18 November 2011

Florida Real Estate Markets dominate Top-10 Turnaround Report


Miami was the top "turnaround town" in the country in the third quarter, according to a report from Realtor.com. The rankings look at median price appreciation, reductions in age of inventory and inventory counts, along with unemployment rates.

Miami has one foreclosure for every 407 homes, an improvement over the national rate of one out of every 213. Condo sales have also increased 79 percent in the first five months of the year.

Six Florida markets were included on the list, with Fort Lauderdale ranked fourth.

Read on at Realtor.com (via theRealDeal.com)

11 November 2011

Cash Buyers Rule

A phenomenon certainly not limited to the South Florida real estate market, the Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel reports that the vast majority of home buyers in Broward and Palm Beach County are paying for their deals in cash, whether they hail from America or abroad.

That represents a marked shift since the years of the housing boom ca. five years ago, when approximately 10 percent of sales in Broward and 19 percent in Palm Beach County were cash deals.

Now, more than 60 percent of the September transactions in Broward and Palm Beach counties were from buyers paying cash – twice the national average.

"The cash buyer is the market right now," said Mike Pappas, president of the Keyes Company. "It's amazing to see the number of cash transactions in the marketplace. It boggles your mind." (Full article: Sun Sentinel via WPTV)

In addition, when I look at the modernist market data for October and first week in November, I not only observe the usual seasonal amount of cancellations and temporary withdrawals – people want to forget the global crisis and rather nest, instead of having buyers trample through cocktail hours and dinner parties.

There also is a noticeable number of transactions hanging forever in pending or backup status, finally falling through and being cancelled or sometimes marketed again. And quite a few deals go to cash buyers at lower prices than to those with financing clauses.

For now, the cash buyer rules.