Overseas property news - Ftbs profit from florida plunge

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

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