Clearwater Real Estate Blog

Florida had it so good during the boom. Now, for more than three years housing prices in Florida have been coming down. The free fall in housing prices, however, seems to be grinding to a halt in at least some locales.

As home and condo sales increase in southern Florida, especially hard hit by the real estate bust, more and more buyers are getting off the fence. In Miami, and up the road in posh Palm Beach the upward tick in sales volume is finally starting to aid the markets in recovering from the worst housing crash since prior to the Great Depression.

In Miami housing prices have fallen nearly half from their highs. The especially hard hit condo market is taking its lumps with thousands of units sitting vacant. It's a buyer's paradise in Miami, where home prices are in for another downturn in 2009, according to the Housing Predictor forecast. The market is forecast to deflate an average of 21.4% in 2009.

As the surplus inventory gets bought up the market will make inroads towards stabilizing, which could take a number of years in over-built Miami. Big Dade County, where Miami is located is seeing the inventory of condos and homes decrease on nearly a weekly basis. Foreclosures seem to be every where.

In Palm Beach, where the rich and famous like to play and live home sales have slowed and prices are still dropping. Palm Beach will see an increase in the volume of sales in 2009, mainly from bargain hunters looking for great deals, but is forecast to deflate a lesser 14.1% on average during the course of the year.

In Naples home auctions are becoming fairly commonplace to attract buyers seeking a bargain. This high-end market has seen devastating financial pain from the real estate depression. The market is forecast to deflate 14.0% in 2009 on the average home. Homeowners who have had to sell are mainly taking a loss or going the way of a short sale if their lender will approve selling at less than what's owed on the mortgage.

In Fort Lauderdale an over-supply of condos and homes on the market are weighing it down. Developers have been trying to sell off excess inventories at auction and some are having luck. It's difficult for buyers to tell when the real bottom of the market will hit in Florida, but Fort Lauderdale may be close to a bottom at least.

Housing Predictor forecasts another slump in sales for the area in 2009 and less deflation than last year at least at a rate to average 13.3%.

In Tampa the blow from the housing crisis has been hard hitting. Prices have been down for nearly three years and the inventory of homes for sale has remained high. Tampa is forecast to deflate just 13.6% on average home values in 2009. Despite an economy that has been damaged by job losses, Tampa should show some improvement in sales during the year as prices fall less than in the past.

In Jacksonville, which has become the largest metropolitan center in the state due to growth in Florida during the real estate boom, the market has seen slower home sales. But people still need a place to call home so sales have improved slightly in this widely spread out community.

Jacksonville hasn't been hit as hard as many other places in the state and may have the best chance of making it through the economic turmoil with the least financial hardship, despite widespread job losses. Jacksonville is forecast to deflate 11.2% in average housing values in 2009.

Mainly because tourists are attracted to Disneyworld in record numbers, investors flocked to buy homes and condos they could rent in Orlando. As a result of an over bought up investment market and the financial crisis Orlando has been inundated with foreclosures, pressuring the marketplace.

Consequently, prices have fallen by nearly half from the market's peak and things are going to take a while to stabilize in this friendly place. Housing Predictor forecasts deflation to be 13.8% in 2009 in average home values.

Up north in the state's capitol city of Tallahassee home sales are down like in most places, but because prices never hit double-digit appreciation levels during the boom they're down less. The mortgage meltdown has made its impact in Tallahassee and home values are forecast to fall again in 2009 at a rate of 8.8% on average.

Information provided courtesy of www.HousingPredictor.com.