Is the Buyer's Market Over for Vero Beach Florida Homes?

The national media's reporting on the state of the Real Estate market is only accurate if you consider every area of the country as equally appealing to an equal number of buyers. You must analyze the specific area and price range you are considering to get an accurate picture. Anyone not working in our local Vero Beach Real Estate market would have the impression that we are awash in foreclosures and the market has not bottomed out. My specific knowledge and daily study of every new listing, contract & sale leads me to the conclusion that the condo market bottomed out 18 months ago and the single family home market about a year ago. Since that time, inventory has went down dramatically & prices have increased steadily. Foreclosures have been a factor in the lower end of the market, but there have been very few on the Vero Beach Barrier Island. The influence of distressed sales depends what you call a foreclosure. Real Estate professionals and our local Indian River County MLS call bank owned homes that have went through the judicial foreclosure process - "foreclosures". Journalists like a more sensational # so they include short sales, which more than doubles the number of distressed sales. This leads buyers to believe there is an abundance of easy to purchase, distressed properties for sale, which is just not the case. Short Sales require an abundance of patience to purchase as federal guidelines implemented to speed up the process have had little positive effect. Our inventory went from 2800+ listed properties a year ago, to a current supply of 1842 - a very dramatic decrease. This consumption of inventory was of course not equal across property types and price ranges. The vast majority of sales were of Condos & Homes below $100,000 to investors and first time buyers. Island Condos & Homes below $400,000 are also very popular with seasonal home owners. In these categories, inventory has been depleted by 80% and prices have moved up significantly. The opportunity to get a great deal is still there, but listings in popular areas usually have multiple offers and sell for more than list price. Towards the end of our "season" when there were many potential buyers, more than half of the offers I submitted were either too low or too late. The buyer's market is not completely over, but selection is slim, so much quicker action is required to get the best deals.