South Florida home prices still to plunge

While the rest of the country looks forward to a bit of a respite in the hard, grinding slide of property prices, South Floridians will enjoy no such relief in 2010. Foreclosures and unemployment continue to climb, eroding the possibility of price improvements. Mark Zandi, chief economist of Moody’s Economy.com, sees a further 30 percent drop in Miami area home prices, well ahead of his national forecast range of 5 percent to 10 percent. Nationally, he expects another 2.4 million homes will enter foreclosure next year. In Florida, high unemployment will make Miami the worst of the 100 markets in his forecast, with the 2009 median home price of $183,530 expected to fall 33 percent. Rounding out the regional duds, Jacksonville ranked No. 93, with the $145,250 median price expected to drop 22.3 percent; Tampa, at No. 94, with the median slated to drop 22.8 percent; West Palm Beach, taking the No. 96 spot with a drop of 23.9 percent from the current $223,470 median; Bradenton, at No. 97 , with a projected 26 percent drop from the $152,640 median price; Fort Lauderdaleat at 98, with a 30.1 percent drop forecast from $187,170; and Orlando, where the projected 30.7 percent plunge from $142,920 puts it in the No. 99 spot. [Fortune via CNN Money]