Active Seller’s Market & For Buyers Who Qualify

Ft. Lauderdale, located in Broward County, Florida is a wonderful city with a sunny climate and sandy beaches.  These are two of the reasons the area attracts visitors, tourists, and transplants.

The city is also a vibrant area for business and education.  Known as the Venice of America because of its ocean and waterway home fronts, getting a piece of Ft. Lauderdale Real Estate on a waterway or anywhere in the Ft. Lauderdale area may not be as hard as one might think, though there are challenges.

In the Ft. Lauderdale Real Estate Market, interest rates are low.  Bank foreclosures have also slowed down.  Buyers are thus actively looking for waterfront properties, as well as single family homes and condos.  Investors are looking for properties they can purchase at pre-construction prices.  Bottom line, the Ft. Lauderdale Real Estate market is considered an active seller’s market today.

First time homebuyers, however, are struggling to get into the $200 thousand and under Ft. Lauderdale Real Estate market for a variety of reasons.  There are tougher qualification standards.  Higher down payments are being required.  The elimination of the first-time homebuyer tax credit also pushed some potential 2011 first time buyers to buy in 2010.

For buyers who do qualify and have the requisite funds, they should know …

1. There are more than 20 thousand homes and condominiums available for sale in the Ft. Lauderdale Real Estate market, which makes it a prime time to buy a home either for personal or investment use.
2. Condos and townhomes are in less supply and hard to find.  Builders are actually taking reservations and deposits on pre-built condos.  Single family homes sell quickly.  In the Ft. Lauderdale Real Estate market a property sits on the market an average of 30 days.
3. Though the average median sales price for a home in the Ft. Lauderdale area is now around $325 thousand, which is down 7% from last year, the average median home price has still risen approximately 10% to 15% or more for the last several years.
4. Sellers in the Ft. Lauderdale Real Estate market are receiving 95 to 100% of their original asking price.

For those interested in properties in the Ft. Lauderdale area, the hot sale spots in the Ft. Lauderdale Real Estate market are anywhere on the waterfront, such as Harbour Island, Coral Key Villas, and Nurmi Isles, and such nearby areas as Birch Park, Hawks Landing, and Victoria Park.  Realtors have also seen a shift for certain other neighborhoods such as the City of Wilton Manors where the home inventory dropped to less than a 5 month supply.