Broward County Foreclosures purchased within the last 90 days-Market Report

Potential Buyers who are interested in purchasing South Florida Foreclosures often ask me what the recent activity levels have been for Bank Owned Foreclosures.  I regularly provide this information to Buyers I’m working with and decided to prepare a detailed Foreclosure Market Report as one of the regular Market Reports that I blog about.

Following is information about Single Family Homes Bank Owned Foreclosures purchased within the last 90 days in Broward County

• 1,029 Bank Owned Single Family Homes were purchased
• Within that same period, 1,614 non-Distressed Single Family Homes were purchased (NOT Bank Owned & NOT Short Sales)
• Within that same period, 606 Short Sale Single Family Homes were purchased (the low number of Short Sale purchases in comparison to normal sales and Bank Owned Sales isn’t surprising due to challenges that occur with Short Sales)

The purchase price range of the Bank owned Foreclosures was $6,500 – $1,232,000.  The $6,500 Home is a 3 Bedroom, 2 Bath Home in need of complete restoration, a “Handyman’s Special”.  The $1,232,000 Home is a 6 Bedroom, 6.5 Bath Waterfront Ocean access Home in Lighthouse Point with 100′  of Waterfront and no Fixed Bridges, a 3-Car Garage, and 5,631 square feet, built in 2001.

View additional purchase price range details below:

• 493 Homes were purchased for under $100,000.  Of the 493 Homes, 415 are indicated to have been Cash purchases. The vast majority of purchases of Single Family Homes in this price range are made by Investors. Competition from Investors and the condition of many Homes in this price range make it almost impossible for First Time Home Buyers or those who plan to finance their purchase to buy Single Family Homes in this price range.
• 294 Homes were purchased from $100,000 – $199,999
• 153 Homes were purchased from $200,000 – $299,999
• 55 Homes were purchased from $300,000 – $399,999
• 16 Homes were purchased from $400,000 – $499,999
• 18 Homes were purchased at $500,000 and above

Highlights

• Of the properties sold, the average number of days on the market was 44 days.  Most Bank Owned Foreclosures are purchased very quickly and properties in the best locations, in the best condition usually go under Contract for purchase within less than a week
• The average purchase price was $143,657 (much to the dismay of many interested Buyers, Luxury Foreclosures aren’t the majority of our Foreclosure inventory)
• 612 of the 1,029 purchases are indicated to have been Cash purchases, including the $1,232,000 purchase
• The Sale price to List price ratio of the purchases was 102.22%.   Though Banks sometimes discount the amount that they will accept for the purchase of property, most properties are purchased for amounts that are equal to or above the Listed price.   Typically, Bank owned Foreclosure prices are already deeply discounted below current market value.  This fact, coupled with multiple Offers from other qualified Buyers helps to keep purchase prices close to list prices.  This is especially evident with the purchases of properties that have limited Foreclosure inventory, such as Waterfront and Luxury properties.
• Related to the point above, Banks are typically not motivated to sell properties at prices that are drastically below their listed prices.  In the vast majority of cases, they have already expressed their motivation by pricing properties below market value.   With very low prices, lots of competition from interested Buyers, and increased sales in the market, that equals the perfect formula for Bank owned properties to sell quickly. 

Within the last 90 days, 1,327 Bank owned Condos, Townhouses, and Villas were purchased in Broward County and I will address Condo Foreclosures in detail in a separate post.

Currently active Foreclosure Inventory

• 450 Bank Owned Single Family Homes in Broward County (of that number, 84 are in Ft. Lauderdale) View Foreclosure listings
• 787 Bank Owned Condos, Townhouses, and Villas in Broward County (of that number, 76 are in Ft. Lauderdale) View Foreclosure Listings

Based on data about the number of Foreclosure filings, we know that more Foreclosure listings will become available in the future.  Additionally, it should be noted that although many Bank owned Foreclosures are marketed through Brokers on the MLS, some Banks and Asset Managers don’t release their full inventory to be marketed through traditional means and there are purchases of Bank owned Foreclosures (particularly Bulk purchases) that are conducted directly through Banks (typically by Investor Buyers).

I’ve been asked by many Buyers why there aren’t a lot more Waterfront Foreclosures available.  The main reason is that, although the Ft. Lauderdale area has the most Ocean acccess Waterfront of any City in North America, the Broward County Geographic area is VERY large and Waterfront Ocean access isn’t the majority of the Land type.  Of 30 Cities in Broward County, only 9 offer Waterfront Ocean access properties . That being the case, Waterfront properties never were the majority of properties purchased and aren’t the majority of the Foreclosure inventory.  The fact that there’s so much property located West of I-95, farther away from Ocean access, usually comes as a surprise to visitors who usually spend most of their time in the downtown and Beach areas of the County. 

If you’re searching for Bank owned Foreclosures, you can contact me to customize your property search or click here to view listings of Bank Owned Foreclosures.