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UF: Residential Development May Have Bottomed Out

Survey of Emerging Market Conditions, Q1 2007 FindingsExecutive Summary & ConclusionsThe most important finding from the January round of our Survey of Emerging Market Conditions is that residential development may have bottomed out. Given the scale of the residential development market, this would be good news for all real estate markets and for Florida in general. Meanwhile, most other real estate markets are stable, if not improving, giving a sense that almost all is nearly well in the land. An exception may be condominium markets and apartments for condo conversion that continue to struggle, though they, too, are perceived to be improved.
In brief, leading observations include the following:- Residential absorption rates are expected to stabilize for both single family development and condo development.- Residential prices are expected to lag inflation, but fewer respondents look for actual declines than previously did.- Investment in single family residential development is no longer regarded as clearly a poor prospect, though condo development, while improving, has further to go.- All types of rental property except hospitality are viewed more favorably as investment opportunities than they were in the previous survey, and generally are viewed as positive opportunities.- The outlook for respondents' own business, which has declined steadily in the last year, remained stable relative to the previous quarter.
For more detail visit their website:http://www.cba.ufl.edu/fire/realestate/cres/findings.asp