“We’re looking for properties that are 50% off.”
“We’re looking for deals.”
“We’re looking for Properties that are priced at 50 Cents on the Dollar.”
“We thought that Properties were selling for 50% off.”
These are some of the most common Statements that I’ve heard from prospective Buyers who are interested in deeply discounted South Florida properties and 50% seems to always be the “magic number”.
Yes, many South Florida properties are selling for 50% or more off of their peak prices, meaning that they’re selling for at least 50% less than they would have during the peak of the Market. In our local Market, we had the highest purchase prices during September of 2005, 6 years ago. HOWEVER, what I’ve discovered over the years is that a number of Buyers are interested in properties that are selling for 50% off of current Market value, meaning that, for example, they want to pay $1,000,000 for properties with current Market values of $2,000,000.
The fact of the matter is that the vast majority of South Florida properties ARE NOT selling for 50% off of their current Market value. A few of them are, but most are not. Additionally, Real Estate prices are very specific to location.
Properties in prime locations such as Waterfront Ocean Access properties and properties that are located East (close to the Beach) are not the majority of the Land and Inventory nor the majority of the distressed Inventory. As such, they have significantly higher values and fewer opportunities for deals in comparison to properties that are located West. Properties that are located West of I-95 and West of U.S. 1 have significantly lower Land values than properties located East, so you get “more house for your money” with such properties.
So, yes, great deals are available, but they have to be considered within the correct context and expectations must be in alignment with Market realities. It’s not very productive to start your search by looking for properties that don’t exist or that only become available a couple of times yearly.
Currently, the majority of properties that offer the deepest discounts are Bank Owned Foreclosures, a few of which are 50% off of current Market value, but even with these properties the average discount is approximately 20% off of current Market value and sometimes not even that much. If you’re interested in viewing listings of such properties, you can click the button below to view available Foreclosure listings and to customize your search.
Related Information:
- “Mortgage Applications are down”
- “Is it still a Buyer’s Market?”
- South Florida’s current Real Estate Market
- 2011 Ft. Lauderdale Real Estate Market Report
- Recent Sales of Luxury Condos
- Recent Sales of Luxury Single Family Homes