Palm Beach County Home Sales Evaporate
Out of 20 single-family housing markets in Florida, 18 posted declining existing-home sales in the April-to-June period.
Palm Beach County and the Treasure Coast were among those markets.
Miami saw the biggest decline, followed by the Treasure Coast, which tied Orlando for No. 2 with a 40 percent year-over-year sales slump.
In Palm Beach County, buyers closed on 21 percent fewer single-family homes in the second quarter - 2,170 sales compared with 2,733 in the same period a year ago, the report shows.
The Treasure Coast’s drop represents 921 sales in the April-to-June quarter this year, compared with 1,523 in the same period last year.
The declines show just how badly the bad credit Florida mortgage mess, as it’s fast becoming known, has affected local real estate markets.
Credit is tight, which means fewer Florida mortgage applicants just when they’re needed most. The home-sales report reveals one truth you can bank on:
It’s a buyer’s market, baby.
“I tell buyers to buy when people aren’t,” said Douglas Rill, president of Century 21 America’s Choice.
“The investors that were here for the last five years couldn’t find anything. There were six people trying to buy every property, and there was no inventory. Now there’s plenty of inventory, and sellers will bend over backwards for you.”
Plenty of inventory could actually be an understatement.
There are nearly 25,000 homes for sale in Palm Beach County, according to Illustrated Properties Real Estate, which runs charts showing the numbers of listings in the Multiple Listing Service.
At this time last year, there were 22,000 homes on the market. That’s a 12 percent increase, and gives Florida mortgage loan seekers plenty of options at least.
In Palm Beach County, the median price of an existing home fell 3 percent in the second quarter, to $380,600 from $394,100. On the Treasure Coast - Martin and St. Lucie County - the price fell 7 percent, to $236,300 from $254,500.
Locally, the condo market offered a brighter picture than the single-family market. In Palm Beach County, the sale of existing condos rose 13 percent in the second quarter, to 1,788 closings from 1,586 in the second quarter of 2006. Treasure Coast condo sales rose even more - 21 percent.
The trend did not hold statewide. Condo sales fell 25 percent between April 1 and June 30, dragged down by Orlando real estate’s abysmal condo inventory, which is way up as sales showed a 61 percent year-over-year drop.
SOURCE: Palm Beach Post
