Good News? (Miami, Tampa, Palm Beach: short sales, real estate market, foreclosures)

[skylinet]

Home sale prices rise in Palm Beach County, fall in Treasure Coast (http://www.palmbeachpost.com/business/content/business/epaper/2009/07/23/0723homesales.html - broken link)

Good to see the news finally reporting a positive change in the real estate market.

[Nolefan34]

It won't last long. As long as people keep losing their jobs and corporations keep downsizing and shipping jobs overseas, less and less people will be able to afford a house. Add to that the 3 year excess housing supply. The recent upswing in housing is just a spike in the demand curve. A number of people from CA and NY recently started moving to South FL since our market is so affordable now.

[Native51]

The increase in sales is certainly a good thing, but I wouldn't pay all too much attention to the median sales price. We might be seeing a floor in lower priced product (say, under $200,000), but most of the higher priced homes still have a way to fall. There is a good chance that the median price will actually go up as higher end product is absorbed at a lower (but still above median) price. The next "wave" of Option ARM and Alt-A foreclosures will likely target those higher priced homes.

It's going to take a few years to absorb all the REO and resale inventory. At least we're not as bad as Broward and Miami-Dade...

[firsttimer99]

Well, I hope to be one of those So Cal couples that moves to South Florida! It sure does look appealing compared to what we get out here for the housing dollar. Not to mention, all that lovely warm water and non-smoggy air!

Interesting to note though that values are on the rise.

[cleanhouse]

Originally Posted by skylinet

Home sale prices rise in Palm Beach County, fall in Treasure Coast (http://www.palmbeachpost.com/business/content/business/epaper/2009/07/23/0723homesales.html - broken link)

Good to see the news finally reporting a positive change in the real estate market.

You are an agent and praising this news as is if it were good? Housing has become so much more affordable to people and that is why Sales are up. If you want prices to skyrocket again you are the typical greedy agent many of us have come to loathe.

Besides the flaw in this number is if 2 mansions are sold at mulitple millions of dollars that skews the numbers. Oh and take a look at Case Shiller today. not good news for S. Florida.

However, 15 cities managed to avoid month-to-month declines, up from nine last month. Prices in Tampa and New York were flat, while just Los Angeles, Seattle, Miami, Phoenix and Las Vegas posted monthly declines.

Being one of the few regions that had a decline is nothing to be happy about.

A Look at Case-Shiller Numbers, by Metro Area (July 2009 update) - Real Time Economics - WSJ

[TriMT7]

Originally Posted by cleanhouse

You are an agent and praising this news as is if it were good? Housing has become so much more affordable to people and that is why Sales are up. If you want prices to skyrocket again you are the typical greedy agent many of us have come to loathe.

I am not an agent, but stabilization of home prices would do a world of good, both for existing home owner's AND people looking to put down roots who are trying to time the best time to buy.

Originally Posted by cleanhouse

Besides the flaw in this number is if 2 mansions are sold at mulitple millions of dollars that skews the numbers. Oh and take a look at Case Shiller today. not good news for S. Florida.

The real flaw in the PBC market is that what IS selling are REOs, short sales, etc..... a lot more of THAT going on than mansion sales.

Originally Posted by cleanhouse

However, 15 cities managed to avoid month-to-month declines, up from nine last month. Prices in Tampa and New York were flat, while just Los Angeles, Seattle, Miami, Phoenix and Las Vegas posted monthly declines.

Being one of the few regions that had a decline is nothing to be happy about.

A Look at Case-Shiller Numbers, by Metro Area (July 2009 update) - Real Time Economics - WSJ

Palm Beach County is not Miami. As the OP did post, however, home sales are down in the Treasure Coast --- just north of PBC.

[skylinet]

Wow so many negative responses... I'm not sure how hoping for some stability/signs of an upward trend equal greed, but way to read into things. I posted this because it's a possible sign that things may be slowly turning around. It doesn't say everything is better and the world is perfect. People post so much negative press on these forums about how bad it is down here it makes me question why they live here.
I've always wondered why some people hate sales people so much, and consider them greedy because they get paid a commission to help someone purchase or sell something. Do you work for free? Just because good sales people make a good living doesn't mean they are greedy, it may just mean they actually work hard to earn a living...
Also have mansion sales not always skewed the numbers in Palm Beach County??

[Native51]

Originally Posted by skylinet

Wow so many negative responses... I'm not sure how hoping for some stability/signs of an upward trend equal greed, but way to read into things. I posted this because it's a possible sign that things may be slowly turning around. It doesn't say everything is better and the world is perfect. People post so much negative press on these forums about how bad it is down here it makes me question why they live here.
I've always wondered why some people hate sales people so much, and consider them greedy because they get paid a commission to help someone purchase or sell something. Do you work for free? Just because good sales people make a good living doesn't mean they are greedy, it may just mean they actually work hard to earn a living...
Also have mansion sales not always skewed the numbers in Palm Beach County??

I think some of the hate against real estate agents stems from the housing boom, when there were agents that pushed the "by now, home prices never fall!", or "you'll never be able to afford a home if you don't buy now!" shtick. People got caught up in the hype, and are now paying the price.

I've been to a number of Realtor events over the past few years and the one thing I've consistently heard is the fault of the media over the housing downturn. The market rise was clearly unsustainable, as were lending practices. While the media did sensationalize stories on the market rise and fall, to blame the media for the downturn is disingenuous at best.

Things are going to get better here in PBC, it's just going to take time. And when things do improve, it will be at a sustainable rate (4% average annual price increase, like what occurred in the 90's).

[faithfulFrank]

Careful..........I will not allow this thread to turn into a Real estate agent bashing thread.
There are many real estate agents here who have been quite helpful....including Skyinlet.

As in anything, the law of supply and demand dictates prices, etc. Sometimes I just do not understand Floridians.........weather prices are up or down, they seem to complain. Many were hurt, and I feel bad for those who own nice places in once nice neighborhoods, who through no fault of their own have seen their equity turn sour and their neighborhoods turn into unkept ghosttowns.

The healthiest market is when there is a non excessive supply of both buyers and sellers, with stabilized prices. If the signs indicate things are turning in that direction, it is good.

Frank

[rainroosty]

"Sometimes I just do not understand Floridians.........weather prices are up or down, they seem to complain."

Careful! :-)