Will the house prices keep dropping in south florida? (Tamarac: short sales, foreclosures)

[NEWTOSFLA]

Is it a good time to buy or not in south florida, i was reading an article on yahoo that says it's way to risky to buy a house now in south florida..

[MisterNY]

That's a tough one to answer. It depends on a few things. How long are you in it for? Will it be 5 years? 10-15? If you can afford to buy now, by all means do so. I think houses are still overpriced down here, and need to come down some more. With that being said, many people are still waiting patiently.

I have no crystal ball or insider secrets to share as to when the prices will stabilize. Mix that with consumer confidence being at an all time low, higher than normal unemployment rate, and that's a recipe for slow sales.

If you like it here, have a great paying, "stable" profession, plan on being here for a good while, have money to put down, have great credit (good income to debt ratio, high score etc), and can negociate aggressively go for it. If not, join the rest of people on the sidelines.

Good Luck.

[Lost in Translation]

Originally Posted by NEWTOSFLA

Is it a good time to buy or not in south florida, i was reading an article on yahoo that says it's way to risky to buy a house now in south florida..

Some are saying prices will still fall through 2010. However, debt is pretty cheap at around 6% and probably won't go much lower. Moreover, if you buy in 2009, you get an $8,000 credit if it's your first home. Hard to pass up cheap debt and free money (though banks are still pretty tight on lending - you should have at least 20% saved for a down payment).

I say buy if you find a place you like and the price falls within 3X your annual salary.

Buying a home always carries risk - you may lose your job, your house may get hit by a hurricane, your neighborhood might fall apart with foreclosures en massse - it's all part of the deal you sign when agreeing to live in So Flo. If you are risk averse, you should rent till things stabalize.

[Thatguywho]

IF I were to buy a home in florida I would do some things first.

1) unless the price is below the 2001 price, I am paying too much.
2) since it is a buyers market,20% below 2000 and I would bite.
3) chinese drywall....was it built after 2000? Scary to buy that one without a test
4) Foreclosures should be at least 50% off the 2001 price..60% and I would look at it.

Other than that, it is overpriced to me. However, that does not mean you could afford it and pay it off. But this is a buyers market and why pay a overpriced amount just because the owner did?

At the least I would look into having one built, at a steep discount, by a quality builder. Then I would hire a general contractor to keep tabs on the whole thing from start to finish.

That is why I am renting....lol
And waiting.

[runswithscissors]

I keep saying they will drop.

That being said, coincidentally, I was just on zillow watching one of the properties I've been tracking in Tamarac 33321.

My son's old rental. I wanted to buy it but it was SO RIDICULOUSLY overvalued at 900 sq ft in 2005 sold for 252,000 when he moved out. A Mainlands single house on a 5300 sq ft lot. Not even on a canal and in the middle of the block. Only thing going for it was new kitchen.

They've been selling now for 80,000 for short up to about 150,000 lately.

Anyway, zillow shows that neighborhood and another one I was watching going up .05%.

Not much to cling LOL, to but interesting to see what happens next. I think they'll still keep going down, though. Coulda been two sales to trigger that tiny blip.

I haven't checked the comps yet to guess why but I'm dong that next.

And Zillow isn't my favorite but does give accurate data on sales.

[MisterNY]

Originally Posted by Thatguywho

IF I were to buy a home in florida I would do some things first.

1) unless the price is below the 2001 price, I am paying too much.
2) since it is a buyers market,20% below 2000 and I would bite.
3) chinese drywall....was it built after 2000? Scary to buy that one without a test
4) Foreclosures should be at least 50% off the 2001 price..60% and I would look at it.

Other than that, it is overpriced to me. However, that does not mean you could afford it and pay it off. But this is a buyers market and why pay a overpriced amount just because the owner did?

At the least I would look into having one built, at a steep discount, by a quality builder. Then I would hire a general contractor to keep tabs on the whole thing from start to finish.

That is why I am renting....lol
And waiting.

I agree with almost everything you have to say, except one. It's more of a question. Where would he build down here? There's hardly any affordable and decent sized land down here to build a home on. (I'm thinking SW to NW Broward County for land. Land lots are scarce and super expensive).


The idea is great, I'm all for it. I would do the same myself, but somewhere else (thinking GA., NC, TN ). It is very expensive to custom build down here, unless your parents/relatives left you land they purchased a long time ago. It's a pain in the A$$ to build down here in my opinion, and I also know from friends' experiences.

I'm not saying it's impossible, but if someone is looking for a deep discounted or foreclosed home, custom building may not be for the same person.

[Tiger Beer]

I think they still have a long ways to go. I look at other markets, like Vegas, etc. and they've dropped significantly.

For whatever reason, most of Southern Florida hasn't YET...I mean it has, but not to the same extent.

Particularly when I look at the housing in FL...and you compare it to TX for example...a $100,000 home will you get you A LOT in Texas, but in FL, they look like a slight step up from a manufactured home.

[MisterNY]

Originally Posted by Tiger Beer

I think they still have a long ways to go. I look at other markets, like Vegas, etc. and they've dropped significantly.

For whatever reason, most of Southern Florida hasn't YET...I mean it has, but not to the same extent.

Particularly when I look at the housing in FL...and you compare it to TX for example...a $100,000 home will you get you A LOT in Texas, but in FL, they look like a slight step up from a manufactured home.

I dont think they have gone down enough, I agree they should come down to realistic levels. Some people are still on cloud nine thinking they'll get what they ask for these houses. The only thing that helps South Florida is the fact that there aren't many areas to build any more new houses. When all this boom was going on, I was one to say when it bursts it will hit Florida hard.

[Wild Style]

Originally Posted by MisterNY

I dont think they have gone down enough, I agree they should come down to realistic levels. Some people are still on cloud nine thinking they'll get what they ask for these houses. The only thing that helps South Florida is the fact that there aren't many areas to build any more new houses. When all this boom was going on, I was one to say when it bursts it will hit Florida hard.

To be fair, a lot of people can't afford to lower their prices. Look at it like this, you purchased at the height or near it for lets say 500,000. Foreclosures and short sales are going for 150,000 in your neighborhood so that is now the comp prices in your area. Can you really afford to take a hair cut on 350,000? So yeah, they are asking for stupid amounts of money, but they cant really afford to sell either. Those who think they can "ride it out" and "sell when things bounce back" will be dead and buried before that happens. The prices will continue to fall though because affordability given incomes are still not in line. Oh and did you see whats they FINALLY admitted about the NYC housing market? Hell has frozen over for the foolish.

[AJ1972]

Originally Posted by Tiger Beer

I think they still have a long ways to go. I look at other markets, like Vegas, etc. and they've dropped significantly.

For whatever reason, most of Southern Florida hasn't YET...I mean it has, but not to the same extent.

Particularly when I look at the housing in FL...and you compare it to TX for example...a $100,000 home will you get you A LOT in Texas, but in FL, they look like a slight step up from a manufactured home.

This is so true. These South Floridians are not really budging.
Othrer markets have come down significantly, but not us.