THE STORY behind the FLORIDA SALES NUMBERS

The story behind Florida’s new sales numbers
By KEVIN BRASS, NY Times

Florida, the most popular spot in the U.S. for foreign buyers, saw the number of transactions rise in January, even as the rest of U.S. market continued to sag. Sales of existing homes rose 24 percent compared to the same month of 2008, the fifth month in a row the number of transactions rose, according to the Florida Association of Realtors.

But here’s the kicker: the median sales price for existing homes in the Sunshine State is now $139,500 compared to $206,900 a year ago. That’s a 33 percent drop… in a year.

The lower median price almost certainly reflects the volume of heavily discounted and foreclosures, the Florida association reports. And those distress sales may also explain the increase in transactions.

Meanwhile, the National Association of Realtors reports sales of existing homes in the U.S. dropped to a 12 year low in January, and the median price is down 26 percent from its peak in 2006. The S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Index found prices were down 18.2 percent in the fourth quarter of 2008 compared to the same period of 2007.

And an index that tracks California luxury homes shows that even top end properties continued to slide, led by the San Diego area where prices fell 8.3 percent in the last year.


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