The Market Bottom

Throughout much of 2009, the News-Press has been chock full of local Realtors discussing how our Southwest Florida real estate market has reached the bottom……and is headed upward.  While this would be great news and cause for celebration, I think it is truly difficult to really make a definitive bottom prediction until you have moved well past the bottom.

A Miami Herald article titled, Real-estate bottom is not when things appear to be better, rang true with me and all these bottom predictions.  The article suggests that despite the uptick in sales and decreasing inventories that we have seen in 2009, we are truly not at the bottom.  The article opines that government intervention is the cause for the apparent market improvement.  Two examples cited include the first time buyers tax credits and court systems that are stalled due to being clogged with foreclosures.

While I don’t think I will truly know the bottom until it hits me over the head, we are continuing to see significant interest in well-priced Fort Myers foreclosures and Estero foreclosures from those looking for a pre-retirement second home.  Tough to argue with a 70 degree day down here when the Northeast is getting slammed with a foot of snow!