South Florida Real Estate Market

Despite the sometimes negative treatment in the media, the real estate market in South Florida is not devastated by the economic downturn.  In fact, many quality properties are available for investors and the market does offer opportunities to make reasonable purchases that will appreciate.  There are many foreclosure and bank owned properties on the market, and so prices have been steadily decreasing.

There is more buyer demand for homes between $130,000 to $170,000, though these price ranges are moving very fast.  Many tenant that are renting are beginning to realize the advantages of buying now over renting, and so these prices may start to increase.  As of numbers collected in May 2011, the number of single family homes for sale in February was 7485, in March 7119, and in April was 6804.  Meanwhile, homes sold at rates of 846 in February,  1111 in March, and 813 in April.  The numbers for condominium units and town homes for sale in February was 13,111, in March 12,138, and in April 11,399.  Those units that sold were 1375 in February, 1689 in March, and 1371 in April.

Some top news includes the increasing number of foreclosures, where prices may be hiding profits.  Some auction buyers overpay document stamp taxes to make a home’s sales price appear higher in county records.  At the same time, South Florida and the rest of the state lead the nation in potential job growth.  Wells Fargo recently issued a report indicating that the state has a positive economic future once it shakes off the still lingering effects of a recession.  Mortgage rates rose for the fourth straight week, with a 30-year fixed mortgage increasing to 4.91%.  Still, according to Freddie Mac, these rates were remaining below 5%.  Cash purchasers are, of course, not affected by mortgage rates, more earnest money, quick action and a pre-approval could give borrowers an edge.