‘Transformation’ in South Florida housing market is sustainable, Metrostudy economist says

Brad Hunter
Brad Hunter

As South Florida’s housing inventory shrinks, so does its vacant land, fueling a bidding war among builders and a rapid rise in construction costs and home prices, surveyor Metrostudy’s chief economist, Brad Hunter, said in an interview in the Sun-Sentinel.

“A complete transformation has occurred. Two years ago, buyers were holding back because prices were still falling, and now there is urgency to buy,” Hunter reportedly said.

To stay abreast of this “transformation,” Metrostudy researchers log 20,000 miles a quarter, driving through every active subdivision to count each new home, the newspaper reported.

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The pace of recovery in South Florida’s housing market is sustainable because of more rigid mortgage lending requirements and less speculative buying, according to Hunter.

“We won’t get another bubble like we had before because those exotic, crazy mortgages don’t exist anymore…people are not buying for speculative reasons, so the new home market won’t get overbuilt. There is absolutely no danger in that,” the paper quoted Hunter as saying. [Sun-Sentinel]Emily Schmall