Buying Homes In Fort Lauderdale Despite The Current Mortgage Slump

The city of Fort Lauderdale, located in Broward County, Florida, is considered to be a famous destination that once catered to vacationing spring break college students.

The city now is a thriving business, real estate, and tourism hub for the county and South Florida, as well. This place has currently a total population of 152,397, and is the county seat as well. Fort Lauderdale’s downtown area, particularly within and around Las Olas Boulevard, has seen robust growth in the last 10 years, and has a large array of new hotels, high-rise condominium developments and shopping centers.

Among the city’s other new improvements include a large selection of of new boutiques, galleries, and restaurants as well as upgrades to Lockhart Stadium, which hosts some regional sporting events. For those who plan to relocate to this lovely and booming metropolis, you will be able to find out that now is a good time to buy a home here, as home prices are down, mortgage rates are favorable and tax relief appears to be right around the corner, to help those in distress because of the current housing crunch.

Home Prices Have Dropped Here As A result Of the Housing Crunch

Because of the damaging effects brought about by the mortgage crunch, home prices and sales of existing homes slipped recently as South Florida’s housing downturn went into its third consecutive year.

For Broward County, the median price fell 14 percent in January 2008, to $314,200 from around $364,500 for the same period last year, according to data from the Florida Association of Realtors. Home sales also dropped as a result, by 33 percent, to 307 from 458, and analysts have noted that this was the fewest homes ever recorded to change hands in any month countywide in the recent years. .

There’s Still Good News Despite The Current Crunch

Despite the quite gloomy scenario created by the recent US housing slump, there’s still good news for prospective buyers in this area, as the market is beginning to see a drop in single family home and condominium prices, which signals that the city’s real estate market is beginning to turned full circle, and slowly revive. Most are saying that we are going to be seeing soon a buyer’s market.

At present, there is a wide choice of available properties listed for sale partly because of sluggish sales, a rise in foreclosures and many investors in need of bailout. There are currently three times as many properties on the market for sale, and only a third of the number of home buyers searching looking for properties. According to local property observers, a lot of sellers are now offering incentives to purchase such as making contributions to the buyer’s closing costs and allowances for upgrades, and repairs that were previously not seen or heard of before.

According to recent figures collected from the Realtor Association of Greater Fort Lauderdale, the median price of a single family home in Broward County is pegged at $353,500 and the median price of a 2-bedroom condominium unit is $179,000.

Those wishing to buy pre-construction luxury condo units are cautioned, as rising fuel costs, inflation, rising inventories, could make the high-end condominium sector vulnerable to many negative factors, and could either lead to a spike in prices, or lower resale values in the long run.

http://hometerra.com – Fort Lauderdale Homes