Here at RE/MAX Paradise, we generally love to be in the number one spot. We love being a part of the number one real estate brand, we love that RE/MAX agents are the number one producers, and we love selling real estate in the number one city in Florida. Well, there may not be an official ranking for that last one, but it’s our opinion nonetheless. Unfortunately, the Miami-Fort Lauderdale-Pompano Beach area did rank as number one for something real estate-related that we’d rather not lead. 
During the first quarter of 2014, South Florida had the highest foreclosure rate among the country’s 20 largest metropolitan areas. And, the entire state of Florida had the highest foreclosure rate of any state in the nation. Even though Florida’s foreclosure rate has fallen almost twenty percent since this time one year ago, it is still about ten times higher than the nationwide rate.
Obviously, foreclosures have a number of negative economic consequences on local and state economies. For example, foreclosures hurt individual homeowners, causing housing uncertainty, damaged credit, and an overall hampering of one’s ability to prosper. In addition, foreclosures can drastically weaken neighborhoods, making it difficult for nearby homes to sell, and they even pull down housing prices across a region.
Even though this number one ranking isn’t fantastic news, we don’t think it’s going to have an impact for much longer. Many distressed properties have already cleared the market, and all across South Florida plenty of homes have regained their value. In addition, there is a healthy supply of Miami properties for sale, and buyer demand has actually been surging, which is helping to push up prices even more.
Like many industries, the real estate market undergoes periodic fluctuations with some really high highs and some really low lows. Of course, it takes time to recover from the lows, and given the magnitude of the real estate collapse, it isn’t surprising that the market has been gradually correcting itself. Regardless, at this juncture, things are definitely on the upswing. Hopefully, in the not too distant future, foreclosure rates won’t even be a hot topic.