Anyone who has been a property owner in South Florida over the last 10 years or so has probably felt like they have been on quite a roller coaster. First, when the real estate “bubble” burst a few years back, home values plummeted to levels no one would have expected. It has been a long, slow climb back from those dark days, but most of the reports about the local real estate market over the last couple of years have been positive. Another recent report will add to that trend.
According to the report, the rate of foreclosure filings in both Broward County and Palm Beach County has seen a huge decrease. In May of this year both counties saw a 75 percent decrease in new foreclosure filings when compared to May of last year. There is no other way to view this news than positively.
Still, these South Florida counties are part of one area of the state that is seeing a real estate recovery that is almost unprecedented at this point in time in the whole country. This is evident when compared to Florida’s current ranking among all 50 states in the foreclosure rate: Florida has the highest rate, and has held this dubious distinction for eight months straight.
Many Florida homeowners are still having problems making their mortgage payment, despite all of the positive news coming from the South Florida real estate market. But, with a recovery in the market taking hold in select parts of the state, there is a genuine reason to hope that the state overall will see better times sooner rather than later. The recent report pointed out as much with one final point: the overall foreclosure rate in Florida is dropping – by about 30 percent when May of last year is compared to May of this year.
Source: Sun Sentinel, “New foreclosure cases decline in South Florida,” Paul Owers, June 9, 2014
