Market Round Up

This just in. Enjoy!
ORLANDO, Fla.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–A new report released today by Attorneys’ Title Insurance Fund and posted on www.fundhomeinfo.com, finds that Florida’s housing markets slowed in 2006 in nearly every geographic region. The report also shows that Florida’s economy has downshifted from a period of spectacular growth to merely strong growth and will continue through 2007 and into the first half of 2008 before giving way to more robust growth.

The Real Estate Index Forecast, commissioned by Florida-based Attorneys’ Title Insurance Fund’s Consumer Education Campaign, was created by economist Hank Fishkind of Fishkind & Associates, Inc., using The Fund’s extensive online system of deed data for more than 30 Florida counties. The report provides a snapshot of the national economic outlook and county-specific forecasts for 2007 through 2009.
“As the 2007 Real Estate Index Forecast report indicates, Florida’s housing markets bottomed out in 2006 across most of the state,” stated Fishkind. “However, the shape of the bottom varies widely across Florida’s metropolitan areas based on variations in the degree of speculative overbuilding that has occurred, the pace of household formation, and the changes in pricing.”

The Fund’s 2007 Real Estate Forecast also shows that Orlando is the strongest residential real estate market in the state because of its strong household formations, driven by robust gains in employment and its relatively low levels of speculative housing inventory. Conversely, Fort Myers and Miami are the weakest residential real estate markets in the state because of their large speculative housing inventories compared to somewhat lower trends in household information.

ABOUT THE FUND REAL ESTATE INDEX
Recognizing the need for real estate data to help consumers make informed home-buying and selling decisions, and to help real estate professionals provide sound counsel to their clients, The Fund collaborated with Dr. Hank Fishkind to leverage its extensive online system of deed data for Florida counties to develop a Real Estate Index. Fishkind provides independent analysis of data provided by The Fund.

Measuring sales value and volume for single-family homes, condos and time shares throughout the state, The Fund Real Estate Index illustrates the dynamic real estate fluctuations on a county-specific basis. The reports are posted on local Real Estate Council Web sites and are updated monthly.
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Well, see, the number of unsold homes overal is 23 percent higher than a year ago and current sales levels are down over 13 percent from the mid-2005 peak in prices. Prior to a brief October rebound, sales volume had declined for seven consecutive months and 11 of the last 12 months going back to September of 2005.

Despite the negative trends, median home prices have only declined modestly. My instincts are telling me that more of a correction in home prices is still warranted; I’ve certainly noticed some homes sitting on the market for several months in my area. I don’t think the bottom is in yet.
Is this just hype or is there really a chance that home prices will crash-land sometime in 2007? Give us your thoughts.