Glenn Hoover

Approximately 16% of the properties listed for sale in the Upper Florida Keys are Lender Owned (REO) or Short Sales. However, nearly 27% of the properties sold are Lender Owned or Short Sales. These are the deals, make no doubt about it.

The condominiums and townhome foreclosure this year have sold for an average of $206 per square foot. This is approximately 70% of non-foreclosed similar properties. Non-waterfront single family foreclosures sold for $135 per square foot, approximately 62% of non-foreclosed similar properties. Canal front foreclosures sold for $265 per square foot, 67% of non-foreclosed similar properties.

Once the Lender has taken title, they are very eager to move them off the books.

Buyers should not think it is a "Buyer's Market" and that you are going to control the process, when they get to this stage. The listing agent is in charge, and if you want to play, you play by their rules. Be ready to prove you have the money or are able to get it quickly. No contingencies for financing are allowed on many of these deals.

These agents, many who specialize in REO properties, are often expecting multiple offers in the first week. So make your best offer your first offer. You won't always get a second chance.

Visit here for a full list of Upper Florida Foreclosures and Short Sales.

In the last four months the number of residential real estate sales in the Upper Florida Keys has increased by 37% over last year. This is certainly good news to Sellers as is the average sales price which exceeded 2008 levels in both July (2.6%) and August (11.1%).

Inventories are also trending down. Coldwell Banker Schmitt Real Estate Co, reported in the Summer Issue of Tropical Breezes that Keys wide, the number of properties for sale at the end of June are at the lowest since 2006, and that in the Upper Keys the number of listings are down 16% from last year.

Average Sales Price in August Increases

The average residential sales price in the Upper Keys in August was $473,256. This was a 5.5% increase over the prior month and an 11.1% increase over August of 2008. The volume of sales was $18,457,000, a whopping 73.3% over $10,652,000 recorded in August 2008. I am sure that made some realtors happy.

Florida Keys Real Estate Market First Eight Months of 2009

The number for residential real estate sales in the Upper Florida Keys through August was up 12.2%. The 248 (221 in 2008) closings that were recorded in the Florida Keys MLS averaged $526,585. For the year, this price is still down 18.8% from last year ($648,177 in 2008). To see a graphic representation of this by month, open the attachment at the bottom of the page titled "Upper Florida Keys Monthly Sales Statistics - 2009 vs 2008."

If you ever thought that you would like to have a home in the Florida Keys, now is the time to grab a great deal. It is not however a time for the timid or the over analytical. Know what you want and what you are willing to pay, and be patient. Work with a realtor who keeps their eyes open and puts your interests before their own. If you are financing, have your options together ahead of time and be ready to get down here quickly when your realtor says this is the one.

The Florida Keys will be one of first real estate markets to rebound. The destination is highly desirable and the inventory does not include a large number of new, unsold homes. There are homes on the market now, that will never be available at a lower price.

It's Kind of Like Dad Playing the Horses

My Dad liked to play the horses. He preferred the standard bred trotters and pacers. He would get the race program early in the day and spend a good part of the afternoon handicapping the form. When he went to the track that evening, he focused on the tote board and the pre-race workouts. When he saw a favorable move in the odds on a horse he already liked, or a particularly fast workout quarter, he was ready to place the bet.

When looking for a real estate deal, do the same as Dad. Do your home work early, and watch the tote board. Be mentally prepared to take the shot if the odds move in your favor. Don't be discouraged if you don't collect on the first bet. It may take a couple of tries. Dad always said that when he won the last race the drive home easier.

Most discretionary home buyers, looking to increase their residential real estate inventory, are trying to catch the bottom of the market. I get asked by buyers every week if I think the market is at the bottom. Before I give them my opinion, I make sure they know that they are talking to a broker who bought his last home at "the top" of the market, and is considerably upside down on it as we speak. That being said, if the buyer is still interested in my opinion, I share this with them.

To know if the market is at "the bottom", we must define what we mean by "the bottom." If the bottom is the low end of a graph of average sales prices plotted over time, we are not at the bottom yet. There will be more foreclosures, REOs and Short Sales, before less, and it is these sales that will continue to bring the averages down.

However, when is the last time you bought an average? You buy a home, not an average. There are homes now for sale that will never sell for a lower price. So, if you define the bottom in this way, get your check book out, for we are at the bottom.

We are seeing multiple-offer scenarios that we haven't seen in several years. Last week we were one of seven such offers on a home that saw the light of day for less than a week. It went for over the list price.

Another sign that the Florida Keys market is at the bottom is the re-emergence of the "professional" flipper. Buy the house, put a coat of paint on it, and sell it in less than six months for a significant gain. These are not occasional investors. These are people who do it for a living. They were the first to get out of the real estate market when they saw signs that many of us missed. They are now among the first to get back into it.

For a full report on the Upper Florida Keys real estate market, including charts and graphs of the "averages," visit The Market at http://www.glennhooverrealestate.com/.

After looking at the MLS data for May in the Upper Florida Keys, I continue to see evidence that the real estate market may be changing direction in this little piece of paradise. Once again there was modest month-to-month growth in the number of residential sales, and for the first time this year, last month's closings (May) exceeded 2008 by 10%.

I also see continued growth in the average sales price. In May the average residential sales price in the Upper Florida Keys was $604,846. This is a 6% increase over April and a whopping 31% over January. However, before jumping to the conclusion that real estate prices are escalating at 6% per month, we must realize that monthly averages can be a bit distorted by the mix. None the less, it is certainly better than the decreases we have been seeing for the last few years.

Year-to-date through the end of May, the number of residential sales in the Upper Florida Keys (126) remains down 9.1% compared to the same period last year, while the average sales price ($570,418) is down 20.9%.

Anyone interested in additional market information can visit Florida Keys Market Conditions.