Southwest Florida Real Estate Market shows an optimistic outlook!
April figures would have to be considered a positive sign that Southwest Florida is bucking the national trend by showing some positive signs. Since November we have seen some positive signs in the area of the median price of homes. This is largely due to proper pricing. Homes will sell and there are buyers, if the home is properly priced. Although these positive signs are not across the board, Single Family home have seen a median price increase and that is key to seeing a change in market conditions.
Inventory levels remain too high and until we see some movement in this, we will remain in a Buyers market. Developers are grabbing their fair share of the market with unprecedented savings and incentives. Although this remains a silent part of the inventory, it is a significant sponge that absorbs a lot of the potential buyers needed to absorb the inventory on hand. As the year moves forward we will see less supply on the developer side, with their attractive incentives and a return to a more stable market.
I certainly don’t anticipate any rapid turn up or down but see that our market will slowly move in the right direct of a balance between supply and demand. However, I also believe that the time to negotiate that super bargain is moving and time is of the essence.
With the level of spending that is happening in Washington and our debt rising, it will not be long before we see mortgage interest rates moving against the buyer. The rates today are still very reasonable and a slight move can erase any savings even if the median home priced moved in the opposite direction.
In this area, the key indicators don’t show that to be the case. Procrastination may be a costly choice. If the market continues on its present course, the opportunity to negotiate a more favorable conclusion diminishes with time. Interest rates will be the next obstacle a buyer will face given our present course of spending in Washington.
My recommendation would be to act now before I am proven correct.