South Florida Prices Rise, But not as Fast as National Average
Residential real estate prices are on the rise in the tricounty South Florida region, increasing by more than 1.1 percent in the last 12 months, according to a new Standard & Poor’s Case-Shiller housing report.
The 20-city housing index shows prices in Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties gained momentum as residential real estate rose by a seasonally adjusted 0.3 percent in the second quarter of 2010 compared to the first quarter of the year, according to the report.
Despite the encouraging news, South Florida’s recovery lags behind the national trend of home prices rising by 3.6 percent in the last 12 months, according to the report.
“Housing prices have rebounded from crisis lows, but other recent housing indivators point to more ominous signals as tax incentives have ended and foreclosures continue,” according to the Standard & Poor’s executive summary.
While the home price upswing could indicate a potential improvement in the real estate market, residential resales in the United States tumbled by more than 25 percent on a year-over-year basis in July 2010 to 3.83 million transactions compared to 5.14 million deals through July 2009, according to a recent housing report from the National Association of Realtors.
A trio of local experts will explore the possibility that rising real estate prices in a weakened sales environment could play a factor in another residential market tumble in a Condo Vultures® seminar on Sept. 14 entitled “Concerns Grow About Possible Double Dip In South Florida Real Estate.”
For all but one week in the month of August, the number of single-family houses, condominium units, and townhouses on the resale market in Miami-Dade, Broward, and Palm Beach counties has increased, according to a new report from CondoVultures.com.
As of Aug. 30, there are 68,894 residences for resale in South Florida, up from 67,771 residences for resale on Aug. 2, according to the report based on Florida Association of Realtors data.
The number of single-family houses, condominium units, and townhouses on the resale market in Miami-Dade, Broward, and Palm Beach counties has now increased 12 of the last 14 weeks, reversing a downward trend that had been occurring since the fourth quarter of 2008, according to a recent report from CondoVultures.com.
Oliver Ruiz, the Residential President of the Miami Association of Realtors, and Dr. William G Hardin III, the Director of Real Estate Programs at Florida International University, are scheduled to participate in the discussion that starts at 6.30 pm following a one-hour networking session that begins at 5.30 pm. Zalewski will moderate the panel scheduled for the Miami Marriott Biscayne Bay Hotel in Downtown Miami.
Condo Vultures® Realty LLC, a licensed Florida buy-side brokerage, has actively tracked the available residential resale properties in South Florida on a weekly basis since Nov. 24, 2008, when there were 107,527 single-family houses, condos, and townhouses on the market.
Of the nearly 69,000 properies on the resale market in Miami-Dade, Broward, and Palm Beach counties, only 36 percent are characterized as distress situations.
Many of the other sellers are owners who want out nearly five years after South Florida residential real estate reached its peak in the fourth quarter of 2005, according to the licensed Florida sell-side brokerage CVR Realty™.
BY JOHN FAKLER
Executive Editor
