Recently, Christopher Zoller of EWM Realty has seen homebuyers coming to Miami from out of state to buy a vacation home or to purchase an investment property. These buyers are coming from New York, Chicago and even Montreal have approached him for help in locating a home. But Miami has always been a hub for foreign and out of state homebuyers, and the fourth quarter of 2014 also saw Zoller serving a growing number of local residents who want to move up into a larger home and finally have the confidence to do so.

“Just in the past quarter, I personally have sold four properties to buyers who were moving either from a three-bedroom, two-bath to a four- or five-bedroom single-family house, to people moving from two- to three-bedroom condominiums into a three- or four-bedroom house,” Zoller said. “There seems to be a consistent move-up market, where these buyers are confident to be making these moves and some are paying all cash.”

Unemployment in the Miami-Fort Lauderdale-Pompano Beach area fell to 5.5 percent in November, following a downward trend that saw the rate drop through autumn, from 6.1 percent in September to 5.7 percent in October, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.