Home prices drop 17 percent [Florida]

Herald Tribune ^ | 11/29/2006 | Stephen Frater and Michael Pollick

[ex-Texan]

This is reality today. Prices are already down in some Florida areas by as much as 44%. The west coast is next. Just wait until next year. Yada, Yada, Yada For all the naysayers out there: "Nothing to see here. Not in my neck of the woods. Time to move on."

[aft_lizard]

Yikes how would you like to pay a $400,000 mortgage on a $200,000 home.

[ex-Texan]

*Ping* !

[nmh]

Also how'd you like to be assessed for 400K when you'd be lucky to get 200K for it? Just think of the INTEREST you're also over paying in the inflated mortgage? WHEW!

[the invisib1e hand]

yeah. well, as I posted elsewhere, a big drop isn't the whole story. The whole story includes the bigger rise that has been going on for a decade, especially in Florida.

Let's be real. A 44% drop after a 400% increase still leaves with a pretty good run.

[goldstategop]

The reported massive insurance premium hikes have scared the bejeebers out of buyers. Expect prices to keep plunging as no one is buying now.

"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." -Manuel II Paleologus

[brytlea]

True. Altho it's a little depressing to watch, however we can still sell our S. FL house for more than we paid for it almost 3 years ago.
susie

[Richard Kimball]

Good article. It's going to be a fairly big correction. Personally, I thought the bubble was about to burst when all the shows like "Flip this House" came out. Whenever a trend gets big enough that the general public starts getting involved, it's not a good deal anymore.

I was reading where speculators were a significant portion of the California housing market, and I figured once they got out, the market would correct to reasonable levels. Depending on how much it affects other markets, it could be a chance for people to get into houses at good prices. I went through a local boom bust in Austin in the eighties, and some guys I knew ended up trying to rent out a house they were paying $1200 a month on for $650 just to keep from having it foreclosed. It's going to be an interesting ride.

[Cicero]

Florida is one of the worst markets because there was a lot of heavy speculation and condo flipping. But real estate prices are taking a hit all over.

We sold our second home in Maine a year and a half ago, after being in it for 40 years and raising all our children in it. But it was getting too expensive to keep up and the handwriting for real estate was on the wall.

Last summer when I ran into our local real estate agent who handled the deal, he said that 2005 was his best ever for commissions, but that this year business is dismal.

[WashingtonSource]

Yes, the insurance companies are drastically exacerbating the fragile real estate market. But, this, too, shall eventually play out.

[annelizly]

yeah, and how about paying property taxes on a 400K house thats really only worth 200K.

[fhlh]

ahhh a freeper of reason while others freak out over the headlined...

[HostileTerritory]

That 44% drop in one market was a distortion caused by Hurricane Wilma last year. But the numbers are pretty bad, otherwise.

[Moonman62]

A story about people getting price breaks on $800,000 homes. We're doomed, the soup lines are next.

[hinckley buzzard]

44 percent decline in median sales price, from $445,100 to $249,200,

And in the distance, the faint but unmistakeable sound of a bubble popping...

[the invisib1e hand]

True. Altho it's a little depressing to watch, however we can still sell our S. FL house for more than we paid for it almost 3 years ago. susie

It's less fun to go through, I'll wager. I'm sure some people will be devastated, unfortunately.

But I can't bear the willful omission of facts from this story (as told by the media in general) and the obvious intent to spin.

[nicolezmomma]

44 Percent? I'm not sure you could give away some of the homes that have been for sale at least 6 months here in Pinellas County, Florida. Ok, a slight exaggeration, but not much. Crist is going to have a hell of a year as the new Governor.

[Balding_Eagle]

Give it up. No one on this thread wants to hear that.

The sky is falling, and we're all doomed!

[Always Right]

[Florida Prices Drop 44% from 2005]

Why do you have to lie about what the story says. Only one county showed that drop, not the whole state. You can NEVER present anything honestly.

[Moonman62]

This article is focusing on the areas with the biggest drops. In my area of Florida the median price for condos went up 8%. Why didn't ex-Texan post a story on that?

There are many reasons a median price can drop. Perhaps there was an expensive development that was selling last year that isn't there this year.