Best Cities For A Housing Recovery

Increased transactions and relatively low foreclosure re-sales spell good news for the Miami-Fort Lauderdale Market

Like many of our clients, you’ve seen good news as of late on the economic front. The stock market is up 50% from its lows in March, and consumer spending increased in May, June and July. But you may be wondering when will housing turn around?

Even the wisest can’t answer that, the experts at Cabot Homes are seeing increasing reasons for optimism in this economic environment. While there is reason to be cautious given the country’s unemployment situation and still too high rate of mortgage defaults, key measures indicate that some metros are more on their way to recovery than others.

Take Cabot Homes primary market of Miami-Fort Lauderdale. Forbes.com reports that sales are up 27% over last year and only 3.5% of those are the result of foreclosure re-sales. In fact, Miami-Fort Lauderdale ranked no. 1 in Forbes most recent survey for markets showing a strong rebound.

Take a look at the rankings:

1. Miami-Fort Lauderdale
2. Lincoln, Neb
3. Colorado Springs, Ca
4. Salem, Ore
5. San Luis Obispo, Ca

In compiling their list, Forbes looked at 161 of the country’s largest metropolitan statistical areas (or metros)–geographic entities defined by the U.S. Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for use by federal agencies in collecting, tabulating and publishing federal statistics–where sales activity had picked up over the last year, but where foreclosure sales, as a percentage of overall sales were the lowest. They also incorporated data from Zillow.com, an online housing data firm based in Seattle, Wash. And while their list doesn’t go so far as to profess a turnaround, it does point out which cities are in the lead on the road to recovery. Of course, we didn’t need Forbes to tell us the Miami-Fort Lauderdale area was in the midst of a turnaround. The Cabot Homes Group is at the forefront of this recovery, using our experience and expertise to create value and opportunity for our clients.

Behind Cabot Homes Group primary market of Miami-Fort Lauderdale was Lincoln, Neb followed by Colorado Springs, Colo., Salem, Ore. and San Luis Obispo, Calif. Here, sales have returned, but foreclosures are a relatively small percentage. In Colorado Springs, sales activity is up 14%, while transactions involving bank-owned properties made up one-fifth of them. Having seen a large number of foreclosures in our market, Cabot Homes Group has helped our clients interesting in navigating this market to take advantage of value based real estate opportunities unique to this growing market.

Because housing, like any asset, depends on supply and demand, the sales rate is an incredibly useful statistic in judging a recovery. Of Course, the best asset to help you position yourself and take advantage of this recovery is your Miami-Fort Lauderdale expert at Cabot Homes Group.