I’m glad to relay the latest figures from the National Association of Realtors which, on Nov. 17th, reported that first time buyers accounted for a record 47 percent share of home sales over the past year, up from 41 percent in 2008. To put this into perspective, that’s a whole 11 percent more than their share of the market in 2006—a cyclical low. Even more encouraging is the fact that existing home sales are up to over 5 million, a 2 percent gain over 2008. Why is this so significant? According to the NAR’s chief economist, Lawrence Yun, the “draw-down of inventory will help home values to turn positive in 2010.â€� In fact, he predicts that with the tax credit extended to the middle of next year, home prices “should riseâ€� between 3 and 5 percent. He forecasts that sales of homes will rise almost 14 percent in 2010. Although Florida has been among the states hardest hit by the housing crisis of the past few years, I foresee a faster recovery than most states in the year to come. After all, haven’t I always maintained that sun and sand are always a better bet than cold and gray?
