Florida Real Estate Executive: Home Buying is, and Will Remain, Strong

What Florida housing market slowdown?

That’s basically what Coldwell Banker President and Chief Executive Officer Jim Gillespie said at a two-day conference in Naples at The Ritz Carlton Beach Resort. He pointed to local real estate trends over the last century and stated that Florida home mortgage demand is actually quite healthy.

“Some of the (newspaper) headlines don’t really tell the story,” Gillespie said.

Real estate may be off 7.6 percent from the previous year, but it was coming off the industry’s best year in history, Gillespie said. You’ve gotta be fair and compare the current state of affairs to recent ones. The Florida home loan expert was responding to trends predicted this week by National Association of Realtors (NAR), a trade organization representing 1.3 million members.

The NAR report

Addressing U.S. Senate housing, transportation and economic policy subcommittees on Wednesday, NAR President Thomas M. Stevens said housing prices are expected to drop throughout the end of the year, as we enter more of a buyer’s market.

“After five years of outstanding growth, the housing market is undergoing a period of adjustment and becoming more and more of a balanced market between buyers and sellers,” said Stevens, according to a news release posted on the NAR Web site.

NAR forecasts a total 8 percent drop in home sales for 2006, followed by another 2 percent decline in 2007. After that, though, you can expect the industry to rise once again, reducing the panic that any current owner is experiencing.

Gillespie points out that last year was the fifth consecutive record year for resales that and Florida mortgage brokers still expect see this year to be “third best year” in history. That’s not exactly the sign of a bust.

A bright Florida home mortgage future

The real estate market will continue to remain strong, Gillespie continues, due to newly emerging markets. For example, there are around 78 million baby boomers in the country, and they’ve discovered real estate as an investment.

Also, consider the 1.2 to 1.4 legal immigrants who want to buy homes, minorities and single women, and the fact that interest rates are near historic lows.

The willing buyers ARE there, he said. You won’t ever see too significant of a drop off in demand for Florida home loans.

Asked to address the Southwest Florida affordable housing concerns, Gillespie said he believes that if a Coldwell Banker real estate agent searched hard enough, he or she would probably be able to find a home for most.

But buyers may have to trade on some priorities, such as longer commutes to work, and might have to talk to family to get a loan. Other programs and solutions are also being worked on.

In every sector of the site, moreover, there will be hopeful buyers that assure price stabilization. Affordable housing issues must be addressed, but there’s certainly no cause to panic, as Florida home mortgage rates continue to fall and the market is opened up to more and more buyers.