Central Fl Foreclosure train... not slowing down
According to records from Central Florida realtors, Home prices are still being dragged down by foreclosures. In the first quarter, the median price for all single-family houses sold, dropped 5% from the median prices in the same quarter last year. For condos even worse it dropped another 13% since last year.

However, according to some real estate analysts. The Florida real estate market has hit its lowest point and has started stabilizing. They explained that several metro areas in Central Florida have posted substantial increases in sales of pre-owned homes in the first quarter and that all metro areas posted increases in condo sales. A total of 38,846 pre-owned homes in Florida were sold during the 1st quarter, marking a sharp 24 percent from the 31,410 homes sold one year earlier. Total first-quarter sales also marked the seventh straight time that year-over-year house sales increased. Although some analysts said that Florida home prices already hit their bottommost level, University of Central Florida analysts contended that prices are still approaching their bottom levels.

The sharp increases home sales were driven by low-priced bank owned homes in two ways: the increased sales of REO units, and the downward price pressure of REO units that made home prices more attractive to buyers. In recent reports released by the Mortgage Bankers Association Florida ranked second with a default rate of 14.65 percent, second only to Nevada, which posted 15.98 percent. Nonetheless, local realtors hope that Florida foreclosures slow down substantially so they would lose their negative price influence on newly-built homes and non-distressed pre-owned homes.

Now what does this all mean to us real estate professionals?… Don’t worry about it! Just keep doing what you’re doing. The foreclosure train in Florida is not slowing down anytime soon. So for us investors or realtors that specialize in distressed properties, keep on truckin! This is the time for us to make some serious money in doing short sales. Right now you should be as busy as you want to be. If you aren’t, it’s only because you’re not marketing yourself enough or this just isn’t for you and you really don’t like doing short sales. My advice to people that really don’t enjoy what they are doing is… find something that you like… Life is too Damn short!