What's Going on with the South Florida Real Estate Market?

What's going on with the South Florida real estate market? This seems to be the question I get asked the most now days. Is it a buyer's market? Is it a seller's market? How do we compare to the rest of the nation? These are some of the other questions that I get asked very often.

So how is the South Florida real estate market? It is definitely a buyer's market now. That basically means that buyer's can get a much better deal than they did compared to a year or two ago. Up until about the middle of last year we were still in a seller's market - low inventory, extremely high home value appreciation, sellers able to get asking or over asking price. The main reason it is a buyer's market now is because there are so much more homes for sale. In some areas there are two to three times the amount of houses available for sale compared to a year ago. Because buyers now have more choices, they can be more selective, take longer to make an offer, and make sure that they are getting a fair deal. It is crucial that homes are priced right now days. If they are not, the house can be on the market for over a year if not longer. Even though it is a buyer's market, homes are still going up in value for the most part. There are some areas that have dropped in price because there are way too many homes for sale, but that is the exception to the rule. Values are definitely going up a lot slower than before. If a home goes up five percent for the year, that is not bad anymore. A couple of years ago, homes were going up between twenty and thirty percent per year.

How does South Florida's real estate market compare to the rest of the nation? There was a study recently done by the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight (OFHEO). According to it the metro area of Miami-Miami Beach-Kendall, FL was ranked the seventh highest metro area for home price appreciation in the country. The metro area of Fort Lauderdale-Pompano Beach-Deerfield Beach, FL was ranked the 20th best in the nation. So although it may seem like the South Florida real estate market is cooling off tremendously, we are still doing very well compared to the rest of the nation.

Amit Bhuta
Real Estate Helper
Kendall Village Homes
(305) 439-3031
www.DadeCountyMLS.com