Although the US Housing situation still looks bleak to me, there are some bright spots.

Confidence seems to be returning, as well as a rising tide of money from outside the country, positive signs for both the high-end housing market, and the real estate market in general. Demand fed by foreign money has always been a critical piece of the real estate puzzle in South Florida.


"We're on our way out of the worst [of the economic downturn]'' said Manny Mesa, a Doral-based trial lawyer who is hunting for a bigger home for his wife and four children.


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Banks' appetite for jumbo loans -- defined as more than $423,750 in South Florida -- had all but evaporated as lenders hunkered down to weather the storm.


“They are marketing, inviting us to their offices to meet with them to tell us what they can do,'' said Tere Bernacé, a broker specializing in waterfront properties in Coral Gables and a former banker with Barclays Capital. “They say they are trying to increase their profile again in our market.''


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Ross, who has specialized in high-end real estate for 25 years, said typically the ultra-luxury sector takes less of a hit in real estate downturns and is usually the first to recover.


Luxury prices have held up significantly better in the current slump than the market as a whole, according to Coral Gables-based real estate analyst David Dabby.


For homes selling for more than $1 million, the price per square foot has fallen about 14 percent in Miami-Dade and 20 percent in Broward from the 2006 peak.

That compares to a 50 percent decline in the market as a whole, Dabby said.

Link: http://www.miamiherald.com/251/story/1167851.html