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Investors eye Florida fire-sale

Tuesday, March 09, 2010

Source: Catherine Deshayes

Florida home-sellers are slashing their asking prices by more than 10%, claims online real estate brokerage ZipRealty.

According to Zip, home hunters are finding deals in South Florida, with sellers in Miami and Ft. Lauderdale having reduced their list price by an average of nearly 15 percent, or $36,000 in February 2010.

In addition, one out of every two "for sale" homes in Jacksonville included at least one price reduction in February.

In Orlando, 47.7 percent of homes listed for sale in February included at least one price reduction, with sellers on average reducing the list price 2.39 times -- the highest of any of the 27 major housing markets that ZipRealty surveys monthly.

"Contrary to the national trend, sellers in Florida seem to be cutting their asking prices aggressively to attract buyer interest," said ZipRealty CEO Pat Lashinsky. "First-time buyers looking to take advantage of the $8,000 tax credit, those looking for a second home and real estate investors are finding there are deals to be had in South Florida, Orlando and Jacksonville."

Source: www.cnn.com