Has your area hit bottom?

Over Thanksgiving weekend, I had the opportunity to visit with many friends, several of whom happen to be interested in real estate investing. Some have even made quite a bit of money investing in developing. We live in Miami, which was one of the big bubble areas, so the question came up whether we have bottomed out in prices yet.

The consensus seemed to be that the next six months or so offer excellent opportunities for finding the best prices. It is true, you can drive through even the nicest areas and find prices that are more consistent with prices from two or three years ago. And foreclosures and pre-foreclosure sales are everywhere. But as soon as a pre-foreclosure sign goes up, the property seems to be sold.

In fact, the newly released third quarter report by the National Association of Realtors found that 93 out of 150 metropolitan areas studied showed increases in median existing single-family home prices from a year earlier, but 54 had price declines. NAR chief economist Lawrence Yun said that home prices throughout the midsection of the US are affordable and perhaps even undervalued.

At our main listing site, www.lockboxdeals.com, we offer the best deals in real estate from all over the country. Let us know how the market is faring in your area, and don't forget to post your free listings.