New Book Explores National, Florida Housing Market Price Differences
The National Association of Realtors Chief Economist, David Lereah, often speaks of housing market and home mortgage trends on a nationwide scale.
It’s ironic, then, that the title and content of his latest book, All Real Estate Is Local, highlight the drastic differences between Florida mortgage costs, for example, and those in middle America.
The general theme of the real estate expert’s work is that for a variety of reasons, home prices have soared in places such as California like Florida, while languishing in many more markets, such as the Midwest.
As we well know, residents of the Sunshine State pay handsomely for Florida mortgages - if they can qualify for them at all - while homeownership costs elsewhere in the U.S. are 50 percent less or even cheaper.
Below are a few excerpts from Lereah’s book…
On regional price fluctuations: “As of this writing, the median price of a home in San Francisco was over $750,000, while the median price of a home in Decatur, Ill., was almost $90,000 … Some regions, cities, and towns experienced great property-value appreciation during the 2001-2005 real estate boom, while others were left untouched.”
On the Miami housing market bust: “Because Miami has to work out its excess inventories, investing in properties in 2006 and the early part of 2007 may not be prudent. But I would not bet against Miami property values for the longer term.”
On fears of global warming and rising sea levels: “Look for some intra-metro migration — households moving within their own metro area or local real estate market, from oceanfront or ocean-view properties to properties that are several miles away from the water.”
Of course, Lereah and his always-optimistic predictions have met their share of detractors. His warnings of the widespread decline of the South Florida housing market and the Florida mortgage lender woes we’ve seen grow en masse this year were scarce, if they existed at all.
The David Lereah Watch, as a matter of fact, is a blog devoted to his often overly-optimistic quotes and observations. It’s worth checking out.
SOURCE: Palm Beach Post
