According to the National Association of Realtors, pending home resales rose 7.4 percent – the most since October 2001 and the fourth such increase this year.

All regions of the country saw an increase in pending sales from July, with the West showing the largest increase of 18.4 percent.  The Northeast saw an 8.4 percent rise, the Midwest a 3.6 percent increase and 2.3 percent in the South.

According to reports, people are taking advantage of low home prices, and sales are up strongly in California, Nevada, Arizona, Florida, Rhode Island and Washington, D.C.

Although the likely reason for the rise in pending resales is investors buying up foreclosures, the fact remains that these houses are being taken off of the market, which has had a surplus of inventory.

According to a report by the Florida Association of Realtors, newly lowered prices of existing single family homes is the main reason for the Treasure Coast’s 43% rise in sales, the largest annual percentage gain in the state.

After months of sales dropping in the double digits, Palm Beach County’s sales dropped only 3% last month from last year’s levels, another positive sign that the market is stabilizing.

Sources at the Realtors Association of the Palm Beaches agree, saying that buyers have been waiting to see how much prices will drop.  And they did -- median prices of existing homes in Palm Beach County fell 12% to $334,300 since June 2007, and in Martin and St. Lucie Counties, median prices fell 32% to $160,800.

Also according to the report, existing condominium sale prices fell 24% since June 2007 to a median price of $153,200, making them more affordable to first-time buyers. Martin and St. Lucie counties’ media price fell to $165,000 – a drop of 28%.

This reflects two things, according to analysts.  One – sellers are becoming more realistic about pricing their properties, and two – the amount of foreclosures in the upcoming months will drive down prices in the next 24 months.

Across the state, existing home sales fell 5% compared to last year’s figures.  Nationally, sales fell by 15%.  These low sales levels also mean lower prices – the median price dropped by 7% compared to figures from last year. 

Economists warn that there is still a way to go, but are hopeful that this is at least the beginning of the end.

Once again, amid news that Palm Beach County’s property values are plummeting, the towns of Palm Beach and Manalapan continue to see their property values rise.

According to the Property Appraiser’s office, overall property values in Palm Beach County fell by 7% within the past year – except for 5 towns which saw their numbers rise.

Out of the County’s 38 municipalities, Palm Beach, Manalapan, Mangonia Park, Gulf Stream and Jupiter Inlet Colony were the only ones to see an upswing in their estimated taxable value from 2007 to 2008.

The largest rise is in Manalapan, with a 7.23% increase, next is Palm Beach with a 6.18% rise, Jupiter Inlet Colony’ value rose 3.09%,  Mangonia Park and Gulf Stream round out the last of the rising property values with 1.77% and 1.71%, respectively.

According to a poll conducted by the National Association of Realtors, 33 percent of all new and used homes purchased in 2007 were either vacation or investment properties. 

The NAR’s annual Investment and Vacation Home Buyers Survey reports the breakdown as 21 percent investment properties and 12 percent vacation homes, with investment home sales at 1.65 million and vacation home sales at 740,000.

65 percent of those buying vacation homes bought previously owned houses, while 71 percent of investment homes were bought used.

The survey also states that in 2007, the median price of a vacation home was $195,000 and an investment property about $150,000.  59 percent of vacation homes purchased were single family homes, 29 percent were condos, 7 percent townhouses and 5 percent classified as “other.”

About 60 percent of investment properties purchased in 2007 were single family homes, 20 percent condos, 11 percent townhouses and 8 percent “other.”

According to the survey, in 2007 the average vacation home buyer was 46 years old with a median household income of $99,100 and the property purchased was close to 300 miles from their main residence.

Investment home buyers were 42 years old with an income of $92,900 and the property purchased was an average of almost 30 miles from their chief residence.

Geographically, 19 percent of vacation homes were purchased in the Northeast. 16 percent were in the Midwest, 41 percent in the South and 24 percent in the West.

23 percent of investment properties purchased in 2007 were in the Northeast, 19 percent in the Midwest, 38 percent in the South and 21 percent in the West.

According to the The Evans Report, compiled by Palm Beach real estate attorney Leslie Evans, single family home sales in Town are up.  In the report, Evans analyzes closing documents filed in Palm Beach County as well as private sales not recorded by the MLS.

Also included in the report is that average and median prices are up for the most part, and sales totaled more than $1 billion, an increase of $124 million.  Single-family home prices are up by $618,369; median sales prices are up by $400,000, and the total sales for single-family homes came to $725.75 million.

According to many players in the Palm Beach real estate market, prices on the Island are not dropping, which goes against the negative market trends in other parts of the country. In 2007, there were 93 single-family home sales in 2007 and 83 in 2006 – a 12 percent increase. The increase in sales price was also 12 percent for that time period.

Another Palm Beach broker points out that there were 7 sales in the month of December and 11 in January, information he gathered from the Palm Beach MLS.  Although this data is not a concrete indicator, since not all of the contracts have officially closed, he is confident that a high number of pending sales is still good news for the market.