Labor & Employment Law

Report finds that almost Half of all South Florida Home are Underwater

By Dobin & Jenks

A recent report released by real estate research firm Zillow states that 44.3 percent of South Florida homes were underwater during the first part of 2010. Zillow?s first quarter analysis report also determined that home values in Palm Beach, Broward and Miami-Dade counties continued to decrease from 2009.

In a recent article on the Real Time Blog, Palm Beach Post Real Estate writer, Kim Miller, reports that it could take up to five years for home values to begin climbing,according to Zillow. In addition, the real estate research firm expects national home values to hit bottom not in the second quarter of 2010, but the third, presumably extending the housing crisis nearly all the way through 2010. Zillow is also predicting that negative equity and foreclosures will compound to keep home value appreciation in the U.S. near zero possibly until 2015.

According to foreclosure data, services and online marketplace RealtyTrac, Florida homeowners continue to face some of the highest foreclosure rates in the country. The following is a current breakdown of the foreclosure situation in South Florida:

Palm Beach County: 18,755 Foreclosures
8,401 Homes for Sale

Broward County: 42,467 Foreclosures
3,960 Homes for Sale

Miami-Dade County: 40,184 Foreclosures
8,094 Homes for Sale

Homes still sinking, 44.3 percent in South Florida underwater ? Palm Beach Post

Link to RealtyTrac?s map of Florida Foreclosures & Home Sales

Link to Zillow?s Web site

Full post as published by The Law Planet Blog on May 11, 2010 (boomark / email).