Today's Florida Real Estate Market – Boom or Bust?
Pompano Beach, FL (PRWEB) July 31, 2014 -- Florida's amusement parks and real estate are a lot alike. Lots of peaks and valleys, dark tunnels, long lines and tricky turns. TopTenRealEstateDeals.com announces a new tool to help buyers circumvent the confusing Florida real estate market.
Florida real estate has always been different than most states - booms and busts, foreclosures and fortunes. On one hand, tiny concrete-block homes with small yards and no garage that originally sold in the 1950s in Key Biscayne for about $10,000 are now selling for well over $1 million. However, Orlando golf resort condos near Disney World that sold like hotcakes in 2006 for close to $1 million are now lucky to fetch $300,000.
Just like politics, real estate is “local” and the home buying situation varies quite a bit in Florida. Are prices going up or down? Is now a good time to buy a home? Are there any condo bust deals left? Prices are very expensive in some areas but a bargain in other parts of the state. Home selling inventory can be high in one city, but very limited in the next town just a few miles down the road.
Most of Florida seems to be in another boom period. According to the National Association of Realtors, Florida's median home sale prices have increased for 31 consecutive months. Florida real estate attracts more international buyers that anywhere else in the United States, accounting for 23 percent of all U.S. foreign buyers, and is also attractive to investors, vacation home buyers and baby boomers who are reaching retirement age. According to the Sarasota Herald-Tribune, the price discounts that were widespread from 2009 to 2012 in Southwest Florida are almost gone. The newspaper points to rising demand and fewer listings causing the price increases.
South Florida is especially hot. Based on the latest Case-Shiller Home Price Index report, prices in South Florida have increased over 16 percent in the past year. The housing market in much of South Florida is almost back to the peak sales years of 2005 and 2006. Sixty new condo projects are either under construction or planned for the downtown Miami area - about the same number that were built during the last Florida condo boom. Things are so hot that even the local grocery store is getting in on the action. South Florida's popular grocery chain, Publix, recently announced plans to build condo towers above two of its new stores.
According to Robert Walsh from TopTenRealEstateDeals.com, the glut of unsold, new condos in most of Florida is long gone. He says the Florida recovery began in 2010 and picked up a huge head of steam in 2011 and 2012. Walsh said there are still a few bargains left in Orlando, Daytona, Fort Myers and Panama City Beach but most of the condo boom inventory has been purchased by investors, baby boomers and internationals.
TopTenRealEstateDeals.com has been at the forefront of Florida home sale news with features such as Top 10 Florida condo bust bargains, condo pre-construction, luxury condos and sales trends. In order to streamline the search and buying process for Florida real estate, the website has just launched a new feature of Florida real estate agents that will cover the entire state. With the new site, Florida home buyers can go to one place to find expert agents from Miami Beach to Naples to Orlando and Panama City Beach, what's left of the condo bust bargains, pre-construction condos plus local agents pick their area's best home deals.
TopTenRealEstateDeals.com is a different kind of real estate website that focuses on home news and entertainment. Their home features are seen every week on hundreds of national, regional and local websites. The website's spotlight on celebrity, historic and spectacular homes has been published in many of the country's top media websites including Time, CNBC, Yahoo, Haute Residence, USA Today, AOL and Lonny.
Terry Walsh, Top Ten Real Estate Deals, http://www.toptenrealestatedeals.com, +1 (954) 283-9214, [email protected]
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