The housing market in South Florida has been centrally marked over the past few years by drama and volatility, with the area consistently leading the nation in one category that no one terms as undesirable apart from, perhaps, house flippers: foreclosures.
As noted in one recent media article, the state is “once again leading the nation in foreclosures,” with the measured time period being just last month. The relevant foreclosure data comes via national real estate information company RealTrak, which points with special emphasis at Palm Beach County. Homes in that locale were scheduled for foreclosure auctions during October at a rate exceeding the same time period of a year earlier by a staggering 76 percent.
That spells both good and bad news, depending on one’s perspective. On the one hand, it signifies that banks — which own foreclosed properties in large numbers — are now confident enough to put houses on the market for sale after holding such properties through lengthy down periods. On the other hand, the banks’ recent and frenetic sales activity points quite clearly to the huge inventory of foreclosed properties that continues to mark the Florida real estate landscape.
A special point of concern relates to the recent rise in scheduled-for-auction homes, namely, that the sudden proliferation of such homes on the market can have a negative effect on the value of family homes generally.
“I am hopeful that the banks are sensitive to the potential impact of their actions on neighborhood housing markets,” says one South Florida bank analyst.
Florida homeowners with concerns regarding property values, their continued ability to make mortgage payments or other home-related matters that are causing financial stress can receive candid, confidential and knowledgeable advice from an experienced foreclosure and debt-relief attorney.
Source: Sun Sentinel, “Foreclosure auctions jump in South Florida,” Donna Gehrke-White, Nov. 14, 2013
