Some prices will drop, some will rise

[kdm31091]

I read on a site (yeah, I'm dumb enough that I can't find it anymore) that home prices would be going DOWN in Sarasota, Fort Lauderdale, and West Palm Beach, by pretty big chunks.

Of course, Lakeland is projected for gain, as well as some other cities I'm not remembering.

Does anyone know if it's going to happen to Orlando (the drop!)? Prices are still too high, at least based on their old prices. I'm terrified - will Florida become a 2nd California with pricing, or will things even out?

 

[cjb71870]

Orlandos home sales dropped 36%, but prices increased 4%. I live in Sarasota, FL and our bubble got so big it had to burst.

 

[schmitty]

Prices will probably drop a little bit in the bigger cities but they will eventually go up. More people move into florida than leave so prices wil always be going up until that stops.

 

[kdm31091]

Will Florida turn into a 2nd California with prices? Or will it not be THAT bad?

 

[kandeebunny]

Prices dropped here (ft lauderdale) but it wasn't a huge drop, and they are starting to rise again.

 

[WatchinCaptKangaroo]

Nice weather year round = high home prices.

FL will probably never be as expensive as CA but it doesn't need to be as high as CA to become unaffordable to a lot of people.

CA broadcasts our beautiful weather every year on Jan 1st. While people in CO are buried under 4ft of snow we'll be wearing short sleeves and shorts.

 

[Aurora63]

Here in the West Palm area things fell a little but they seem to be leveling off...like the poster from Sarasota said. I don't think they are going to fall dramatically. A 3br 2 ba home can run anywhere from $250,000 to over $500,000. All depends on the location and ammenities.

 

[TallyLassie]

I live in NW Florida and are very concerned.

I don't know what we were thinking, but we bought another house, before we sold our current one. I cannot sleep at night thinking of two mortgages (we close next week).

Prices have dropped some and sales are down a bit in our area. A few years ago folks were paying more than the listing price and homes were selling in a matter of days. Prices increased dramatically.

Our house doesn't have a lot of curb appeal, but it is a convenient part of town. We have had it on the market a couple weeks and one person has looked at it. Hopefully, things will pick up the first of the year.

 

[barkley]

allot of california is going through a big bubble burst-and it's projected to get worse. housing sales in some areas are WAY down and sellers have done massive price reductions. it's thought that it's only going to get worse when the spring/early summer hits because since that's the traditional 'big buying' time and mortgages are established, thats when people who entered into fixed rate mortgages figuring to re-fi before they become high rate adjustables are going to find out that their homes don't appraise for as much as they owe-and allot of those will join the foreclosures allready flooding the market (there are lots in my area because people bought new homes at the tail end of the sellers market figuring they'd have no problem selling theirs-now they can't even rent them out because of a glut of rentals from other people who can't sell but can afford to hold on to them).

publicly the experts might report that prices have'nt gone down much here or that sales have only moderatly slowed, but when i drive down the freeways and see new development's that have dropped the prices over 50K just to get the places sold, and existing homes being initaly listed for close to 100K less than they would have sold for last december-it's very telling. i just hopped on the mls for our area-the price we sold our home for in march is now the price range for homes over a thousand square feet larger with much nicer upgrades and amenities-the comp home's to ours are priced as much as 120K less.

 

[kdm31091]

Nice weather year round = high home prices.

But why has it taken until 2004-2006 for Florida to become so expensive then?

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

Will Florida turn into a 2nd California with prices? Or will it not be THAT bad?

The bubble burst so we are not quite up to California just yet. It is relative to particular areas--but not the state as a whole that we even come close to CA prices.

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

But why has it taken until 2004-2006 for Florida to become so expensive then?

Investment properties/house flippers.

Has been going on since about 2000....and finally the market took as much greed as it could handle and the bubble popped. The increasing values--were pretty much "fake" and caused by market saturation---the market got oversaturated and home prices (IMHO) are becoming normal....

It isn't ordinary to have a home triple in value in 7 years (as our home did).

 

[kdm31091]

I hope it goes back to a little lower levels. Florida used to be very affordable. Look at median home prices in 2000. Most of them were below $100k!

 

[azgal81]

Home prices will never be where they were in 2000 again. It doesn't matter where you live.

 

[Feralpeg]

I built a new home in the Orlando area in 2004. The same builder is currently charging $200k more as the base price for the same floorplan. Homes in the area are selling for approximately $150k more than what the cost originally. Sales are not as fast as they were a year ago, but still selling.

I don't see home prices in the Orlando area dropping a great deal. The area is in too much demand. Growth might slow (that's a good thing in my opinion) but will not stop. I heard an estimate a couple of months ago that the size of the greater Orlando area will double over the next ten years. If that happens, you can buy my house and I'll move to the country.

 

[iloveboardwalk]

Real Estate is a long term investment and over the long term, prices go up at a slow and steady pace with occasional dips and booms here and there. Generally, the larger the boom, the bigger the bust, but people who buy within their means can generally ride out a short term dip in the market. We had a boom here in AZ and 2006 was a tough, slow year. But, the market has picked back up, sales up in the last three months, prices again rising. This is a nationwide trend right now, but there are pockets in the country where the market is slower to return to a "balanced" market.

When you purchase a home, you should ask for a "good faith estimate" from your lender and make sure you know what you actual monthly payment will be including taxes and insurance, HOA fees and try to estimate your heat and utility costs. Adjust your final, max price limit to correspond with a monthly payment that isn't going to kill you.

I understand that higher prices have made it difficult if not impossible for many people to buy a home. As a Realtor, I have seen this first hand. However, what I see even more often are people who want to buy more home than they can afford, insist on it, in fact. They want their "dream" home right out of the box. They resort to all kinds of creative financing, 100%, ARMS, HELOCS, etc.. I make sure my clients know just exactly what their getting into and then let them make their own decisions. But, I do insist on seeing and explaining their good faith estimate before I'll write an offer for them on anything.

 

[kdm31091]

Home prices will never be where they were in 2000 again. It doesn't matter where you live.

I didn't mean to imply that. I'm just saying, the difference between then and now is HUGE in Florida, whereas in other places, it's a more modest difference.