Single-Family Homes Here Go Under Contract in 34 Days. The Days on Market Number You Keep Reading Measures Something Else.

Broward single-family homes went under contract in a median of 34 days in July 2026, down from 43 days a year earlier. The longer figures you see quoted, 74 days and roughly 100 days, are measuring something different, and confusing the two costs Fort Lauderdale homeowners real money.

Two Numbers, One Confusion

Days to contract is how long a home sits before a buyer commits. Time to sale is that same period plus the closing process, which in South Florida runs 30 to 45 days on a financed purchase.

Most market coverage quotes the second number and calls it demand. It is not demand. It is demand plus paperwork.

In July 2026 the gap between the two was 40 days.

The July 2026 Numbers

This is the most recent full month of Broward County MLS data. It was released in mid August.

• Single-family median days to contract: 34 days, down from 43 a year ago
• Single-family median time to sale: 74 days, down from 81
• Condo median days to contract: 86 days, up from 71
• Condo median time to sale: 122 days, up from 108
• Single-family median sale price: $650,000, up 4.84 percent
• Condo median sale price: $255,000, down 3.77 percent
• Single-family months of supply: 4.3
• Condo months of supply: 10
• Total homes sold: 2,157, up 2.6 percent, the fifth straight monthly increase
• Cash share of closed sales: 34.5 percent

August figures are not out yet. The monthly release lands mid month, so August data is expected around September 17.

Inventory Fell 18.9 Percent. Nobody Leads With That.

Broward closed July with 13,949 active homes on the market. That is down 18.9 percent from a year ago.

Now read that next to the sales line. Sales rose for a fifth consecutive month while the pool of available homes shrank by nearly a fifth. Those two facts do not describe a market losing steam.

They describe a market where a well-priced house is competing against fewer rivals than it was last summer.

The Citywide Average Blends Two Different Markets

Fort Lauderdale's citywide days on market figure sits near 100. That number blends houses and condos into a single average, and the two are moving in opposite directions.

Single-family got faster by nine days. Condos got slower by fifteen. Averaging them produces a number that describes neither one.

If you own a house and you are planning around a condo-weighted statistic, you are planning around the wrong market.

What This Means If You Are Preparing to Sell

Price the first 30 days correctly and the data says you are likely under contract inside them. Miss that window and you are not waiting a few extra days. You are waiting for the next cycle of buyers.

Single-family homes in Broward closed at 96 percent of original asking price in July. Condos closed at 92 percent. On a $650,000 home, those four points are $26,000.

Lourdes Maestres has spent 17 years in this market and has prepared more than 600 valuations. The first thing she pulls for a Fort Lauderdale homeowner is not the citywide average. It is days to contract for that property type, in that price band, on that side of Federal.

What This Means If You Are Buying

A 34-day median on houses means the good ones are not sitting. If you tour on a two-week delay, you are touring what did not sell.

Condos are the opposite. Ten months of supply and 86 days to contract give you room to negotiate, room to ask for assessment credits, and room to walk away.

Same city, same month, two very different sets of leverage.

The Practical Version

• Selling a house: the first 30 days decide the outcome
• Selling a condo: assume a longer runway and price for it
• Buying a house: move quickly on correctly priced homes
• Buying a condo: take your time and use the supply

Talk to Someone Who Reads the Right Number

The MPH Team tracks Fort Lauderdale by property type, price band and neighborhood, not by citywide average. If you want to know what your specific home is doing right now, Lourdes Maestres and the MPH Team will pull the actual numbers for you.