Florida Realtors reports that residential real estate sales in the state were 16% higher in 2012 than the previous year and that pending home sales were 40% higher. Experts say a significant part of the increase is driven by retirees and vacation homebuyers who don’t need to move or own another home, but are drawn by the promise year-round sun. With the price of homes at a reasonable $154,000 the area remains very attractive for buyers, but people in the real estate business warn buyers to remember that in this market a home is nothing more than a home, and should no longer be considered an investment. For more on this continue reading the following article from TheStreet.
Sick of the cold? Maybe you should buy a place in Florida, where temperatures are warm and the housing market is heating up.
The cold snap gripping much of the country is surely prodding many to dream of owning a second home someplace warm, or of moving there for good. Data show that Florida’s housing market might be in a sweet spot. Prices remain low, as Florida was among the states hit hardest by the collapse of the housing bubble, but prices are on the rise, so a purchase now would appear less risky than it would have a year ago.
But Florida also offers some object lessons. Its volatile housing market demonstrates the importance of thinking clearly about the pros and cons of buying a home when you don’t have to. Placing the wrong bet can be very, very dangerous.
A large portion of Florida’s housing market is driven by people who don’t really need to buy, such as retirees who could stay where they are in other parts of the country and second-home buyers who could wait if conditions aren’t right. That makes them more fickle than people who must move for a job or growing family. As a result, Florida home prices tend to swing to extremes.
Claim up to $26,000 per W2 Employee
- Billions of dollars in funding available
- Funds are available to U.S. Businesses NOW
- This is not a loan. These tax credits do not need to be repaid
Now things are getting better. The number of housing sales that closed in December was nearly 16% higher than a year earlier, according to Florida Realtors, a trade group. And the number of pending sales, or those with signed contracts that have not yet closed, was up nearly 40%. The median sales price remained affordable, at $154,000, up about 14% from a year earlier. Nationally, the median sales price was $180,600 in November, a 10% increase from a year earlier.
Median sales prices need to be taken with a grain of salt. They don’t necessarily mean the average house value has grown 14% in Florida, because sometimes it’s the pricier homes that move more briskly, other times it’s the cheaper ones. A year ago, sales included more foreclosed homes going for fire-sale prices.
Because of the market’s volatility, anyone considering buying a retirement or second home in Florida should pay special attention to some key questions.
First, how easily can the balance of supply and demand change? On many of the barrier islands off the East Coast, for instance, there’s not much room for further development, so it’s unlikely a flood of new homes will depress prices in these areas. But in many areas just a few miles away on the mainland there’s plenty of undeveloped land. As prices rise, developers tend to break ground on single-family homes and condos, and that new supply slows the price gains or reverses them.
In areas popular for retirement and second homes, condominiums are very popular, and condo fees can be very high. In fact, you could pay more in condo fees than you would on your new mortgage. In an economic downturn, growing numbers of condo owners stop paying their fees. The association may respond by skimping on maintenance or jacking up fees.
So potential buyers eyeing the warm winter temperatures in Florida should be especially attentive to the basic lessons of the recent housing crisis: A home is a home, not an investment. And the best way to minimize your risks is to resist the temptation to buy the most expensive home you can afford, and to plan to own it long enough to ride out the downturns.
This article was republished with permission from TheStreet.
