Is Port St. Lucie Real Estate The New Investment Safe Haven?
Investors have had a lot to think about over the last five years, very little of which included real estate. With the stock market heading down recently, sustaining triple digit drops on any negative news out of Europe, many investors are sitting it out. Another traditional safe haven investment, 10 year Treasuries, auctioned off this week with a yield of less than 2% and the 30 year at less than 3%. Commodities, including precious metals have taken huge hits, with gold suffering from a weaker demand in India, a rising dollar, and paper traders fleeing the metal. Many investors are left asking, “where does an investor turn in this economy?” Could Port St. Lucie real estate be the new safe haven for investors?
All investments carry risks, and none come with a guarantee, but real estate is starting to show promise. Home inventory is extremely low right now, causing multiple offer situations between competing buyers. Rent prices are steadily increasing, even surpassing the cost of ownership. Banks are discovering that short sales are a better, and cheaper, option than foreclosure and have started embracing the short sale process, even speeding up the times for approvals. The foreclosures that are still going through are taking an average of just over 800 days to complete, due to the lengthy foreclosure process and jammed courts. These factors seem to point to continued low inventory and rising real estate prices, both positive factors in any investment.
Home prices for March increased 4.5% in Florida, according to Corelogic, a national real estate research firm. This puts Florida in the top five states experiencing home price appreciation. This is positive news, but what makes this figure impressive is the fact that it includes distressed sales, and a large decrease in bank owned (REO) sales.
If you are thinking about investing in real estate, give Brad Colean a call. You can reach him anytime at 800-876-3535, or email him through the “Contact Us” link above. Colean Realty, Inc. is one of the oldest real estate companies in Port St. Lucie, having served Martin and St. Lucie county from the same location for 39 years.
