Nearly 900 residences in the Vultures Database^TM have closed in the first five months of 2009 at an average discount of $357,500, or nearly 54 percent, a dramatic change from the average price reductions of 44 percent in 2008 and 29 percent in 2007, according to a new report from Condo Vultures® LLC.

Buyers closed 232 single-family houses, condos, and townhouses in the tri-county South Florida region of Miami-Dade, Broward, and Palm Beach counties in May for a daily average of 7.5 transactions. In April, buyers closed an average of 7.0 properties per day. The running average in the first five months of 2009 is 5.9 closings per day on properties in the Vultures Database^TM, according to the report.

"Discount investors and first-time home buyers are having a noticeable impact on the coastal residential real estate market in South Florida," said Peter Zalewski, a principal with the Bal Harbour, Fla.-based real estate consultancy Condo Vultures®. "Half of the transactions involving properties in the Vultures Database^TM have closed in the last two months. We anticipate the pace will continue at the same level, if not stronger, throughout the summer if conditions remains the same."

In its third year of monitoring South Florida discounts, the Vultures Database^TM is comprised of nearly 3,800 condos, townhouses, and single-family houses actively for sale east of Interstate 95 in Miami-Dade, Broward, and Palm Beach counties that have been reduced in price by at least 10 percent and/or $100,000.

Discounts are proving to be the single-most important factor in determining whether a property is sold or not. With conventional financing difficult to obtain, the majority of today's buyers are selectively purchasing with cash or the assistance of government-backed programs, such as the Obama $8,000 tax credit for first-time home buyers.

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Peter Zalewski of Condo Vultures® can be reached at 800-750-0517 or by email at peter@condovultures.com. Don't forget to sign up for our weekly Market Intelligence Report^TM for detailed condo reports. Looking for a property at a deep discount? You are encouraged to take a peek at the Vultures Database^TM or our Video Gallery. Our new books, the Official Condo Buyers Guide to Miami^TM , Miami's Great Condo Crash: A Chronicle of the Boom and Bust^TM , and First-Time Home Buyers Guide To South Florida^TM are now available. Want to see every foreclosure filed in South Florida since 2007? Check out our Foreclosure Database^TM.

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