By Paul Owers | South Florida Sun-Sentinel
August 28, 2007
Twenty months and counting.
Sales of existing homes in Palm Beach County slipped in July as they have
since December 2005. That dismal trend isn’t likely to change soon as lenders
across South Florida make it tougher for consumers to qualify for mortgages.
Analysts don’t expect the housing slump to end until the second half of 2008
or later, in part because the recent credit crunch is thinning an already
small group of would-be buyers.
The county had 605 sales last month, down 15 percent from 714 in July 2006,
the Florida Association of Realtors said Monday. The median price dropped
5 percent to $372,200 from $390,100 last year.
The market for existing condominiums looked particularly bleak in July, with
year-over-year sales falling 14 percent and the median price plummeting 23
percent to $178,200 from $231,300 a year ago. It’s the first time the median
has dropped below $200,000 since September 2005.
Meanwhile, the percentage price decline in the county’s existing condo sales
was the second-worst showing among the state’s 20 metropolitan markets, behind
Lee County’s 33 percent slide. The huge drop is an indication that less expensive
condos were selling, and certain owners were desperate to unload them, analysts
say.
Some South Florida lenders are reporting rises in mortgage applications,
as people hedge their bets and shop around for loans, but actual loan approvals
probably aren’t increasing because sales continue to lag, said Mike Larson,
a housing analyst with Weiss Research in Jupiter.
Existing sales and median prices could be even worse this fall in South Florida
because those numbers will reflect the credit tightening that spread this
month beyond risky borrowers to include people on solid financial footing.
See the full article here:
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/business/sfl-flzhousingpb0828nbaug28,0,1105221.story
