Home prices skyrocket in South Florida, but trouble looms

At first glance South Florida real estate would appear to be soaring. Real Estate Economy Watch reported that among the 10 markets whose median home prices experienced the largest year-over-year increase, seven are in Florida, according to Realtor.com.

Though the data is captured from listing prices, not selling prices, the numbers are still astounding, as four Florida markets experienced increases of at least 10 percent. Miami is up 24 percent from last August. Compare that to the national average increase of 0.46 percent.

Some of this increase can be attributed to the depths to which the Florida markets fell, Real Estate Economy Watch noted. Perhaps the rest can be attributed to the sudden plunge in foreclosure actions, especially in the tri-county South Florida region were actions fell by 51 percent.

The problem is that there are very likely many more foreclosures on the horizon. The state ranks number one in the country in defaults, and Bank of America doubled its foreclosure filings in South Florida in August, according to Real Estate Economy Watch. A forthcoming glut of REO listings will probably push prices down. [Real Estate Economy Watch]