Florida Home Buyers and Investors Blog

We are pleased to announce that our predictions once again are right on track.  The first quarter of the year has been explosive, with sales volumes up in every market of florida.  Yes, even Miami.  Below are excerpts from a Palm Post article that we found interesting and worth passing along.

The chart to the left clearly shows signs of recovery and based on the Credit Suisse mortgage reset chart confirms that the majority of Sub-Prime loans have been Modified,Foreclosed on or Sold.  These are the lower prices homes and condos.  Homes priced below $250,000 and Condos priced below $150,000 are selling quickly.  New loan programs are offering rehabilitation financing, and Bank of America is now financing condos as long as the buyer can put 20% down(not great, but its a start).

In another sign that the deepest economic downturn in decades is drawing to a close, Palm Beach County home prices rose modestly in April.

In better days, a slight increase in home prices was nothing to cheer about. But in the depths of the Great Recession, it qualifies as good news that home prices haven't fallen for two months in a row now. (Palm Beach County prices were flat from February to March.)

The median price of an existing single-family home climbed to $234,400 in April, up from $228,100 in March but down 25 percent from a year ago. The number of sales totaled 681, up 3 percent from a year ago.  Many observers took the Realtors' report as further evidence that long-plunging home prices finally have stopped falling.

Palm Beach County's job-creation engine seems to be revving up, according to Kelly Smallridge, president of the Business Development Board of Palm Beach County. Smallridge said she's "crazy busy" as the economic development group works on projects that could bring hundreds - and perhaps thousands - of jobs.

First-time buyers and modest-priced homes continue to drive the market, said NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun.  "Most of the sales are taking place in lower price ranges and activity is beginning to pick up in the mid-price ranges, but high-end home sales remain sluggish," he said.