[Not2BIgnored]

On Court TV, they are having a special little series or program today about foreclosures. The attention is on Ft Myers.

On the program, they stated that at the height of the boom, the average (or median, not really sure) house was $322k, and now, the average house is worth about $83k. YIKES!

I feel bad for the people that planned on living in their home, and now that they have lost their job, etc., they can no longer afford it. Also mentioned, were people coming from up north and at times buying up to 5 houses. And now they are letting them go. Those people I dont feel sorry for really. They came down here trying to get rich quick.

[tallrick]

Let's hope that this trend continue. The lower home prices go the more disposable income working families will have. That will be very good for the Florida economy.

[psouth]

Florida home prices are nowhere near low enough yet. Especially based on the job market and the salary levels in this state. How many people working at Walmart could afford a $400K home? The bubble was fantasyland at best. Now it is reality time. I don't feel sorry for the idiot speculators since they helped fuel the whole crisis. I wish they lost their shirts much sooner.

[Eduardo983]

Originally Posted by tallrick

Let's hope that this trend continue. The lower home prices go the more disposable income working families will have. That will be very good for the Florida economy.

I agree.

[Retiredcoach]

Originally Posted by tallrick

Let's hope that this trend continue. The lower home prices go the more disposable income working families will have. That will be very good for the Florida economy.

I am not sure how that would work. Florida, on the whole, is notorious for underpaying its workforce.... low pay, few benefits, no real pension plans. The house has been the working man's/woman's retirement and college planning "nest egg" for far too many. Now that unemployment is growing so rapidly, the Florida population is aging, and homes are greatly devalued, how will losing the family nest egg benefit the Florida economy? Yes, many greedy speculators falsely inflated the value of housing, but there are/will be many uncounted Florida citizens devastated by this downturn.

[TANaples]

Walk away. I know several people who are just walking away from their homes and booking out of here. No, they are not from NEW YORK, but the MIDWEST.

[OrlandoRE_Miracle]

I don't know why there was ever a "boom" in Fort Myers at all. There's no job market down there. Did people think they could flip all those houses to snowbirds?

Originally Posted by Not2BIgnored

On Court TV, they are having a special little series or program today about foreclosures. The attention is on Ft Myers.

On the program, they stated that at the height of the boom, the average (or median, not really sure) house was $322k, and now, the average house is worth about $83k. YIKES!

I feel bad for the people that planned on living in their home, and now that they have lost their job, etc., they can no longer afford it. Also mentioned, were people coming from up north and at times buying up to 5 houses. And now they are letting them go. Those people I dont feel sorry for really. They came down here trying to get rich quick.

[doggiebus]

Some places in Florida home prices will fall to the correct price, but some areas like Palm Beach and Miami, prices will not fall to pre 2000 levels. As long as its a second home destination and the demand is there for these areas, prices will not equal pay. Some parts of Florida will be like California, were demand drives prices.

The only thing that I can see that drove the boom in Ft. Myers were people from the Mid-West or North looking to buy in Florida. Or maybe the lack of jobs, that drove people to start flipping.

[JohnVosilla]

Originally Posted by psouth

Florida home prices are nowhere near low enough yet. Especially based on the job market and the salary levels in this state. How many people working at Walmart could afford a $400K home? The bubble was fantasyland at best. Now it is reality time. I don't feel sorry for the idiot speculators since they helped fuel the whole crisis. I wish they lost their shirts much sooner.

Most areas have dropped dramatically in price. The latest leg since since summer 2008l has been steep. Now there will be some hoods of older established areas with limited supply and long time owners without exotic option ARM mortgages not motivated to sell. But in general much of the state is now comparable to other areas of the southeast and Texas again as it was prebubble. Funny how most folks I knew though their area had become 'special' with unique demographics when in 2005-06 values were priced at 2-3 times what a similar home in Charlotte, Atlanta or Houston was worth..

[mango23]

Originally Posted by Retiredcoach

I am not sure how that would work. Florida, on the whole, is notorious for underpaying its workforce.... low pay, few benefits, no real pension plans. The house has been the working man's/woman's retirement and college planning "nest egg" for far too many. Now that unemployment is growing so rapidly, the Florida population is aging, and homes are greatly devalued, how will losing the family nest egg benefit the Florida economy? Yes, many greedy speculators falsely inflated the value of housing, but there are/will be many uncounted Florida citizens devastated by this downturn.

Not really. Although many will not like what their houses will bring if they got those unrealistic numbers stuck in their heads from a few years ago. No matter how you look at it, Florida real estate has been a very good investment over the years. Anyone with a house they have been living in say 20 years will realize a nice profit. My sister sold a house recently for $235,000. She could have gotten, maybe, $450,000 an few years ago. The reality is though, she bought it in 1979 for $37,000. All that is happening is things are coming back to normal. People are supposed to spend the time to save up a down payment for a house of maybe 20%. That is why it has been called the American dream. Home ownership was quite an achievement for the average person.

These past few years have given people an unrealistic idea of what home ownership is. You don't just walk into a house or see it double in value in 3 years. Some of these people can't seem to get away from the insanity of the last few years. I was at a garage sale last weekend and the house was for sale. I asked what they wanted for it and the guy said $669,000. He said he was offered $800,000 for it a few years ago but wanted a little more then. Now he told me he would maybe come down to $600,000. Here is the joke. I looked him up on the property appraisers site.

They paid $575,000 in 2004. The house currently is appraised at $420,000. Recent sales in the area on his street are less then that. They are in a fantasy world. He must wake up in the middle of the night dreaming about the $800,000 he turned down which I believe, It is water front property with ocean access. At some point they will have to face reality.