An article published in The Miami Herald yesterday, pointed to evidence that lenders are slowing the flow of foreclosures to the South Florida real estate market, thus curbing further price declines.
In Miami-Dade County, lenders reportedly repossessed 756 homes in June, up from 434 in May. In Broward County, lenders reportedly repossessed 1,365 homes in June, up from 738 in May. Still, South Florida real-estate brokers allege that they are getting fewer foreclosure listings, as a result of which they are selling out more quickly and at higher prices. The median single-family home price in Miami-Dade, for example, has risen over the past several months, from $177,000 in April to $211,400 in June. And in Broward, the median single-family home price has jumped from $191,300 in April to $204,800 in June.
There is some speculation that lenders are dragging out the foreclosure process to avoid “flooding the market” and to establish a bottom for the South Florida real estate market. But others are arguing that this result is inadvertent, and that lenders simply cannot cope with the increased volume of homes being reclaimed via foreclosure. If true, this type of behavior is only prolonging the contraction in the real estate market.
If you are interested in learning more about this topic, you can either post a comment to this blog, contact me, a Broward Real Estate Lawyer, by email, or call me at (954) 458-8655 and I will be happy to answer your questions. I offer a free initial consultation.