For anyone looking at the current Miami properties for sale, you probably noticed that there are plenty of great options from which to choose. You probably also noticed home prices peaking from what they were just a few years ago. As the Miami real estate market rapidly improved, home prices have increased along with it at a rather quick pace. Over the last year, the current resale price for a Miami condo surged almost 20% to $235,000.
Even as inventory seems to be ticking up, healthy buyer demand has continued to push up the average home price. Much of this demand is coming from international buyers and investors. Foreign investors tend to pay cash, and the credit freeze has not affected them. Fortunately for those individuals not paying cash, mortgage lenders are relaxing the stringent standards put into place a few years ago after the housing bubble burst.
In an effort to avoid repeating the prior lending disaster, many banks created high credit score thresholds and imposed large down payment requirements. Now that confidence in the housing market has been restored, plenty of community banks and credit unions, institutions not as involved in the subprime crisis a decade ago, are eager to compete for borrowers actively seeking to purchase a home. Financial institutions certainly aren’t returning to their old ways by lending to anyone and everyone, but they are making their money available to individuals who may have less than stellar credit or lack the cash to make a large down payment. Regardless, the loosening lending standards will further augment the already strong demand for homes. All of this points to additional price increases so for anyone in the hunt for a home don’t wait too long or you may get priced out of the market!