Condo owners in downtown Miami as seeing a welcome return to higher prices while shoppers are getting sticker shock.

According to the Miami Herald’s Martha Brannigan, the average price of a unit rose from $371,205 last year to $404,927, comparing second quarter to second quarter.

Miami at night last October, photo by Miami Herald

“The study by Focus Real Estate Advisors and Goodkin Consulting for the Miami Downtown Development Authority was brimming with bullish data on the rebounding downtown housing market, where the volume of sales jumped 24 percent in the first half of this year to 2,072 units from 1,671 during the first half of 2011,” she wrote. “The report said the sales data reflect “strong demand for the limited remaining inventory of new units in major buildings,” citing several projects: Mint, Infinity on Brickell, Axis, Vizcayne and Paramount Bay.”

. .