Fort Lauderdale Real Estate Market Population Shrinking
July 12, 2008
Increased Inventory + More Foreclosures - Less People = more leverage for buyers. 26 of the Broward County’s 31 municipalities in the Fort Lauderdale real estate market lost population and three of them - Hollywood, Coral Springs and Pembroke Pines - made the Top 10 list of fastest-shrinking large cities from 2006 to 2007, according to U.S. census estimates released last week.
Broward County posted the worst numbers of any Florida county. What an amazing turnaround from the 1990s, when Coral Springs and Pembroke Pines regularly ranked near the top of the fastest-growing hot spots in the entire Country.
Demographers think that if the departures continue over the next few years, city budgets will be affected and federal dollars earmarked to these Fort Lauderdale real estate communities could be lost or substantially reduced. Federal dollars are based upon population.
Demographers say the exodus is a combination of immigrants who use the Fort Lauderdale real estate area and South Florida in general as a way station before relocating; Baby Boomers who are retiring to cheaper places in Tennessee, North Carolina and Georgia; struggling seniors who move in with relatives up north; and young people who can’t afford to buy homes here. Despite the fact that there is no shortage of affordable homes here in the Fort Lauderdale real estate market.
“We’re seeing a lot of places in Florida that are going down as a result of the bursting of the housing bubble and the substantial slowdown in the economy and job creation,” said Stan Smith, director of the Bureau of Economic and Business Research at the University of Florida.
“I think the perception is out there that it’s too expensive to live here now,” said Bill Leonard, Broward’s senior planner. He questioned the accuracy of the estimates, which rely on building permit data. “We know the building activity is down, but it’s not like we had large numbers of units disappear from last year,” Leonard said.
The census figures show Hollywood was the county’s biggest loser, dropping 2,068 of its nearly 142,500 residents, a 1.4 percent decline, and ranking third nationwide.
Jaime Shulman, owner of Hollywood-based 1st American Movers, said he’s busy moving Hollywood residents who lost their homes to foreclosure.
“It’s very simple,” he said. “People can’t afford living here. Everything is expensive and Hollywood has a lot people who are not wealthy.”
Dr. Barry Kay, president of the local Chamber of Commerce, agreed. “It’s a built-out, old community, and a lot of people are retiring and moving up north. Their money goes a lot further up there.”
Coral Springs lost 1,762 of its nearly 127,000 residents (1.4 percent) and ranked fifth nationally. Pembroke Pines dropped 1,948 of its nearly 147,000 residents (1.3 percent) and ranked sixth. Pompano Beach claimed the 21st spot nationally, losing 777 of its nearly 103,000 residents, or 0.8 percent.
In total, Broward cities lost about 15,000 people, slightly more than the population of West Park in south Broward. Twenty-two other cities saw declines ranging from a dozen people in Sea Ranch Lakes to 992 in Deerfield Beach.
The losses amplify a census report in March that Broward lost population for perhaps the first time; 13,154 more people left than arrived in 2006. Still, despite the decline, Broward has grown about 10 percent since 2000.
“You need to keep this in perspective because even the [cities] that are declining now have grown substantially since 2000,” said Richard Ogburn of the South Florida Regional Planning Council.
To view the census data, go to www.census.gov/popest/estimates.php.
So what does this mean to our Fort Lauderdale real estate market? Well think about it. People moving out, equates to more inventory on the market. Coupled with shrinking growth means the pool of available buyers and renters is shrinking. Add in a record number of foreclosures and you don’t have to be a mathematical genius to see the economic precepts of supply and demand are at work in the Fort Lauderdale real estate market.
So if you are looking to sell your Fort Lauderdale real estate home or condo, you may be in for a tough haul. Especially if you do not have the right Fort Lauderdale real estate agent working for you.
How if you are interested in buying, you are sitting in the catbird seat. And you may be there for quite some time. We are seeing properties dropping in price to as much as 50% below market value. Finally, if you are represented by a Fort Lauderdale Buyer’s Agent and know what you are doing, this most assuredly is a great time to buy that Fort Lauderdale real estate home or condo that you have been looking at.
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If you are interested in learning more about buying a home or condo in Fort Lauderdale or anywhere in South Florida; or if you need any information about the Fort Lauderdale real estate market, please feel free to contact me and it would be my pleasure to assist you.You can contact me at the number shown below or please feel free to contact me by the form below and I, or one of my assistants, will be sure to get right back to you within a few hours, if not sooner.
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