Markets vary across state

While average pricing and sales figures often present uniform pictures of a housing market, local variation is a critical factor. Ronald Shuffield, president of Esslinger Wooten Maxwell, says assessing market is a block by block, or even building by building, process. Conventional wisdom suggests more established areas will fare best during the downturn and recover sooner than newly-built communities, which will suffer more. In Miami-Dade and Broward counties since 2006, 52 of the 65 municipal and unincorporated areas in the two counties saw price declines. Two cities saw prices stay flat while 11 actually showed price gains.