Investor home-buying slows down in South Florida, report says

Foreclosure sign

Bargain-hunting by big investment firms after the market crashed in South Florida has trailed off, according to a new report.

Institutional investors bought 5,404 Broward properties over the past two years, the 11th most in any county nationwide, according to a recent RealtyTrac report. Palm Beach County ranked 39th, with 2,479 homes sold to investment firms from 2012 through 2014, the Sun Sentinel reported.

“It’s certainly true that institutional investors were active in South Florida, but we didn’t see as high a concentration there as some of the other markets,” RealtyTrac vice president Daren Blomquist said.

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When South Florida home prices increased by 20 percent or more, investors found fewer properties in the right price range of $150,000 and below, Blomquist said.

Long foreclosure delays kept many homes off the market in Florida, where judges were flooded with cases, the Sentinel reported. Foreclosures aren’t required to go through the court system in states such as Arizona, Georgia and Texas. [Sun Sentinel]Katherine Kallergis