With home sales in Miami-Dade County outpacing the rest of the US, it's hard to believe that one of every five households with mortgages here is in foreclosure. Investors and foreign buyers are swooping in to take advantage of the oversupply of cheap, distressed homes.
Home sales in the metropolitan Miami area rose 16% during the first half of the year of 2011 when compared to 2010, which is the best spring the city has seen in four years. According to the NY Times, prices are staying steady, with some prices even rising for high-end homes. During the first half of this year, there were 439 sales for more than $2 million.
The fate of the housing economy in South Florida has been closely tied to the large number of foreclosures in the area. In some communities, over half of all home sales were bank repossessions. Owners turned their backs on these cheap, poorly taken care of homes, which accelerated the real estate market's descent.
Today is a different story. With foreclosures slowing and lenders stalling old cases due to legal reasons, some of these neighborhoods are improving, shifting the balance between supply and demand in South Florida. During the financial crisis in 2008 there were 108,000 properties for sale and not a buyer in sight. Now there are fewer than 48,000 properties for sale.
Paramount Bay condos are one example of real estate bouncing back. The 47-story condo building was supposed to open in 2009 but foreclosed. With the sales team calling this a "new chapter", Paramount Bay is on track to start selling in September and, like many other buildings abandoned during the crash, will be occupied by the end of next year.
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