Boca Raton Rental News & Updates

By Yudislaidy Fernandez, Miami Today

After experiencing one of the worst housing market crises, Miami is making a strong comeback — above other major cities in the US — fueled by international investors buying local real estate with cash.

The coastal and desert regions in the US, including South Florida, are seeing significant sales activity compared to the rest of the nation, with foreign buyers representing the primary group actively scooping up homes and condos at discounted prices.

Regions like Southern California, Tucson, Miami and Las Vegas are seeing an increase in the number of units sold, said Ron Shuffield, president of Esslinger-Wooten-Maxwell Realtors, part of HomeServices of America, a Berkshire Hathaway affiliate that owns a network of 23 realty firms nationally.

By Douglas Hanks, The Miami Herald

Florida emerged as something of a stand-out student in the Federal Reserve’s latest report on real estate in the Southeast.

Amid gloomy reports from brokers in the Fed’s Atlanta district, authors of the closely watched economic report card noted Florida was bucking the trend and reporting positive news.

This has been a running theme in the Fed’s monthly Beige Books, with sales of Florida homes outperforming the rest of the South. In tempered language for its July report, the Fed said the Atlanta district’s reports of modest growth in home sales over the prior year came thanks to the Sunshine State.

MIAMI – July 6, 2011 – Foreign buyers are helping to stoke home sales in U.S. vacation hot spots decimated by the real estate crash, especially in southern Florida.

For the 12 months ending in March, 31 percent of Florida’s home sales were to foreign buyers, up from 10 percent in 2007, according to a survey by the National Association of Realtors.

In Arizona, 6 percent of sales in the same period were to foreigners. That was down from 11 percent last year but still up from 5 percent in 2007, the data show.

Foreign buyers are being enticed by low U.S. home prices, down 30 percent nationwide since peaking in 2006, and the weakened dollar, which makes their money go further. Since the start of 2006, the Canadian dollar has soared 18 percent against the U.S. dollar, while the euro has gained 22 percent, says data tracker Oanda.

 NEW YORK – June 28, 2011 – A sluggish housing market has caused millions of homeowners to lose their home to foreclosure, short sale, or deed in lieu of foreclosure. But once these former homeowners get a better handle on their credit, how long do they have to sit on the sidelines until they can secure future financing to buy a home again?

As an article in The New York Times notes, “there are plenty of asterisks and conditions” when it comes to how long a borrower must wait after a “significant derogatory event,” like a foreclosure or short sale.

In general, however, The New York Times reports that the longest wait to buy again will come if there is a foreclosure in the former homeowner’s past.
 

SAN ANTONIO, Texas – June 20, 2011 – The downturn in the economy has changed the way people live and think about real estate, forcing many to become renters and sending adult children back home to live.

Three economists at the National Association of Real Estate Editors conference last Friday said those trends could affect the residential real estate market for years to come.

And that double dip you’ve been hearing about in the housing market? Never happened. The market’s still on it’s way down, they agreed.

The U.S. continues to remain a top destination for foreign buyers as international purchases surged by $16 billion this year, one of the highest increases in recent years.

This is according to the National Association of REALTORS®’ 2011 Profile of International Home Buying Activity. According to the survey, total residential international sales in the U.S. for the past year ending March 2011 equaled $82 billion, up from $66 billion in 2010. Total international sales were split evenly between non-resident foreigners and recent immigrants, while combined total domestic and international existing-home sales in the U.S. were $1.07 trillion.

“The U.S. has always been a desirable place to own property and a profitable investment,” says NAR President Ron Phipps. “In recent years we have seen more and more foreign buyers coming here to take advantage of low prices and plentiful inventory. In addition to the advantageous market conditions, Realtors® in this country have a global perspective and experience in working with clients from different cultures and real estate practices, helping them bring value to their international clients.”

By Kenric Ward, Sunshine News

The prospects for Florida's economic recovery took a new hit Tuesday, with a widely followed housing index reporting yet another price drop.

The national S&P Case-Shiller price index tumbled 4.2 percent from the first quarter, and was down 5.1 percent compared to its year-ago level. It was the eighth straight monthly decline.

"Home prices continue on their downward spiral with no relief in sight,” David Blitzer, chairman of S&P’s index committee, told the Wall Street Journal.

WASHINGTON – May 31, 2011 – In the aftermath of the nation’s housing-market collapse and recession, more than 500 midsize and large cities have seen a rise in the share of homes that are rented rather than owned, according to a USA TODAY analysis of Census data.

Almost 4 million homes have been lost to foreclosures the past five years, turning many former owner-occupied homes into rentals.

The shift to rental housing is potentially long lasting and portends changes for neighborhood stability and how people build wealth, economists say.

WASHINGTON – May 19, 2011 – The U.S. continues to remain a top destination for foreign buyers as international purchases surged by $16 billion this year – one of the highest increases in recent years – according to the National Association of Realtors®’ 2011 Profile of International Home Buying Activity.

According to the survey, total residential international sales in the U.S. for the year ending March 2011 equaled $82 billion, up from $66 billion in 2010. Total international sales were split evenly between non-resident foreigners and recent immigrants, while combined total domestic and international existing-home sales in the U.S. reached $1.07 trillion.

Florida had 31 percent of total international transactions this year, the most of any state. California had 12 percent, Texas had nine percent, and Arizona rounded out the top four with six percent of international transactions.