Economists Project Slower Pace for Florida’s Housing Recovery

In the Sunshine State, economists have revealed projections for 2013, and their outlook presents a positive, if somewhat sluggish, forecast for the region's housing market. According to experts from ""Florida Realtors"":http://www.floridarealtors.org/ and ""Fannie Mae"":http://www.fanniemae.com/portal/index.html, upward trends are set to continue in Florida, while the state's pace of recovery is expected to fall behind the national average.

[IMAGE]

Speaking during the recent 2013 Real Estate and Economic Forecast Conference in Orlando, Dr. John Tuccillo, chief economist for Florida Realtors, noted, ""Florida's housing market is back, with great possibilities for the future - but those possibilities are only beginning to be realized.""

Doug Duncan, Fannie's chief economist, stated, ""We believe the housing market is on firm footing. ... Most of the improvement we've seen has come from the supply side of housing. Distressed properties are coming down from about 5 million to more like 3 million.""

[COLUMN_BREAK]

Providing additional commentary, Duncan cited the country's low mortgage rates as an indication that improvements for housing would continue, while acknowledging that tighter lending standards and credit availability would create headwinds for the mortgage industry in Florida and around the U.S.

""The trend has been established for the housing recovery, but robust growth awaits more jobs and a stronger economy. Three years into the recovery, the current economic expansion is the weakest since World War II. Just over half of the jobs lost in the Great Recession have been recovered,"" Duncan emphasized.

Reporting year-end findings in Florida, Tuccillo pointed to signs of progress including declining months' supply of single-family homes, which is now below six months; strong investor interest, with 44 percent of closed sales transacted in cash as of October; and growth for traditional, non-distressed sales, which now account for more than 50 percent of closings in the state.

Tuccillo went on to tout Florida's rising median sales prices for both existing single-family homes and condominiums. However, he also revealed concerns regarding the state's active distressed property market, noting that foreclosures and short sales continue to inhibit pricing gains.

Referencing data from the ""National Association of Realtors"":http://www.realtor.org/ and other sources, Tuccillo reiterated his opinion that Florida's real estate market ""bottomed out in late 2008,"" concluding, ""Since the beginning of 2009, we've clearly seen a regrouping and a recovery underway.""