market where sellers are getting deals done, but not on the clock they were used to.

What does that mean if you're sitting in this market right now?

If you're selling in Fort Lauderdale, price for the market that exists today, not the one from a year ago. A listing that assumes a two-and-a-half-week sale is going to sit and create its own bad narrative. Build in the extra time. Price it to move, and let the sale-to-list numbers work in your favor rather than fighting against an overpriced number that sits for two months.

If you're buying in Fort Lauderdale, this is the most negotiating room you've had in a while. Homes are not getting bid up. Only 1.2% of sales closed over ask. You have time to think, time to inspect, and room to negotiate on price rather than racing another buyer to the closing table.

One more figure worth sitting with. Homes with a garage in Fort Lauderdale sold for a median of $1,387,500, compared with $437,000 for homes without one. Homes with air conditioning sold for a median of $1,300,000, compared with $520,000 without. Those are enormous gaps, and they say something simple: the features that make a home livable and functional are commanding real premiums here, regardless of how long anything sits.

What I'll be watching next: whether that 57.5-day figure keeps climbing or settles here. A market that stabilizes at a slower pace is a different story than one still decelerating. Either way, the days-on-market number is now the one to watch in Fort Lauderdale, not the price, and not the headline count of sales.

If you own a home here or you're circling this market, I'm happy to walk through what these numbers mean for your specific plans.

Michael Peron Real Estate