It Definitely Is A Buyer’s Market In The Fort Lauderdale Area

Yes, it’s a Buyer’s Market down here in Fort Lauderdale. Looking for a new home or an investment property, check out this video for more information.

I’d love to show you some of the amazing homes and investment properties on the market right now.

I recorded this short video over the weekend. It’s really informative and it explains why we are so enthusiastic about the state of the real estate market here in the Greater Fort Lauderdale area.

We have been telling all of our clients that this is the best real estate market ever and I think this video will help explain why we feel that way.

I hope you find it both entertaining and informative. I have to say that I am really enjoying the video making we are doing here at the Fort Lauderdale Real Estate Blog. I like it and my team is enjoying the videomaking process as well. So please take a moment as I explain how the Fort Lauderdale real estate market is really great for buyers!

Transcript of video to follow: Hey it’s Robin and I was just talking to a few clients about the Fort Lauderdale real estate market.They had read one of my stories on the blog where I said that this was the best real estate market ever and they wanted to know why I felt that way.Well..long story short, this is when you have the most opportunity to create wealth in real estate.

Contrary to popular opinion the boom times are not the times for buyers to make out. Seller’s made out like bandits but not buyers.

You see those sellers only capitalized because of rapid appreciation. Something we really hadn’t seen before, that was unsustainable, and may never see again.

Real wealth is made by buying smart. Being a buyer when sellers are desperate is a great position to be in.

John D. Rockefeller once said that the “time to buy is when blood is running in the streets”. Well here in South florida the streets in many areas are bright red and there is tremendous financial opportunity.

I just ran some numbers and over 60% of homes sold in South Florida are foreclosures. Let’s take a look at those numbers.

To get a good picture on how great of a market this is for buyers let’s look at a few snapshots of data.

First we’ll do a two year quarterly comparison of sales. As our basis point we are going to look at the first quarter of 2008 and the first quarter of this year which is the months of January, February and March. We’ll compare the numbers from the first quarter of this year with the first quarter of last year.

Now let’s look at the absorption rate in the area. The absorption rate is how long it will take to sell, or absorb all of the homes on the market, given the current inventory levels and current rate of sale.

A “normal” real estate market usually has an absorption rate of 6 months and neither the Seller nor the Buyer is thought to have the advantage. A Seller’s market usually has an absorption rate of less than 6 months, and a Buyer’s market normally is thought to have an absorption rate of more than 6 months.

The 6 month number in this definition means it would take about 6 months to sell the entire amount of available inventory in the market if this were a so-called normal real estate market.

To put things in perspective, currently in the Single family home market in the Metropolitan Fort Lauderdale area, the absorption rate exceeds 22 this confirms and underscores the fact that we are in a Buyer’s market right now and will remain in a Buyer’s market for the foreseeable future.

I think you’d have to agree…That was some pretty compelling data. So what do all of these numbers really mean? Well this data tells us that we are in undoubtedly a Buyer’s market, but more importantly we are in a Buyer’s market that will be sustained for a good deal longer.

More foreclosures are on the way and with more foreclosures comes more inventory. There are over 8,000 homes slated to be auctioned off at the Broward County courthouse over the next 90 days and that means a deluge of additional inventory is on the way. As inventory increases the immutable laws of supply and demand influence the marketplace.

We are going to see a continued trend in the market wherein the predominance of sales will be foreclosures and distressed properties.
This information is great for Buyers because there is less emotion and attachment to properties when they are being liquidated.

All of this presents quite the dilemma for the real estate industry in this area. You see, you have a market that requires agents to be skilled liquidators and knowledgeable about foreclosures and short sales and a large number of agents who have no idea as to how to make their way in this niche.

If you are looking to take advantage of the wealth of opportunities in this market, please feel free to call me or email me. My team specializes in foreclosures and short sales and we love the challenge that this market provides.

Give me a call and let’s liquidate some property and find you that perfect home to live in or investment property at a great price!

Thanks for watching and I’ll talk to you soon!