Ftbs profit from florida plunge
Bargain
hunters have taken over South Florida's housing market....
Home sales are rising across the region as first-time buyers and others are
taking advantage of plunging prices and the return to affordability.
Existing sales in Broward County increased 52 percent last month, to 467 from
307 a year ago, the Florida Association of Realtors said Wednesday. The median home
price slid to $191,000, down 39 percent from last January's $314,200.
It was the first time in seven years that Broward's median was below $200,000.
The median has plummeted by more than half since peaking at $391,100 in
November 2005.
The
housing slump, entering its fourth year, is unlikely to turn around soon, real
estate and economic analysts say.
Predatory market
Moody's
Economy.com., a West Chester, Pa., research firm, expects the South
Florida housing market to remain depressed for all of 2009 and most of 2010. It
forecasts home prices in Broward to hit bottom in the fourth quarter of next
year.
Home shoppers now are drawn mostly to distressed properties owned by lenders or
desperate sellers, real estate agents say. "It's a predatory market for
buyers," said Scott Agran, president of Lang Realty in Palm Beach and
Broward counties. "People who are buying are very much
deal-oriented."
Last week, President Barack Obama unveiled a $75 billion plan designed to
prevent as many as 9 million homeowners from falling into foreclosure. Keeping
people in their homes is a key to stabilizing prices and helping the troubled
market rebound.
In 2008, Broward had the nation's sixth-highest foreclosure rate, with one in
17 homes in some stage of distress, according to RealtyTrac Inc., a foreclosure
listing firm.
The Obama plan will allow Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to refinance mortgages as
long as the loan-to-value ratios are no greater than 105 percent. Under current
rules, they can't guarantee home refinancing if a mortgage amounts to more than
80 percent of the home's value.
Bright spot
But analysts say many South Floridians still won't be able to refinance because
the severe price declines here mean homeowners owe more than 105 percent of
their property's value.
A bright spot in Broward: the number of homes for sale at the end of January
fell 13 percent from a year ago, according to the Miami-based Keyes Co. Still,
the supply of homes on the market remains bloated.
In Palm Beach County, sales rose 11 percent, while the median price fell 32
percent to $232,100. Statewide, the median price fell 33 percent to $139,500 as
sales shot up 24 percent.
Nationally, sales fell 5.3 percent, while the median price plunged to $170,300,
down from $199,800 a year ago. The median means half sold for more, half for
less.
L. Keith White, president of Reinhold P. Wolff Economic Research in Oakland
Park, said South Florida's recent price declines are bound to ebb, but he's not
willing to bet on when.
"It's just so uncertain because there are so many variables," White
said.
Source: www.sun-sentinal.com