Sunday, March 22, 2015

From Kimberly Miller: "Our Growing Market: Who’s buying now?"

It's a good question and she answers it. The Palm Beach Post article has the numbers and they're very interesting: average down payment, average age, etc. Reading the article you can see why Lake Worth is such an attractive market with new townhomes/apartments being constructed and the supply of rentals and single-family homes.

Lake Worth is the perfect City for up-sizers and down-sizers as well. Here, for example, is the Lucenté project being constructed in the downtown. 

Here's an excerpt from the article by Kimberly Miller:
     The retreat of investors from South Florida’s housing market has left room for traditional homebuyers, but jacked-up prices, lack of inventory under $300,000 and lofty lending standards are still barriers to the American Dream.
     Nationally, millennial buyers — people age 34 and younger — represented 32 percent of all purchases in the previous 12 months, according to a report this month from the National Association of Realtors.
     But Palm Beach County Realtors say anecdotally they’re not seeing a rush of millennials or first-time homebuyers largely because of a housing price shift that rocketed off 2011’s bottom to a median of $273,750 in January.
     Instead, move-up buyers looking for more space and retirees down sizing make up a good deal of Realtors’ clientele. Unless a first-time buyer is ready to handle a fixer-upper or townhome, they may be renting for the near future.
[and this amazing fact:]
     Nearly 69 percent of Palm Beach County condo and townhome sales in January were cash deals.