Although today’s S&P/Case Schiller Price Home Index showed a slight 0.5% increase in home prices between April and May, Miami had a 0.8% decrease. Nationally, this was the first month to month increase in three years and has many people claiming that the real estate market appears to be stabilizing as price decreases level off.
Overall, this is great news as any stabilization in the housing market will help ease a lot of the economic problems that resulted in the market’s severe free fall. This does not mean that prices will be going up any time soon, especially in hard hit areas like Miami, but rather that the decreases should not be as significant as they have been. Home prices in Miami are down 25.2% over last year’s prices and the market in Florida still has a long way to go before we can say we have recovered. Some facts that will keep our market trudging along slowly:
- Florida’s real estate market still has a lot of inventory to work through;
- Spring and early Summer normally have higher sales as families purchase and settle in before a new school year;
- $8000 first time buyer credit expires at the end of November. If you are a buyer that qualifies for this credit, hurry;
- Interest rates, while still low, have started to move up slightly;
- There are probably many sellers sitting on the sidelines waiting for the inventory to decrease a bit before listing their property
- The majority of sales and listings are still short sales and foreclosures.
This is not doom and gloom news. Just a reality check. There are great deals out there if you are a buyer or investor. If you are a seller, be realistic with your sales price and your property will sell.