2008 Florida Housing market Thread Jan - Mar (Plantation, Freeport: condominiums, new home)

[SANDYHAIR]

If you can live in it until the market comes back your ok.

[aphro23]

i rent it, but my mom's is completely empty. even with the rental income, it still is not enough to cover all expenses and it's costing me $425 extra per month. Money which now I don't have since recently being laid off. and who knows how long it will take to climb back to the peak 2005 levels.. my guess is at least TWO decades. Your thoughts?

[Hero]

Housing price is reflective on salary and lending conditions.

For levels to go back to 2005, salaries will have to increase and lending policies will have to be loosened. Neither appear to be likely for a while.

On top of that, the first baby boomers turn 65 by 2011. Generally, seniors sell more than buy so expect more inventory.

In the end, no one knows so it's all about making the best edjucated decision possible. Try not to be make emotional decisions and try not to take advice from people who have a financial gain.

Best of luck....

[macguy]

Originally Posted by aphro23

my condo is currently selling for $75-100k less than what I bought it for in 2005 at the peak. How much lower can it go? This is a nice 3br, 2 ba in Bellamar 1182 sq ft. Last price I saw was $127,900. Soon, cars will be MORE expensive than condos. Isn't there something wrong with this picture??

Condos have never been on par price wise with homes just considered an alternative for many. In 2000 you could buy a condo walking distance from Fort Lauderdale beach for in the $40s. $150,000 got you an ocean view. Condos have never been a good investment.

[CJFlorida]

If you look at the US housing price flow from 1900-2007, you only see a few blips, after the World Wars when troops came home and bought houses. These blips made sense.

Except those 2 blips, housing prices rose on par with incomes and inflation. It was a nice steady curve until 2000. The line from 2000-2005 is almost straight up.

So people need to realize 2005 peak prices were abnormal, fueled by funny lending and appraisals.

[CJFlorida]

This blurb for Money online says it all:

""Across the country, housing prices have risen on average about 45% over the past six years, according to the NAR trade organization.

By contrast, the median income for working-age households (those headed by someone under 65) is down 4% since 2000, according to an analysis of Census Bureau data. That's a drop of about $2,400 a year."



Factor in increased insurance, taxes, gasoline, utilities, credit card debt, food...and you can see how far prices will have to fall to get back to reality.

[macguy]

Originally Posted by SANDYHAIR

If you can live in it until the market comes back your ok.

Wait for what to come back, it wasn't real in the first place. Sometimes you have to just take your loses and move on. It is possible you will never see those prices again. The problem is, even if you want to, property isn't like a falling stock you can just dump it and cut your loses and it has high carrying costs.

[SANDYHAIR]

There will be winners and loses like in all markets .

[CJFlorida]

Originally Posted by SANDYHAIR

There will be winners and loses like in all markets .

Residential real estate is not a market like stocks, gold, etc. where there should be winners and losers. That is not its purpose.

The real estate industry conspired to inflate values, phoney appraisals, and lending to folks who had no means. And some greedy flippers got caught up in it. But so did some average people just trying to buy a home.

In the long run we are all losers when home prices are inflated so they do not match wages.

[SKB]

I have been tracking a neighborhood in zip code 33412. This neighborhood had basically two different styles of homes built by DiVosta. It is a lovely area, gated, fancy etc...
At peak in 2005 their 2226 square foot home sold for 495,000. I just noticed that this same style of home sold in December for 309,900.
This neighborhood is the same place my friend bought into last February and paid 365,000 for the same home. He said " this area is different" and the prices shouldn't change much.
With that 309,900 sale, he just lost 55,100 which was half of his down payment.

So much for this area is "special" "different" etc...