From Lee on the FOOL on housing in florida...
Mish,
We don't have to look to OZ or UK anymore, or even to some rust belt areas, the slowdown is now happening as well here in parts of coastal South Florida, recently one of the fastest appreciating residential markets in the country. According to my local paper, the Florida Association of Realtors reported yesterday that in both the Ft. Lauderdale and West Palm Beach markets y-o-y sales of existing single-family houses fell 15% and prices were up 30% in June of this year, while in the Melbourne-Titusville-Palm Bay market sales volume fell 13% and prices were up 40%. In my own area, Ft. Pierce-Port St. Lucie-Stuart MSA, prices were up 38% and sales volume unchanged.
Part of the problem, in addition to wages not rising, etc., is that the Florida state constitution caps property taxe increases on homestead property (i.e., your primary home) to 3% per year, but that limitation doesn't apply when the homestead is sold. So, most single-family home owners have not experienced hugh increases in property taxes yet, and the hugh increases in property taxes kick in every time someone sells their home, which is now starting to limit sales, accordingly to local economists.
Lee |
