Quick Facts About Florida.  How Will They Affect You?

Florida Realtor Magazine

Just read some interesting facts about Florida in Florida Realtor^® magazine.  As Realtors^® we are continually studying local and state real estate market and statistics.  So, we thought you may be interested to know that in Florida there are:

-          1,000 people move to Florida each day

-          19 major commercials airports

-          1,800 miles of coastline

-          14 deepwater ports

-          12 international airports

-          More than 1,250 golf courses.  Florida has more golf courses than any other state.  Palm Beach County has more golf courses than any other county in the USA.

-          1,200 miles of sand beaches

-          More than 370,000 hotel rooms in Florida

SALES NUMBERS

Assessed Value Map

Florida is just a great place all around.  Many of these facts influence our Real Estate market one way or another.  These very positive facts will also help our market get back out of recession.  While we don’t expect miracles this year, 2011 is still expected to be a growth year for Florida’s economy.  Unemployment is predicted to stay in double digits, yet Moody’s Economy.com, a national consulting firm, projects that Florida will achieve 3% job growth in 2011 – more than any other state.  Tampa and Orlando are expected to grow the most at 3.4%.

If you saw our Clearwater and Pinellas County sales statistics post not long ago, you already know that numbers of sales are growing are already higher than 2009 and 2008. Of course, a good portion of sales was boosted by the first-time home buyer program that spurred buyers into action by offering tax credits.  Yet, I believe our slowly recovery economy is the main reason of the rise in the number of sales.  But sales prices most likely will not go up for a while.  The reason behind it is the amount of short sales and foreclosures pending for this year.  Buyer’s demand has to equal and then surpass the supply for prices to start going back up.  And when they do, we really want just a steady 3-4%/year growth in prices to avoid another bubble.

LUXURY REAL ESTATE GOING UP

Florida luxury home sales are on the rise

Luxury home sales are on the rise.  In Palm Beach wealthy buyers are snapping up mansions at prices $10 million and up.  There could be several reasons for this.  First, sellers are realizing what the true market value of their home is and settle for 50 cents on a dollar.  While savvy investors see an opportunity and starting to feel secure owning Florida real estate at a hedge against future inflation.  For example, in Jacksonville sales of homes priced over $2 million were up 78% compared with 2009.  This is good news for everyone, as it creates a positive climate for homes listed at more modest prices.

Florida Realtor^® magazine, Jan/Feb 2011 stats used.

Tampa Bay Real Estate Blog by The HOME Team of Charles Rutenberg Realty, Inc. Downtown St Petersburg, FL