Blackstone Rushes $2.5 Billion Purchase as Homes Rise

NEW YORK - Nearly two-thirds of Americans think the time is right to buy a house, with a majority believing prices will be the same or higher over the next year, according to a Fannie Mae survey released Tuesday.

The 64 percent that said it is a good time to buy is just shy of the 66 percent that said the same thing in 2003 as the U.S. housing market was racing higher, said the survey.

However, most of the 3,451 polled said that it would be tougher for them to get a loan than it was for their parents.

The survey comes amid signs that the U.S. housing market is recovering after suffering the worst downturn since the 1930s. But, while home prices in some regions are rising, soaring delinquency rates across the nation mean foreclosures will keep persistent pressure on the market, according to analysts.

Fannie Mae, the largest U.S. mortgage finance company, said that the public still "strongly believes" in upholding their financial commitments, though that weakens once people know someone who is defaulting.

Those who know someone in default are more than twice as likely to have seriously considered stopping payments on their own mortgage, Fannie Mae said.

WASHINGTON - The recovery may have gotten off to a slow start in the third quarter, but a surge in home sales last month could presage a more robust end to the year.

Sales of existing homes rose in November to the highest level in nearly three years, reflecting an extraordinary level of federal support that has pulled the housing market back from its worst downturn since the Great Depression.

The National Association of Realtors said sales rose 7.4 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 6.54 million from a downwardly revised pace of 6.09 million in October.

Sales had been expected to rise to a pace of 6.25 million, according to economists surveyed by Thomson Reuters.

"Things are stabilizing," said Pete Flint, chief executive of real estate Web site Trulia.com. "There is a significant amount of buyer interest out there."

A rebound in housing could help give the nascent recovery a boost in the fourth quarter after it got off to a weaker-than-expected start in the third quarter.

President Obama, speaking after a meeting at the White House with chief executives of community banks Tuesday, said business have a great opportunity now to start growing and hiring again if they can get the credit they need.

"We feel very optimistic that the worst is behind us," the president said.

The Commerce Department reported Tuesday that the economy grew at a 2.2 percent pace in the July-to-September quarter, slower than the 2.8 percent rate estimated just a month ago. Economists were predicting the figure wouldn't be revised in the government's final estimate on third-quarter GDP.

The main factors behind the downgrade: Consumers didn't spend as much, commercial construction was weaker, business investment was a bit softer and companies cut back more on inventories, according to Tuesday's report.

Despite the lower reading, the economy managed to finally return to growth during the quarter, after a record four straight quarters of decline. That signaled the deepest and longest recession since the 1930s had ended and the economy had entered into a new fragile phase of recovery.

Many analysts believe the economy is on track for a better result in the current quarter.

"We expect a better performance in the fourth quarter, but the core problems for the economy — bust banks and a massively overleveraged consumer — have not gone away," said Ian Shepherdson, chief economist at High Frequency Economics.

The economy is probably growing at a rate of nearly 4 percent in the current quarter, analysts say. If they're right, that would mark the strongest showing since 5.4 percent growth in the first quarter of 2006 — well before the recession began. The government will release its first estimate of fourth-quarter economic activity Jan. 29.

Yet even such growth wouldn't be enough to quickly drive down the unemployment rate, now at 10 percent. High unemployment and tight credit for both consumers and businesses are expected to continue to weigh on the economic recovery. Many economists predict the economy's growth will slow to a pace of around 2 or 3 percent in the first three months of 2010.

Growth in the final quarter is expected to be driven by companies restocking depleted inventories. Stocks of goods were slashed at a record pace during the recession. So even the smallest pickup in customer demand will force factories to step up production and boost overall activity.

Stronger exports, as well as spending by U.S. consumers and businesses, also will help underpin fourth-quarter growth.

It's been a wild ride for the economy this year. In the first three months, it shrank at a pace of 6.4 percent — its worst downhill slide in 27 years.

The recession eased in the second quarter, with the economy dipping at a pace of 0.7 percent. The economy returned to growth in the third quarter.

But much of the third quarter's growth was supported by government stimulus. The "Cash for Clunkers" rebates and an $8,000 tax credit for first-time home buyers buoyed sales of cars and homes. The clunkers program ended in August, though the tax credit has been extended and expanded beyond first-time buyers.

Government stimulus certainly had a hand in helping November home sales. Buyers were racing to complete their sales before the original expiration date of a tax credit for first-time buyers that was scheduled to end Nov. 30. Last month, Congress decided to extend and expand the credit to ensure the housing market could sustain its recovery.

Besides the existing tax credit of up to $8,000 for first-time buyers, homeowners who have lived in their current properties for at least five years can now claim a tax credit of up to $6,500 if they relocate. To qualify, buyers must sign a purchase agreement by April 30.

Foreclosure rates remain a strong drag on the housing market and the economy, however. Employers continue to cut jobs, which is not good news for the record 14 percent of homeowners with a mortgage that is either behind on payments or in foreclosure.

The government makes three estimates of GDP, which measures the value of all goods and services produced in the United States, for a given quarter. Each estimate is based on more complete data. The government's initial estimate for the third quarter was more energetic, showing the economy's growth at a 3.5 percent pace. Subsequent estimates, however, showed the recovery was actually slower.

A trouble spot for the economy — the commercial real-estate market — was clearly visible in Tuesday's report.

Builders slashed spending on commercial building projects at an annualized pace of 18.4 percent in the third quarter. That was sharper than the 15.1 percent pace previously estimated and contributed to the GDP downgrade.

It's unclear how the recovery will fare once the government withdraws stimulus programs put in place to combat the financial crisis and the recession. If consumers pull back on spending, the economy could tip back into recession.

Against that backdrop, the Federal Reserve pledged last week to keep interest rates at a record low to help the recovery gain traction.

Faced with the prospects of high unemployment well into the 2012 presidential election year, President Barack Obama wants the government to take further steps to put Americans back to work. The House last week passed some provisions that Obama has pushed to aid job growth. But it didn't include new tax breaks for small businesses that hire.

The administration credits its $787 billion package of tax cuts and increased government spending with improving employment, though Republicans argue it did not help much.

U.S. Economy: Home Prices Increase by Most Since 2005

Sept. 29 (Bloomberg) -- Home values in 20 U.S. cities climbed in July by the most in almost four years, helping stem the record plunge in household wealth that’s depressed spending.

The S&P/Case-Shiller home-price index rose 1.2 percent in July from the prior month, the biggest gain since October 2005, the group said today in New York. Another report showed consumer confidence unexpectedly fell in September, while holding above the record low reached earlier this year.

Home values are rebounding as low borrowing costs and government tax credits lift home sales. Combined with rising stock prices, the gains will begin to restore the $13 trillion plunge in net worth caused by the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression, a process that economists such as Brian Bethune say will take years to complete.

Home prices are “a major, major turning point for the economy,” said Bethune, chief financial economist at IHS Global Insight in Lexington, Massachusetts. “We are eating away at the problem of household balance sheets.”

The New York-based Conference Board’s consumer confidence index fell to 53.1 in September from 54.5 the prior month, the private research group said today, amid growing concern over the lack of jobs. The gauge sank to 25.3 in February, the lowest level in data going back to 1967.

The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index dropped after the confidence report, erasing earlier gains. The index was up 0.1 percent to 1,064.01 at 1:18 p.m. in New York. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note was little changed at 3.29 percent compared to 3.28 percent late yesterday.

Decline Slows

From a year earlier, the S&P/Case Shiller index was down 13.3 percent, less than economists anticipated and the smallest decrease in 17 months.

The measure was forecast to fall 14.2 percent, according to the median projection of 36 economists surveyed by Bloomberg News. Estimates ranged from declines of 12.5 percent to 15 percent. It was down 15.4 percent in the 12 months ended in June.

Compared with the prior month, 17 of the 20 cities covered showed an increase, led by a 3.1 percent jump in Minneapolis and a 2.9 percent increase in San Francisco. Las Vegas suffered the biggest one-month decrease at 1.9 percent.

Sales Rising

Combined sales of new and existing homes have risen for four out of the last five months, signaling the worst of the housing crisis is over.

The Obama administration’s $8,000 tax credit for first- time buyers, which is due to expire at the end of November, combined with lower prices as foreclosures soared, have helped lift sales this year. The National Association of Realtors and the National Association of Home Builders have lobbied to extend the credit on concern demand will wane after it lapses.

Karl Case, co-creator of the S&P/Case-Shiller index, said the U.S. residential property market is improving enough to end the tax credit for first-time buyers.

“We’ve got to phase back incentives and this may be a good time to do that,” Case said in an interview on Bloomberg Radio. “I believe in some cities you’ll see the beginning of recovery.”

Pending Profit

Lennar Corp., the third-largest U.S. homebuilder, is among companies that see demand improving, even as losses mount. The Miami-based company said last week it expects to turn a profit in fiscal 2010.

“In the third quarter we started to see some real signs that the housing market is in fact starting to stabilize,” Stuart Miller, Lennar’s chief executive officer, said on a Sept. 21 conference call. “The sense that now is the time to buy is starting to gain momentum.”

The Conference Board’s confidence gauge was projected to increase to 57, according to the median estimate of economists surveyed by Bloomberg News.

The decline was caused by growing pessimism over jobs. The share of consumers who said jobs are plentiful fell to 3.4 percent this month from 4.3 percent. The proportion of people who said jobs are hard to get increased to 47 percent from 44.3 percent.

“It’s a little hard for households to look at their paychecks, or the lack thereof, and feel more confident,” Ellen Zentner, a senior economist at Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ Ltd. in New York, said in a Bloomberg Television interview. Even so, “we should continue to see consumer confidence turn around,” because the recession is over and hiring eventually will rebound, she said.

Fewer Job Losses

The pace of job losses is easing as the economy shows signs of accelerating. Payrolls fell by 216,000 in August, the smallest decline in a year, according to the Labor Department. Employers probably cut another 180,000 workers this month, economists project a Labor Department report later this week will show.

Economists say the Conference Board’s index tends to be more influenced by attitudes about the labor market.

Confidence may improve in future months as balance sheets rebound. Net worth for households and non-profit groups climbed by $2 trillion in the second quarter, marking the first gain since the third quarter of 2007, according to figures from the Federal Reserve.

Fed policy makers last week said they would keep the benchmark lending rate near zero “for an extended period,” and noted that sluggish income growth and tight credit are curbing household spending and slowing the pace of the economic recovery.

NEW YORK - A closely watched index shows home prices posted their first quarterly increase in three years, signaling the housing market has turned a corner.

The Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller's U.S. National Home Price Index released Tuesday rose nearly 3 percent from the first quarter, though was still down almost 15 percent from the second quarter last year.

Home prices are at levels not seen since early 2003. Prices have fallen 30 percent from the peak in the second quarter of 2006.

The monthly index of 20 major cities increased 1.4 percent from May to June to 142, the second straight month the index registered a gain. All but two cities, Las Vegas and Detroit, saw home prices rise, and Dallas and Denver clocked their fourth-straight monthly increase.

Prices, however, have a long way to go to recover completely. Every metro showed annual declines, with fifteen reporting double-digit drops.

The Case-Shiller index is a composite of home price indexes for the nine U.S. census divisions. The 20-city index measures home price increases and decreases relative to prices in January 2000. The base reading is 100; so a reading of 150 would mean that home prices increased 50 percent since the beginning of the index.

FAR Study: 2009 Fla. international homebuyers

ORLANDO, Fla. – Aug. 31, 2009 – International home buyers make up a significant part of the Florida real estate market, and are an important part of many Florida Realtors®’ businesses. According to a study conducted for the Florida Association of Realtors® (FAR) by the National Association of Realtors (NAR), a majority (54 percent) of Florida Realtors worked with an international client within the past 12 months.

The typical Florida Realtor participating in the survey worked with three international clients; 10 percent of respondents worked with 11 or more international clients in the past year.

Not all client interactions result in a transaction. In the past 12 months, 34 percent of Realtors who worked with international clients reported that none of their international clients purchased a home. However, this does not mean that those international clients will not ultimately buy in Florida.

Other study highlights:

• 86 percent bought an existing home, while 14 percent opted for a new home.

• 52 percent chose a single-family detached home. Of the rest, 34 percent chose a condo, 76 percent a townhome, and 7 percent “other.”

• One in four buyers (27 percent) bought a home in South Florida, while Bradenton-Sarasota-Venice and Orlando attracted 11 percent each. However, one-third (32 percent) of foreign buyers purchased a home outside Florida’s top six metropolitan areas.

• One-third of buyers (35 percent) who eventually decided to walk way did so, at least in part, because of property tax costs; while 31 percent cited immigration laws that prevent year-round residence. While Floridians balk at the cost of property insurance, however, only 20 percent of immigrants listed that as a reason to walk away.

Homebuilders Buying Land After Three Years of Cutting Inventory

FORT MYERS BEACH: There may be signs that the local real estate market is heading in the right direction. A big chunk of vacationers on Fort Myers Beach were walking into local real estate offices.

We saw parking lots packed on Friday as curious people checked out the deals for renting and for buying along Estero Island.

Real estate officials say Christmas is traditionally one of the quietest times for local realtors, but say the huge number of walk-in prospects is an encouraging sign heading into the New Year.

"They're just coming in off the street, wanting to find something to rent," said Ann Alsop of Century 21. "Years ago, it used to be you never went to Fort Myers Beach without a reservation. Now it's different."

She added that the increase in walk-up renters is rather unprecedented.

Even more encouraging, she said, is the increase in walk-up home buyers.

Realtors pursue international investors

BRADENTON, Fla. – Oct. 9, 2008 – Florida is becoming a hot spot in the global real estate market.

Declining property prices coupled with a desirable climate is making the state an attractive investment and bargain for foreign buyers.

And local real estate professionals are taking advantage of that appeal and doing more to establish international relationships.

“The past couple of years with the declining dollar, Florida has become a magnet to international investors,” said Ivo Travnicek, of Florida Venture Partners LLC, a Sarasota firm that serves as a managing partner for foreign investors.

While property transactions in Florida have declined over the past three years, the number of international buyers in the state has grown, according to a joint survey by the National Association of Realtors and Florida Association of Realtors.

Florida Venture Partners are among several local companies to extensively network overseas in an attempt to profit from the increasing number of international buyers.

On Friday, the group leaves for Europe to begin a week-long trip aimed to attract buyers from Prague and Slovakia.

Sarasota lawyer Alan Tannenbaum, who formed the group with Travnicek and Realtor Ian Black, said this will be the group’s fourth trip in a year to Central and Eastern Europe in which they’ve showcased a portfolio of property ranging between $22 million to $100 million to the area’s top investors.

“The trips have built on each other,” Tannenbaum said. “I think you’re going to see over the next six months a real substantial amount of transactions that are going to occur.”

The number of international buyers of Florida property from 2005 to 2008 has doubled.

According to about 5,000 Florida Realtors who participated in a survey by the National Association of Realtors, international purchases made up 30 percent of Florida property sales reported between August 2007 and August 2008.

In 2008, the Sarasota-Bradenton-Venice area ranked third on the top destinations for international property purchases as reported by Realtors in the survey.

Luxury real estate companies that are well established internationally, too, are taking an aggressive approach to establishing global relationships.

Today, Michael Saunders, president of Michael Saunders & Co., is speaking in London to the National Association of Estate Agents about the importance of networking.

Tom Heatherman, corporate communications director for Michael Saunders, said Saunders’ speech will be the key note address at a meeting. She will discuss the value of effective international networking.

Saunders’ trip to London follows networking conferences she attended in Rome and Madrid, and precedes a global conference she will attend in Bermuda later this year.

“Michael more than anyone else is a proponent of networking at all times,” Heatherman said. “It’s the networking you do in the bad times that set you up for the good times.”

Terry Hayes, an agent with SKY Sotheby’s International Realty, said Anna Maria Island has a strong reputation for attracting European buyers.

Hayes said SKY Sotheby’s had the opportunity to further showcase Anna Maria property to international investors at conference held in Boca Raton in May.

“We were able to go over there and really feature our properties on the West Coast with a lot of international agents visiting,” Hayes said of the conference that was attended by 1,500 agents representing 23 countries.

“I certainly haven’t stopped advertising in the international market,” Hayes said. “The international market has always been attracted to this part of the market. They still think it’s a beautiful place to own a home.”
 

Study: Foreign homebuyers favor Florida in greater numbers

ORLANDO, Fla. – Sept. 23, 2008 – While a number of factors have contributed to a home sales decline in Florida, an increase in foreign homebuyers has modified the trend, according to a just-released research paper from the National Association of Realtors (NAR), the 2008 “Profile of International Home Buying in Florida.”

Foreign buyers recognize U.S. real estate as a desirable, profitable and secure investment. In addition, the weak dollar has made U.S. real estate an even more attractive investment.

NAR, in cooperation with the Florida Association of Realtors, conducted a survey of Florida Realtors, asking them about their experience working with international clients. This survey was conducted in August 2008, with a total of 4,859 responses received from Realtors who had completed more than 4,000 transactions involving a foreign buyer during the previous year.

More than half (53 percent) of the Realtors reported that they worked with an international client in the past 12 months. The typical Realtor in this group worked with three international clients, and about one in five (17 percent) worked with six or more international clients in the past year. More than one-quarter (28 percent) had one international client who purchased a property, and 15 percent reported two transactions within the past 12 months. Nearly one in five Florida Realtors who worked with international clients completed at least three home sales transactions.

Significance of the international market

One in 10 Realtors (12 percent) reported that an international client base made up 50 percent or more of their business. Half indicated that international clients accounted for 25 percent or less of their business.

The survey also asked FAR members if they’ve seen any change in their number of foreign clients. One-third of respondents noted an increasing share in the past two years, while just over half (52 percent) said that their share of international clients remained stable, neither increasing or decreasing.

Where they’re from

Although homebuyers come from all over the world, buyers from a few regions and countries had a higher demand for Florida property. FAR members reported that Canada buyers account for 27 percent of recent sales among foreign buyers. Buyers from the United Kingdom accounted for 21 percent; and the rest of Western Europe accounted for an additional 25 percent.

Latin America – defined for the report to include Mexico, the Caribbean nations, Central America and South America – accounted for 17 percent of recent sales to international clients. In addition to Canada and the United Kingdom, countries with a small but significant share of sales included Germany (7 percent), Venezuela (5 percent) and France (4 percent).

Where they bought

The Miami-Fort Lauderdale area was the most frequently reported location of a home purchased by a foreign buyer in Florida. One in five (21 percent) bought a home in the area, followed by one in 10 (11 percent) who purchased a home in the Orlando area. Sarasota, Tampa, Fort Myers and Naples rounded out the top six, accounting for at least 5 percent of purchases by foreign buyers.

The remaining 39 percent of purchases were in other areas of Florida.
 

Fla. still No. 1 with foreign home buyers

By MARTHA BRANNIGAN                                                                                                                                              8 augustus 2008

Florida remains by far the most popular location for foreign buyers of real estate, accounting for 25.4 percent of all international purchases in the United States.

However, the number of foreign buyers nationwide declined over the past year, reflecting the deep U.S. housing slump, a new study released Thursday by the National Association of Realtors said.

The study, which covered the year ending in May, said 26 percent of Realtors surveyed had at least one foreign client, down from nearly one-third of the brokers queried in 2007.

The profile of international home buying activity said that ``foreign buyers -- like U.S. buyers -- may be waiting for home prices to continue to decline in order to purchase a property at a lower price.''

Canadians, aided by a strong Canadian dollar, were the No. 1 group of international buyers, accounting for nearly a quarter of all foreign buyers in the year ended May 2008. That was nearly twice the share the Canadians represented a year earlier.

Florida was the choice for 33 percent of all Canadian purchases in the United States.

Mexicans, who were the No. 1 group of international buyers last year, dropped to third place, behind the British and Canadians. Forty-two percent of all British buyers chose Florida.

Rounding out the top six were: China, India, and Germany. Buyers from China favored California, which captured 25 percent of their U.S. purchases, but Florida was No. 2 with 11 percent. Fifty-four percent of German buyers picked the Sunshine State.

After Florida, other top states for foreign buyers are California, Arizona and Texas.

Despite the current downturn, 35.5 percent of Florida Realtors surveyed said their international business has grown in the past five years, the report said. Some 52.6 percent in Florida reported their foreign business remained about the same, and only 11.8 percent indicated foreign business had decreased.

Thirty-eight percent of the Realtors thought the weak dollar was having a significant impact on foreign buyers looking in the United States, the study said.

But there were also some factors putting the brakes on U.S. purchases. 'While U.S. real estate is still considered a `safe haven' for foreign funds, there are some perceived impediments to foreign purchases including cost of property, immigration laws, and property taxes,'' the report said.

Germans cashing in on SWFL foreclosures

12 juli 2008

CAPE CORAL: There is a new twist to the foreclosure market in Southwest Florida. Germans are taking advantage of the exchange rate, scooping up properties for an even better deal.

Realtor Marc Joseph estimates a home selling for $90,000 in Cape Coral can be bought with European money for only €57,000.

The issue is catching the attention of a national TV news crew from Germany. Three people from Spiegel TV traveled more than 5,000 miles to come to Cape Coral to report on the foreclosure market here.

"It's quite overwhelming I must say, even as a reporter, to see what's going on," said German TV reporter Julia Kriwitz. "Everything is on sale, everybody is hustling, wheeling and dealing."

The German crew followed more than a dozen interested buyers on a foreclosure bus tour through the Cape.

Cathrin Matzen is one of them. A native German, she says she was first attracted to Cape Coral because of the large German population.

"You get your heritage neighborhoods, we still have German friends here, get the Germany bakery, everything is German. It feels like home," says Matzen.

Now she's looking to invest in the real estate market.

Although she was a little distracted by the German news cameras. She hopes her family back home will catch a glimpse of her on TV.

The news crew is putting together a 45 minute documentary that will air on national TV in Germany in early September.

24 mei 2008:

Homes in Lee County sell cheap, but fast
 

Sales increase 41 percent over April 2007
 

Condos in South Florida good news for bargain hunters

MIAMI – May 19, 2008 –The glut of condominiums for sale in South Florida is attracting a legion of bargain hunters.

Out-of-state and international buyers are descending on the area in search of deep discounts as prices continue to crater. They want to get in now and wait out the housing slump because they think the region remains a powerful long-term draw.

With the lingering real estate downturn, now in its third year, some condos are selling at 25 to 60 percent less than during the boom times, when investors hoping to “flip” units bid up prices.

At the end of April, almost 41,000 condos were listed for sale in Palm Beach and Broward counties, according to data from Coldwell Banker Residential Real Estate. Based on the current monthly sales pace, it would take roughly five years to sell all those condos if no new units came onto the market. Experts point to a huge number of still-unfinished condos that will keep a lid on prices for at least a year.

Flush with cash, buyers from Italy, Germany, England, Spain and other countries are scooping up condos here for at least 30 percent less than the cost of properties in their homelands.

Susan Gomez of Colombia visited South Florida last week and had real estate agent Chuck Frank show her condos in Fort Lauderdale and Miami. The owner of a language translation business said she hopes to buy in a month or so.

“The gossip in South America is that properties in the U.S. are selling for low prices and the market is good here,” said Gomez, 50. “They’re saying that people who want to buy should buy now.”

Amit Bagaria, a real estate executive from Bangalore, India, spent two days this month scouting for deals on behalf of wealthy Asian families. He’s eyeing new buildings in Fort Lauderdale and Miami with condos priced from $400,000 to $1.5 million.

“We hear that if you’re interested in four or five units, builders are willing to negotiate,” Bagaria said. “Good deals are not difficult to find in the market right now.”

The rock-bottom prices also are luring buyers from within the United States, particularly the Northeast.

Austin Regolino, a semi-retired real estate executive from the Boston area, took advantage of plummeting prices when he bought recently at the Sea Ranch Club in Boca Raton.

The two-bedroom condo, once priced at $875,000, was down to $749,900 by the time Regolino and real estate agent Dolly Trotto looked at it. Regolino finally paid $660,000, thrilled to have a second home in an area so close to where many of his longtime friends live.

“I looked at 19 different units in a one-week period,” he said. “I couldn’t be happier. This is as close to paradise as you can get.”

Despite the resurgence of buyer interest in condos, it’s not likely to stabilize the stagnant market in the next year because of the large number still under construction, housing analysts say. At the end of the first quarter, there were more than 30,000 unfinished condos in South Florida, 80 percent of them in Miami-Dade County, according to research firm Metrostudy in West Palm Beach.

“There’s so much inventory reaching completion that it’s going to put downward pressure on prices the rest of this year and into next,” said Brad Hunter, South Florida director of Metrostudy.

During the housing boom of 2000 to 2005, speculators bought condos at pre-construction prices and watched the units rise in value before having to close on the deals.

They then flipped them to other buyers, which artificially inflated demand and sent prices soaring. But not enough long-term owners bought condos, leaving investors on the hook with empty units.

Some of the investors have tried to use loopholes in the sales contracts to get out of closing on the deals, while others are falling into foreclosure. And owners living in the condos are tiring of expensive maintenance costs and special assessments.

“I used to show buyers six condos; now I show them 20,” said Elaine Russell, a broker associate with Lang Realty in Boca Raton. “They want the very best deal. If sellers are not motivated, I tell them, ‘Don’t even bother to list it.’“

At The Prado in West Palm Beach, a unit once priced at $484,000 is now on the market for $349,000. Two years ago, a two-bedroom condo at One City Plaza in West Palm Beach would have fetched $400,000 or more. Today, prices are in the $280,000 range.

“That’s just the list price,” said Kendra Radicchi, a West Palm Beach agent with Condo Vultures, a Bal Harbour-based real estate consultant. “What they sell for is typically much lower.”

In Fort Lauderdale, condos at Las Olas Beach Club that were selling for more than $1 million now are going for $750,000 to $800,000.

A townhouse on Northeast Second Avenue that was on the market in 2006 for $599,000 is listed for $214,500, a 64 percent discount. And a condo on North Ocean Boulevard that two years ago was listed at $899,000 is available for $479,900, a 47 percent cut.

“Some sellers are desperate to get out,” Fort Lauderdale real estate agent Jim DeMaria said. “[Buyers] are saying, ‘This is my chance, my opportunity.’“

The March median price of existing condos in Palm Beach County was $148,600, off 30 percent from $211,800 last year, according to the Florida Association of Realtors’ latest figures. Broward’s March median also plummeted 30 percent, to $137,000 from $195,500 a year ago.

Condo sales fell compared with last March, but not by much. Sales dipped 8 percent in Broward and 9 percent in Palm Beach County, well below the statewide decline of 23 percent.

Those figures suggest that activity in South Florida is picking up as prices keep dropping, and it could get even busier, analysts say.

“We really haven’t seen the wheeling and dealing that we will see as we go further along in the year,” said Lewis Goodkin, a Miami-based housing consultant. “I can’t see how we’re not going to have further price deterioration.”

Condo prices overall are expected to keep declining because of the oversupply and the unfinished projects, although certain luxury condos are holding their values, real estate agents say.

Units in urban settings with no water views are seeing the biggest price declines, Goodkin said.

Some offers are “almost embarrassingly low,” said Pompano Beach agent Randy Bates, president of the Realtor Association of Greater Fort Lauderdale. Insulted, owners reject the bids, only to field subsequent offers just as low, Bates said.

One of his clients listed a three-bedroom Lauderdale-by-the-Sea condo for $1.4 million. The owner turned down several offers for two years before finally selling it for $1.05 million. Another of Bates’ clients listed a Lauderdale-by-the-Sea condo for $799,000 two years ago, only to sell it recently for $550,000.

“A lot of these units selling at bargain prices have been on the market for a year or two, and their owners are just now realizing that the market is not going to turn around,” Bates said. “They figure they’re better off taking the deal on the table, even though it’s not the best deal.”