South Florida residents who are familiar with many of our previous posts know that the housing market news for Broward County and surrounding areas has been particular good for the last several months. Home values are rising, along with monthly sales figures. The South Florida area, however, is blessed with many wonderful features, including an almost always sunny weather forecast, beautiful ocean scenery and proximity to some of the hottest entertainment centers in the United States. The rest of the country does not have the good fortune to have these qualities. So, is residential real estate only hot in South Florida, or is the rest of the country beginning to heat up?
According to a recent report, residential property across the nation may just be bouncing back, finally. Data recently released from August revealed a 7.8 percent increase in previously occupied home sales from the numbers reported in July. The actual figure was 4.82 million — a figure that hasn’t been touched since May, 2010 when federal incentives rewarded homebuyers with a tax credit.
Not only were the housing numbers good, but residential development seemed to pick up as well. Reports indicated that beginning construction for homes and apartment buildings increased 2.3 percent from July to August. This could be attributed to the warm weather months when construction normally increases, but it is good news nonetheless.
Despite this good news, however, the national housing market has a long ways to go before it could be considered to be “back.” In the meantime, South Florida residents will still be able to enjoy the continual good news from our neck of the woods.
Source: Yahoo! Finance, “US home sales jump to highest since May 2010,” Christopher s. Rugaber, Sept. 19, 2012
