Foreclosure for Sale Leads July House Sales in Florida
Foreclosure for sale took the lion share in the total home sale deals in Polk County, Florida in July. Last month, 385 existing properties were sold in Polk County, representing a 23 percent increase from the same month last year’s 313 sales deals.
The July numbers marked the eighth succeeding months of improvements in property sales in the county. For a breakdown of home sales in July, Bartow posted three home sales, similar to last year and East Polk completed 155 sales deals, a rise of 22 percent from the previous year’s 127. Additionally, 227 homes were sold in Lakeland, an increase of 24 percent from the previous 183 deals.
Many industry experts said that foreclosure homes make up the bulk of home sales in the county in July. And they expect the trend to continue in the coming months as foreclosure filings and starts in the region rose to another record level last month. Added to the problem are the growing unemployment rate and the scheduled resetting of adjustable-rate mortgages.
Experts said that unemployment is pushing foreclosures rate to the top while pulling down property values and prices.
Data from the Clerk of Courts showed that the county posted 6,305 foreclosure filings in the first seven months of this year. If the pace will continue, the number of foreclosure filings is expected to surpass the 9,467 posted in 2008.
Meanwhile, industry experts said that sales activity in the non-foreclosure market are far from encouraging, meaning properties are selling but there is no indication that sales numbers will start to pick up soon.
They said that sellers of non-foreclosed properties could not compete with foreclosed properties offered for discounted prices.
But despite the increase in home sales in Polk County and across Florida, the median property value continues to decline because the bulk of sales are distressed properties for sale, including bank owned homes and pre-foreclosures.
Experts explained that bargain-priced foreclosure houses are pulling down prices and values of all properties on the market for sale. In Polk County, the median home price was $116,900 in July, a drop of 15 percent from the same month 2008’s $138,300.
Statewide, sales of homes in Florida totaled 15,882 in July, a rise of 37 percent from July 2008’s 11,595. The median home price for existing houses in July was $147,600, 24 percent below the previous year’s $193,800.
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