The news out of southern Florida continues to be a mixture of good and bad news. Good news for anyone looking to purchase or invest in property now, not so good for those who need to sell right now. The market is definitely a buyer’s market, and with exchange rates being what they are international buyers can get some great deals on both existing housing and off-plan property.
In recent news articles in the South Florida Sun-Sentinel newspaper (www.sun-sentinel.com/), Broward County and Palm Beach Counties show a deep slow down in existing home sales. For May, these two counties, immediately to the north of Miami on the Atlantic Coast, show a slowdown in sales and slightly lower home values.
Palm Beach County, which is includes the coastal cities of Palm Beach and Boca Raton, had 741 existing home sales compared with 982 a year ago. The median price of homes sold fell as well, down $3,200 from $391,000 in May of 2006 to $387,800 in May of 2007.
Broward County, including Fort Lauderdale, had 574 sales of existing homes in May compared to 862 in 2006. The median price dropped a whopping $12,100 from $379,800 in May, 2006 to $367,700 in May this year. State-wide, sales dropped 34% from a year ago, showing that the slowdown is state-wide. At the end of May, Broward County had 47,500 homes and condominiums on the market.
While this is clearly not good news for those who want or need to sell now, it is a great time to buy. With so many properties available, a patient and careful investor can get some great deals on their dream home. Long term, values will certainly go up again and those who get in now will get a great return on the investment.
For overseas property investors the strength of the pound and Euro against the US Dollar means even more savings. Moneycorp are a specialist currency broker who advises buyers on the best way to transfer money abroad. Slight variations in exchange rates can mean huge savings
