SoFla Update: Sales Rise, Prices Plummet

Forecast: Housing Prices Won't Rise Until 2011 or 2012

Paul Owers of the Sun-Sentinel gives us the good news/bad news breakdown as the HousingBath nears the 40-month mark. Existing home sales in Broward and Palm Beach County rose 47% and 20% respectively in March while existing condominium sales were up 28% and 17% respectively. And now the bad news: prices are plummeting. The median home price in Broward is now $219,500 compared to the peak of $391,100 in November 2005, and economists think Broward median prices will fall another $90,000 before bottoming out around $130,000. The trajectory is similar in Palm Beach County where median prices maxed out at $421,500 in 2005 and hit $228,100 last month. Moody's Economy.com analysts believe Palm Beach median prices will fall another $80,000 over the next 2-3 years. Owers sums up the SoFla housing status quo: "When banks slash prices on distressed properties, it reduces the values of homes nearby. That, in turn, feeds the foreclosure cycle. The price declines lead to homeowners walking away, frustrated that they owe more than their properties are worth."

NYT: No End In Sight for Housing Crisis

Goldman Sachs Forecasts Another 33% Drop in Miami Prices

The New York Times' David Leonhardt takes a look at the real estate status quo in several U.S. markets and proclaims the end is not near. The first sign of weakness comes in the form of a Washington property auction where "low-ball prices continued to win the bidding. At one point, the auctioneer, Wayne Wheat, interrupted his sing-song auction call to cheerfully ask, “Where are my investors?” His colleague then attends a larger property auction in Miami and walks away with a similar take. "The homes there also sold for just a fraction of what they would have even a year ago. The rate of decline in Miami hasn’t even slowed noticeably in recent months." And looking ahead, analysts believe Miami housing prices will continue their rapid decline throughout 2009; Goldman Sachs is forecasting an additional 33% decline this year. The problem in markets like Miami is pretty simple, says Leonhardt. Not only is there excess supply, real estate is still just too expensive.

What Recession? Play Ball!

Just What Desperate Florida Homeowners Need...New Ballparks

The Wall Street Journal takes a look at The Cheers & Jeers of a Costly New Ballpark and finds two home run-size, jeer-worthy facilities in the works in the Sunshine State. The Boston Red Sox already have a facility in Fort Myers, but local officials approved a $100 million new facility last year when-the Journal notes-unemployment was already 10%, foreclosures were booming and home values had already fallen 50%. In their infinite wisdom, Lee County officials plan to partially fund the stadium with bed tax increases just as tourism falls to record lows in Southwest Florida. The Florida East Coast version of "Bailout Park" is the recently approved $634 million Florida Marlins stadium slated for beautiful downtown Little Havana. That stadium will seat 37,000, although the Marlins often draw fewer than 1,000 fans in transient-rich, baseball-indifferent South Florida. In a less-than-flattering simile, one Red Sox official describes the future Fort Myers ballpark as "An Oasis In the Middle of A Desert." The only way that analogy works is if these new ballparks somehow offer a wellspring of high-paying jobs and mortgage relief against the arid backdrop of rising unemployment, bad local government decisions and record foreclosures that define today's Florida.