South Florida Housing Market Has Hit Bottom, Expert Says; Will Rebound in 2008-09

The South Florida housing market has hit bottom.

And that’s good news, a prominent Orlando economist told an assembled group of Sunshine State real estate leaders Wednesday.

Hank Fishkind, president of Fishkind & Associates, Inc. an economic and financial consulting firm, said the Treasure Coast is completing the down cycle with the much-touted “soft landing.” He predicted a rebound for the market in 2008-2009.

“The good news is, it’s not going to get any worse,” Fishkind said. “We’re at the bottom of the cycle right now.”

Fishkind spoke Wednesday at a luncheon sponsored jointly by the Real Property Council of Indian River County, a real estate attorney association — and the Treasure Coast Real Estate Council, which collects data on local real estate transactions.

However, he warned that because of the current housing slump — land prices would continue to suffer because prices had reached unsupported values and buyers are not absorbing the influx of new and existing single-family homes coming on the market in Palm Beach County and vicinity.

Additionally, he warned that the area would not experience any significant price appreciation until the market rebounds again. That means prospective Florida mortgage seekers still have ample opportunity to cash in on this buyer’s market before conditions truly turn in favor of the seller.

“Prices in Florida shoot up like rockets and then falls like a feather, so there will be no price appreciation for a long time,” Fishkind said. “I’ve seen this two or three times before and it will take awhile for the market to absorb all these housing starts.”

Bottom line: It may be as bad as it’s going to get, but all that inventory isn’t going to disappear overnight. Buyers, you have waited five long years for this. Now is the time to capitalize on low Florida home mortgage rates and incentives offered by desperate sellers.