A recent headline from the South Florida area may not come as much of a surprise to our regular readers. According to the reports, the inventory for residential homes throughout the South Florida area was down approximately 34 percent this September, when compared to September of 2011.
The basics of real estate transactions tells our readers one thing about this figure – it is good for the seller and not so good for a prospective buyer. Why is that? Well, simple supply and demand will lead to the conclusion here that with less inventory in the highly desirable South Florida area, home prices will rise. As a matter of fact, several of our previous posts have already commented on the fact that this phenomena is occurring in Broward County and the surrounding counties, where median sales prices have been rising for months.
Regardless of the exact terms of sale, it appears that most sellers in South Florida’s real estate market probably have the upper hand. For several of the most recent years the South Florida market, along with the national market, has been considered to be a “buyer’s market.” That hasn’t really been the case in South Florida for a while, and it appears that the national real estate market may be coming along as well. In the same report, figures showed that on the national level the residential home inventory was down an average of 19 percent.
As bad as the housing meltdown got, it seems like the only news there could be is good news. Many probably thought the market had no lower level to reach. It is good news for South Florida residents that the local area has become such a hotspot of real estate activity.
Source: The Palm Beach Post, “South Florida housing inventory down 34 percent,” Kimberly Miller, Oct. 11, 2012