Monday, November 14, 2011— This week the Miami Association of Realtors, in coordination with the National Association of Realtors (NAR), hosted the annual International Real Estate Congress in Miami, which was attended by hundreds of real estate professionals from far away as Russia, Brazil, Mexico, France, Spain and China.
Over the course of this 2-day conference many local, national and international real estate economists, practioneers, developers, bankers and lawyers learned what to expect from the U.S. housing market in 2012.
During a one-hour keynote presentation by Lawrence Yun, NAR’s Chief Economist, a detailed presentation showed current housing trends, historical stats and market forces at work at both the local, national and international levels.
According to Yun, U.S. home sales are now running parallel with sales levels from 13-years ago, yet there are approximately 3 million new people added to the U.S. population each year, creating an enormous pent-up demand yet to be realized in the marketplace.
Yun further stated that over 40 million multi-generational family members and friends are now “doubling-up” and living together because of tough economic times–such as, kids moving back in with parents or grandparents, or multiple families sharing a single residence — who would typically buy homes under normal market conditions.
Origin of Foreign Buyers for Florida Property Purchases in 2011
41% North America (Canada and Mexico)
26% Latin America (including the Caribbean)
23% Western Europe
10% All others
Yun also pointed out that current new home starts are at an all-time low, going back as far as the end of World War II, which indicates that the U.S. market will likely be experiencing a housing shortage in the coming years, once there is a positive turn in the economy and people start getting jobs and buying homes again at normalized levels.
