Southeast Florida Home Prices Lowest Since Crash

It’s been a long time since we last blogged but it is not because we haven’t been thinking of you, it is because we have been really busy!!!

Real Estate in South Florida has taken off again and Buyers are back. In fact over the last week we were out with two new buyers and it was almost impossible to find them a house to show. This time last year, we would have had 7 or 8!!!

Inventory of houses on Miami Beach are at a low…hey SELLERS if you have a property to sell on Miami Beach, give us a call at 786-333-6200 or shoot us an email to debra@golanteam.com (saying thanks in advance!)

But don’t just take our word for it…

South Florida home prices in March hit their lowest level since the real estate crash!

Prices for Palm Beach, Broward and Miami-Dade counties were down 6 percent from the previous year and a staggering 51 percent from their peak in December 2006, according to the Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller price index, which was released Tuesday

You can read the full article in the Palm Beach Post . Whatever the news you read, the truth is in the numbers…Buyers are out, properties are selling and inventory is lowering.

Over the next several blogs we will discuss inventory stats in closer detail.

Meanwhile, we wish you a wonderful and happy july 4th holiday and we will back at the blog next week.

South Florida home sales and prices on the RISE!!!

It is truly a pleasure when we can quote a newspaper on positive news on the South Florida Real Estate market. Such is today’s story in The Miami Herald.

Entitled : South Florida home sales – and prices – rise .. Home sales and prices increased in April compared to the year before – a possible sign of stability in a long-shaky real estate market.

You can read the full article here: MIAMI HERALD - HOME SALES UP

Here are the key points:

1) Median sale price of existing homes in Miami-Dade County (up 8%) and Broward county (up 7%) increased compared with last April (2009).

2) The number of Home sales also crept up – Miami Dade County up 7% and Broward County up 11%. This was mainly fueled by bargains on troubled properties, low mortgage rates and a deadline for thousands of dollars in tax credits.

3) Condo Sales also had huge numbers over last year. In Miami Dade County 723 units were sold which represents a 33% increase over the same period last year. In Broward County number of condos sold topped at 1,077 – an increase of 30% over April 2009.

Let’s hope this trend continues and we see successful increases in number of properties sold as well as increases in prices.

If you are interested in purchasing property from South Beach to Bal Harbour, Sunny Isles Beach, Aventura, Hallandale or Hollywood please contact The Golan Team at 786-271-1235 or drop us an email to info@golanteam.com

Do you need to appeal your property tax bill?

By now, everyone who owns property in either Miami-Dade county or Broward county should have received their Property Tax notice last week. Did your taxes go down? Did your taxes go up? With property values declining across the board, how is it possible that your property taxes have gone up?

There are two components to your Property Tax Notice. First is the ASSESSED VALUE and the second is MILLAGE RATE. The ASSESSED VALUE is where the counties base their tax bills on the “market value” which is the value of comparable properties in your neighborhood as of January 1, of this year. That means if there was a phenomenally low sale last month on a comparable property near yours that closed last month, it will not count until next year. Note that because foreclosure prices closed much lower than “traditional” home closings, the County Appraiser’s office has decided not to include them in their equation. If you want more information on this click http://www.miamidade.gov/pa/exempt_homestead.asp
or if you own property in Broward county go to http://www.bcpa.net/

The MILLAGE RATE – is how the county Property Appraiser determines the value of the property for tax purposes, the local taxing authorities (school board, commissioners, etc.) decide how much money is required to provide services and establish the millage rate . The Property Appraiser’s office does not determine the amount of taxes you pay. The taxes can increase or decrease depending on the millage rate set by the school board, commissioners, cities and other taxing authorities. The assessed value provides the base for this equation.

Therefore even if your property values have gone down (you should check on your notice the market/assessed value columns 2008 vs 2009) the millage rate could have gone up and that would cause an increase in your taxes due.

If you feel your taxes have been assessed wrong you must make a complaint by SEPTEMBER 18, 2009 latest.

In Dade county – click here to appeal
Or in person visit please visit one of their two Offices:
111 NW First St., 8th Floor, in downtown Miami

OR

10710 SW 211 St., 2nd Floor, in Cutler Bay

In Broward County - visit http://www.bcpa.net/ for information

If you own a House – call 954-357-6831
If you own a Condo – call 954-357-6832
If you own Commercial Property – call 954-357-6835

Remember the deadline is only 19 days away so do not delay if you want to appeal.

This blog has been provided as a free service from THE GOLAN TEAM. For all your Real Estate needs whether residential, commercial or investment. Contact us at 786-271-1235 or visit us at http://www.golanteam.com/. Interested in foreclosures – sign up for a free list of foreclosures at http://www.southfloridaluxuryforeclosures.com/ . Interested in subscribing to our blog – visit http://www.southfloridacondosblog,com/ and look for the subscribe box on the right hand side.