|
Has the Vero Beach Real Estate Market Bottomed Out?
Should I Buy a Vero Beach Home Now?
Vero Coastal Homes - June 2009
By the time there is a general consensus that the Vero Beach Real Estate market has bottomed and is on it’s way to
recovery, the best deals will be gone. Interest rates are now at historic lows, and prices are down 30-40% compared
to highs of 2005.
Using last months sales data and looking for a continuing trend puts you several months behind the current state of
the market. Only by digging deeper into all of the sales parameters can you get an idea of where the market is
heading.
Sales are up 15% for February compared to this time last year in Indian River County with 40 out of 114 sales being
foreclosures or short sales. The longer time frame from offer to closing of these distressed properties distorts
evidence of the increase buyer activity that is now evident.
Short Sales and Foreclosures closing now, are the result of offers submitted many weeks or possibly months before
non-distressed sales. This can produce a “lag time” for the recorded sales distorting the true increase in buyer
activity.
A more current view of the market activity is the number of listings that are “pending” - closing soon, and
“contingent” - listings under contract but subject to financing or other conditions. Currently there are 59 pending
listings and 224 contingent listings. Although some may not close with the first offer, that’s a lot of homes “in
the pipeline”.
Although it is just my personal experience - I have put more homes under contract in the last 6 weeks than the
previous 6 months combined. All evidence points to this trend continuing, since there is a large inventory of homes
for sale.
I have been urging clients who are actively looking to pre-qualify with a lender.
Virtually all listings that are foreclosures or “short sales” require either proof of funds or
a pre-qualifying letter to submit an offer.
Please let me know if I can assist you with further research on any emailed listings or set up a showing for any
home.
 Top of page
| 
