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That leaves a lot of investors with the option of going either down market or up market and I outlined the pro´s and con´s of both in our last newsletter.
I´ve been doing a lot of research since then for some new projects and initiatives we are working on and I thought some of our readers might like to read a summary of the more interesting trends and facts I´ve unearthed.
 USA - Prices fell faster and have recovered faster
The market crash in 2006-2007 resulted in the dramatic falls in property prices among many industrialised nations, but as the graph below illustrates, prices in the USA have both fallen further and stabilised for longer than other major nations.
Property needs to be considered above all at micro levels - you need to know the individual neighborhoods very well. However some important nationwide trends include:
- The ratio of house prices to rents is now well below its pre bubble level
- Vacancies are at a three year low
- Analysts expect rents to rise by 4% this year and next (The Economist)
- New foreclosures were 18% lower in Q1 2011 than Q1 2010
- The US economy added 600,000 new jobs between Feb-April and 1.3m new jobs in past 12 months. That is the rough equivalent of the UK adding 120,000 new jobs in 3 months.
- In Q1 2011, for the first time in 4 years, more mortgage borrowers caught up with their payments than fell further behind.
Why Invest in Florida?
I´ve said many times and I strongly believe that no other location in the western hemisphere can match Floridas unique combination of a strategic geographic position, strong knowledge base, state-of-the-art infrastructure, entrepreneurial spirit, and concentration of corporate, financial and tourist resources.
This is a diverse, wealthy and resilient economy with a very safe and secure legal system that has been protecting foreign buyers for decades. The availability of a high quality of life, lots of space, great schools, universities and employment opportunities has encouraged wave after wave of professional workers to relocate here permanently.
Florida & Orlando trends
- 17% more condos were sold throughout Florida in April 2011 compared to April 2010
- Foreclosure levels fell for seven months in a row between Oct 2010 - Apr 2011
- Existing home sales have increased in six of the past eight months - a clear sign of recovery
- The median sales price in April 2011 was $140,300, a 4.3% increase from March 2011
- Florida´s population grew by 17.6% between 2000-2010. Only Texas and California grew faster.
- The number of monthly completed contracts is actually higher now than during the boom
- In Q1 2011, Orlando did not feature in the top 20 cities for new foreclosures for the first time in almost four years
A graph can tell a story far quicker than words can, and the difficulty in securing top quality property in the right location at the right price is best illustrated by looking at the net numbers of properties available to purchase in Orlando over the past three years. These figures include short sales and foreclosures as well as regular market properties.
Orlando Inventory Levels (Jan 2009 - April 2011)
So, the numbers seem to back up what my colleagues and I are seeing on the ground.
Example A: Sanctuary at Bay Hill, a premium up market community which we barely got around to launching, has effectively been snapped up by an investor group in the past 3 days.
Example B: We visited three Orlando communities in the past two weeks, none of which would survive a site visit from an experienced investor. Poor quality construction, terrible maintenance, bad locations and unrealistic prices were all in evidence. Unfortunately this won´t stop a wide range of less scrupulous agents from promoting them as top quality deals. If and when something does get through our due diligence, it will be worth paying attention to.
Example C: The developer of one of our most popular launches in recent months, Tuscana, has sold upwards of 80 units in the past 8 weeks. As of last night there were nine available and they´ll probably be sold in the next 7 days. If you are interested, please let us know asap. Further details are in the box below.
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+1321 806 1195(USA), 
