It’s that time of year again, when the temperature falls and the northern snowbirds come down South to roost. Brokers say they’re seeing increased movement in the snowbird sector early on in the season especially from Canadian buyers, with the season already a few weeks underway.  “We’re certainly seeing increased activity, with more buyers coming through,” said Bill Yahn, the Corcoran Group’s regional senior vice president for South Florida. “It’s manifesting itself in all the markets we serve.” While snowbirds, Northeners who have second homes or long-term vacations in Florida for the winter, tend to look for homes in a fairly broad range of prices; right now it’s the higher end that’s seeing the most interest. [more]

Brokers in Palm Beach say high-end buyers have returned. “After two
years of sitting on the sidelines, buyers have now re-calibrated their
finances and are saying, ‘I’m going to get on with my life and buy a
Palm Beach house,’” said Christian Angle of Christian Angle Real Estate.
While prices begin to rebound, though, the question remains whether
there will be inventory to match. “There’s ample inventory, but there’s
not as much inventory of really good product,” said Bill
Yahn of the Corcoran Group. “This is the first time we’re seeing prices that have deteriorated
and buyers who aren’t looking to take on projects.” [Palm
Beach Daily News]

[more]

South Florida expert panel from left: Ron Kriss of Akerman Senterfitt;
Bill Yahn from the Corcoran Group; Cynthia Shelton, president of
Florida Realtors; Jack McCabe, CEO of McCabe Research and Consulting;
Jay Massirman of Rivergate Companies

Most of South Florida’s real estate industry won’t be sorry to say goodbye to 2009 tonight. Once-ambitious developers saw their empty condos sold in bulk at deep discounts and unloaded incomplete projects in foreclosure auctions or deeds in lieu of foreclosure. Caving under the weight of their troubled commercial real estate portfolios, regional banks failed by the dozens. The indefatigable flood of residential foreclosures bestowed the courts with an unmanageable case load, clogging the system. For homeowners who managed to stay current on their mortgage payments, toxic Chinese drywall rendered many of their properties both dangerous and worthless.

But as the handful of hours left in this tumultuous year for real estate wind down, many are wondering whether 2010 will be any better. The Real Deal turned to a panel of South Florida real estate experts to find out what they’re predicting for 2010. [more]

For a third time this year, the Palm Beach office of the Corcoran
Group, looking for ways to move mansions in a slow market, brokered a
deal so that two clients could swap mansions for an even $6 million. “Trading houses is a creative solution in this market,” said Bill Yahn,
director of sales for Corcoran in Palm Beach. The swap earlier this
month is an extreme example of how to get business going when the
market is nearly moribund, he said. “Swapping is a way to get the
maximum values, the highest and best price in a market where there are
no takers,” Yahn said. He noted that his company has only done swaps when both homes are local and both parties are working “internally with Corcoran.” [more]

A pair of Palm Beachers managed to sell each other their houses, at 134
El Vedado and 1564 South Ocean Boulevard, for the same price. Lengthy
broker negotiations were required to get each buyer to accept a $6
million purchase price. Bill Yahn, a regional senior vice-president for
the Corcoran Group, said the transaction was a challenge, but each
property had gone through significant price cuts and a deal needed to
get done. 
[more]