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Well, not exactly by North Dakota or Michigan standards. But who in their right mind wants to live in North Dakota or Michigan?
I'm certainly not suggesting that the rapid drop in home values - and the consequent destruction of billions of dollars of equity - is entirely a good thing. But for people like me - responsible with our credit, just embarking on our careers, and looking to buy homes between 5 and 10 years from now - this is nothing less than great news.
I've eyed South Florida as my adopted region for a very long time, but when I was a sophomore in UF at 2006 - around the peak of the housing boom - I truly wondered if I would ever be able to afford a home there. At that time, getting a decent single-family home, in a nice neighborhood, in the Tri-County area easily ran in excess of $400,000; hell, the median home value was close to $400K at one point. So my eyes dropped when I looked at these new numbers:
In fact, I would now make a firm case that South Florida real estate is undervalued; it will likely continue to decrease in value throughout this entire year, but this has more to do with the glut of foreclosed properties (when banks auction off foreclosed properties at often dramatically reduced rates, whole neighborhoods suffer declines in appraisals) , the freeze in the credit markets, and high unemployment in the region. $85,900 for a median condo in Broward County will not last for very long. While I do not think that South Florida prices will approach their 2006 highs for a very, very, very long time, I expect prices to stabilize and start a slight uptick in 2010.
So, how low can they go? We will all just have to stay tuned!
I'm certainly not suggesting that the rapid drop in home values - and the consequent destruction of billions of dollars of equity - is entirely a good thing. But for people like me - responsible with our credit, just embarking on our careers, and looking to buy homes between 5 and 10 years from now - this is nothing less than great news.
I've eyed South Florida as my adopted region for a very long time, but when I was a sophomore in UF at 2006 - around the peak of the housing boom - I truly wondered if I would ever be able to afford a home there. At that time, getting a decent single-family home, in a nice neighborhood, in the Tri-County area easily ran in excess of $400,000; hell, the median home value was close to $400K at one point. So my eyes dropped when I looked at these new numbers:
| South Florida: Existing Home Sales | |||
| Single-Family Home | |||
| County | Median Price | | |
| Miami-Dade County | $ 208,100 | | |
| Broward County | $ 191,000 | | |
| Palm Beach County | $ 232,100 | | |
| Condos | |||
| County | Median Price | | |
| Miami-Dade County | $ 149,100 | | |
| Broward County | $ 85,000 | | |
| Palm Beach County | $ 108,900 | | |
In fact, I would now make a firm case that South Florida real estate is undervalued; it will likely continue to decrease in value throughout this entire year, but this has more to do with the glut of foreclosed properties (when banks auction off foreclosed properties at often dramatically reduced rates, whole neighborhoods suffer declines in appraisals) , the freeze in the credit markets, and high unemployment in the region. $85,900 for a median condo in Broward County will not last for very long. While I do not think that South Florida prices will approach their 2006 highs for a very, very, very long time, I expect prices to stabilize and start a slight uptick in 2010.
So, how low can they go? We will all just have to stay tuned!
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