The month of July hasn’t showed much of a change in the Fort Lauderdale area condo market, but let’s take a look:   Available inventory has dropped to a low of only 3,755 units.  This is down from June 2012 and is about a 58% drop from the 8,985 units that were available for sale in January 2010.

The average sale price in July 2012 was $147,529, up slightly from $146,219 in June 2012. There was a significant drop from May to June, but it appears that prices may have stabilized in July.

The next data point that is worth watching is the percentage of sales that were distressed (either short-sale or REO).  In July 2012, that number made a 1% uptick to 21% of condo sales, up from 20% in June of 2012.  This is in-line with my prediction that we will now begin to see banks accelerating their foreclosure actions now that the robo-signer settlement is complete.  Also, as part of the settlement, banks are now favoring short-sales as an alternative to the costly foreclosure actions.  Remember that foreclosures in Florida take on average over 800 days to complete since this is a judicial state.  That makes short-sales a good alternative.

One final snapshot that may help put things into perspective:  The chart below from Realtytrac displays the difference between the average selling price of a normal sale and the selling price of a foreclosed property.  The greatest difference is $76,678 in Collier County and Broward County is $56,480.

Difference in average selling price: Normal Sale vs Foreclosure

In summary, distressed sales will be a part of the Fort Lauderdale real estate market for the next several years.  For those people that think the housing crisis is over, the gradual turn in the single family housing and condo data for South Florida will most likely paint a picture that is less rosy.

The Allied Realty Group residential team serves as the exclusive broker for a variety of financial institutions in the management and sale of distressed single family and multi-family properties.  Our team will inspect, repair, market and dispose of REO properties in a manner that mitigates bank losses.

Allied Realty Group’s REO assignment territory is Broward County, Florida and we complete broker price opinions (BPO’s) for banks on a daily basis. All of our residential brokerage clients appreciate our extensive market insight since we are actively visiting properties and preparing comprehensive valuations for asset managers.