South
Florida ranked 12th nationally in a new report measuring the best places
to buy a foreclosure, partly because a hefty backlog of nearly 105,000
distressed homes could hit the tri-county market in the coming year.
The
report, released today, is the first from the Irvine, Calif.-based
company RealtyTrac to rank metropolitan areas by how attractive they are
for purchasing a foreclosure. Of the regions in the top 20, six are in
Florida, including the Palm Bay/Melbourne area, which is in first place
nationally.
Regions
were ranked according to four measures: months’ supply of foreclosure
inventory, percentage of overall sales that are foreclosures,
foreclosure sales price, and percent change in foreclosure activity in
2012 from the previous year.
RealtyTrac
Vice President Daren Blomquist said the company wanted to identify
places where there will be more foreclosures coming on the market
because of the current lack of housing inventory nationwide.
“These
are bright spots in the housing market where buyers will find more homes
available,” Blomquist said.
Palm
Beach County had a 5.9 months’ supply of single-family homes in
December, according to the Realtors Association of the Palm Beaches.
There was a six-month supply of condominiums and townhomes.
Traditionally, a 5.5 months’ supply is considered a balanced market.
According
to the report, Palm Beach, Broward and Miami-Dade counties have a 29
months’ supply of homes in some stage of foreclosure but not yet
listed for sale on the market. That equals 104,833 homes.
The
average foreclosure sales price in South Florida last year was $129,941,
a 30 percent discount from what homebuyers paid for a non-foreclosure,
according to RealtyTrac.
Blomquist
said an increase in sales of distressed homes could weaken sale prices,
a drag on surrounding home values.
“However,”
he added, “because of the strengthening demand that seems to be taking
place in South Florida, we’re not in danger of seeing home prices
crater again like we did in past years.”
Debbie
Smith, broker/owner of Home Run Real Estate west of Lake Worth,
specializes in selling bank-owned homes. She said foreclosures should be
listed for sale in a measured fashion.
“Release
of the inventory too fast will hurt the market,” Smith said.
Today’s
report also ranked South Florida 5th among large metro areas nationally
for overall foreclosure activity with a 36 percent increase from 2011.
Nationwide, there was a 2.7 percent decrease in metro area foreclosure
activity.
Best
places to buy a foreclosure
1.
Palm Bay/Melbourne, Fla.
2.
Rochester, NY
3.
Albany/Troy, NY
4.
New York/Northern New Jersey
5.
Lakeland, Fla.
6.
Tampa/St. Petersburg, Fla.
7.
Jacksonville, Fla.
8.
Poughkeepsie/Newburgh, NY
9.
Orlando, Fla.
10.
Chicago, Ill.
11.
El Paso, TX
12.
South Florida (Palm Beach, Broward and Miami-Dade counties)