Florida housing market will rebound, but not yet

Local housing markets are not going to turn around this year or next year – and might not get better even by 2009, a noted economist said Thursday at the sixth annual conference on “Real Estate Development Trends” at the Palm Beach County Convention Center. “There are people who want to buy a home now and are waiting because of fear,” said Bradley Hunter, director of the South Florida division of Metrostudy in West Palm Beach, which conducts housing research. “I think the way it will play out is that people are still getting married and they’re still having babies,” Hunter said. “People who need a house will be the first to come back [into the market]. The others will come back when they see that, and this will create your next ‘up market.’“ However, Hunter dodged repeated attempts to pin down just when this “up market” might show up.

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