Florida Real Estate Market Looking For a Bad Year in 2006
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One of the hardest hits areas in the real estate downturn is South Florida, and the outlook does not look good for 2006 and the first half of 2007. David Lereah, chief economist for the National Association of Realtors was in Florida presenting to a real estate meeting.
“Is this a bad year? Yes,” David Lereah told more than 400 people at the Hilton-Palm Beach Airport in West Palm Beach. “Are you going to bust? No.” Lereah predicted that price increases for existing homes in South Florida, once at 25 percent and 30 percent, will fall to about 5 percent and that sales declines in many markets will continue at double-digit clips.
But with the regional economy staying strong and interest rates still affordable, the state’s housing industry should pick up in the middle of 2007, Lereah said. Particular markets may not, depending on inventory levels,” he said.
South Florida is one region where the number of homes for sale has increased substantially since last year. Listings have more than doubled in Palm Beach County, according to the Regional Multiple Listing Service. The MLS figures don’t don’t include the town of Palm Beach. via the South Florida Sun-Sentinel.
Am I the only one that finds it odd that the ONLY place that looks to be seriously warming is ...
It seems there are numbers posted about how much it could cost the US in home sales from people holding ...
The only people holding off will be those that are financially secure and can manage to hold off. How ...
What an awesome way to generate traffic for a story. Were they trying to time that for Sweeps Week? ...
That's awful. I wonder if using that tactic , if a building can be sold or used as collateral. ...
Good point about people possibly holding off now. The 4.5 percent interest rate could be a self-fulfilling prophecy. 
wow this is a wonderful creation...............i would like to be there once even in my life time........... 
Absolutely agree with Jon, excellent site and very imformative. Keep reporting to us please! 
I will say that had I never been to that site and seen Dean's many deals that he documented and ...
Great Real Estate
post ... very interesting. 
Comment by pc atlanta on 28 April 2006:
Atlanta Midtown condo market is cooling. Just opened Spire, a 28-story building with 388 condos has 104 units on the market–26% vacant.
The builder, Novare, sold out Spire quickly, after enjoying great success in 2002 with the 498-unit Metropolis across the street, but Spire’s 96 resellers (flippers?) and 6 owners hoping to rent out their units are in deep trouble.
Prices range from $167k to $768k for 1 & 2bedroom units.
http://tinyurl.com/nszkh
New stuff sells in Atlanta because Atlantans are willing to pay a premium for the latest & greatest–but as Metropolis resellers are finding out–that premium doesn’t last long.
Atlanta’s condo market is probably going to have a soft landing. New buildings are probably going to do well–just not as well as before. But existing condo owners inside the Perimeter can forget about making a fast buck. In fact, Fulton County property records show that many condo dwellers had to sell for 10 to 15 percent less than what they paid if they purchased at inflated prices during the 1999-2001 period.
The problem with many condo buyers is that their purchasing decision is based on what they can afford for a monthly payment instead of a realistic resale value 2 to 4 years later. Many find that prices declined two years later instead of rising.
Not to speak of the rest of ATL–just the Midtown area has no less than 1,200 units coming on line and 4,200 in the planning stages. Let’s name a few mega projects: Atlantic Station, Plaza Midtown, Centennial Park, Onyx, Aqua, 13th St conversion, and we’re not even considering all the new supply in Buckhead and elsewhere inside the Perimeter.
Single-family homes inside the perimeter are selling well, but the resell market for condos is really bad. It’s going to be an expensive summer for condo resellers who hold out for 95% of asking price. If that magical offer comes, it will have been at a very high holding cost–but most resellers have this myopic view that its better to lose $10k in monthly payments than to lower their price by $5k to unload their property. This is not a luxury that many can afford thanks to option-ARMS and cash-strapped speculators.
Who’s hiring? Who’s relocating here? I suspect a lot of Atlanta’s recent job growth is explained by tourism and conventions coming here instead of New Orleans. That could explain some of the success of the new Georgia Aquarium. Moreover, Atlanta got several thousand evacuees, who are here to stay. Ticker counters can’t afford a Midtown condo.
Midtown white-collar condo-paying jobs are booming right? No. Atlanta has a great long-term future, but the short-term is dismal. Besides the announced closure of Ft. McPherson, there are mergers, layoffs, and shutdowns affecting GM, Ford, ATT/Bellsouth, Cingular, Hewlett Packard, Delta—just to name a few.
Comment by Robert Muchel on 12 October 2006:
What David Lereah Opinion about Florida Real Estate could be summmed up in one word “Worthless”.
I look at market makers like Donald Trump and Others who seach the world to invest in Real Estate not some who can read some numbers…we all can do that.
Alan Greenspan is a market maker not “David Lereah” and Mr. Greenspan sees an adjustment to a market that was over leveged by cheap loans for new construction.
Read the numbers, Florida is a destination for stress free living…
Robert Muchel: Realtor Castles Realty, Manalpan, Florida