Buying a home in 24 hours

Frenzied homebuyers are making offers on the spot before someone else has the chance, leading to what observers call a “flash sale,” Sun Sentinel reported.

A resident of Pembroke Pines in South Florida’s Broward County, Angela Medina and her husband were driving north to view two homes in Palm Beach County when she received a text alerting her to a three-bedroom home that had just gone on the market in Palm Beach Gardens.

The couple drove there, made an offer and signed the contract, in less than 24 hours, Medina told the Sentinel.

“From the time it hit my phone to the time we saw it, maybe an hour passed,” Medina, 36, told the newspaper. “You’ve got to be proactive.”

Stiff competition from bulk buyers and all-cash investors is aggravating a housing shortage in South Florida. Flash sales are reducing the average time a house goes from listed to contracted for sale.

During two weeks in April, 1,503 homes went under contract in South Florida’s tri-county region, a 149 percent increase over the same period a year ago, the Sentinel reported, citing the Redfin real estate brokerage. –Emily Schmall