South Florida’s real estate market is creeping back toward a more normal era. But the trend might not last long.

New figures show bank-owned homes or those facing foreclosure no longer dominate the resale market, and homes for sale under normal circumstances now account for about half of real estate listings. That’s a switch from a year ago, when distressed properties accounted for 70 percent of listings.

“Normal sales are gaining traction,” said David Dabby, a real estate consultant in Coral Gables. “The normal market is separating itself.”

Douglas Elliman, a brokerage based in Miami Beach, issued a report Thursday showing significant price increases in some of the region’s prime real estate markets. The report estimates the median sales price for a single-family home along the coast in Miami-Dade — generally east of I-95 — increased 26 percent to $176,000 between the start of 2011 and the start of 2012. Analysts credited the shift with a decline in distressed properties: 65 percent of the market in 2011 to 48 percent in 2012. That’s still a long way from normal — Dabby said distressed real estate typically accounts for only about 7 percent of South Florida’s market.

The Douglas Elliman report highlights a common refrain from the real estate industry as it climbs back from a historic crash in values, brought on by too much faith in the housing market during the boom. But the figures also capture the dynamics of South Florida real estate, where sales volume has been surging in recent years while prices have been either approaching a plateau or bouncing off the bottom.

Distressed properties tend to go for much less than homes sold under normal circumstances for a number of reason, brokers said. For one, they are often smaller and in less desirable neighborhoods. With a bank involved, buyers often will try to “steal” a distressed home with a low-ball offer — a tactic less likely to work if the owner faces no mortgage woes.

“They know the seller isn’t desperate,” said Vanessa Grout, president of Douglas Elliman Florida. “Every buyer wants a desperate seller. And every seller wants to make it seem that he doesn’t need to sell.”

The new parity between distressed and non-distressed property was largely expected, and the big question is how long it will last. Banks have been holding off foreclosing on properties in the wake of the so-called “robo-signing” scandal, in which major lenders were accused of shoddy paperwork tied to delinquent loans. But with a national settlement reached last year, the foreclosure pipeline should become active again in 2012.

Industry watchers expect such a surge of foreclosed properties that Moody’s predicts a 12 percent drop in South Florida property values this year — on top of the nearly 50 percent drop since the market’s peak in 2006. Condo Vultures, a brokerage that tracks distressed real estate, recently reported a surge in bank repossessions in South Florida: 10,000 in the first three months of 2012.

“This is the first time since 2007 where we have seen at least 10,000 repossessions in the first quarter,” said Peter Zalewski, founder of Condo Vultures. “There is a huge disconnect.”

Zalewski said the repossessions show a wave of distressed properties coming on the market, once banks feel it is a good time to sell. If they can wait, they’re likely to get higher prices. The crush of distressed properties has helped keep values down. The Keyes Co. brokerage cited South Florida figures showing the average distressed home this year is selling for $140,000, versus $265,000 for a non-distressed home.

“It’s a tale of two cities,’’ said Keyes President Mike Pappas.

By WSJ Staff

Tom Walsh
House of the Day: The owners of this shingle-style home in Connecticut built the property from the ground up to soak in the views from the Long Island Sound.

Here is a look at real-estate news in Thursday’s WSJ:

Inspector General Criticizes ‘Hardest Hit’ Housing Program: A $7.6 billion Obama administration program that targets areas especially suffering from the housing crisis is falling short, with the government spending only about 3% of money set aside for “underwater” mortgage borrowers and other problems, a watchdog report said.

Chinese Developer Stumbles: A property developer in China’s Hangzhou city has filed for bankruptcy protection, falling victim to the government’s two-year campaign to rein in property prices and pointing to wider problems ahead in the country’s real-estate market.

Project Gives a Jump-Start to Beacon: A former hat factory and 19th-century mill in Beacon, N.Y., is being renovated as a hotel and restaurant, renewing hopes that the next stage of the city’s revitalization is finally under way.

Rents Record in Manhattan: Manhattan’s rental rates have topped prerecession levels as landlords maintain the upper hand in a supply-constrained market.

House of the Day: The owners of this shingle-style home in Connecticut built the property from the ground up to soak in the views from Long Island Sound.

Europe House of the Day: This eight-bedroom Georgian home near Dublin has an indoor swimming pool, 90-seat theater and traditional Irish pub.

The 104,154-square-foot, 89-unit apartment building formerly known as the Seacast Apartments, now the Apartments at Crystal Lake, was sold for $6,914,600, or about $78,000 per unit.

There had been significant renovations made to the property recently, which was approximately 95 percent occupied at the time of sale and was under contract at $7 million. There was a credit issued to the buyer to cover the cost of a deferred elevator maintenance issue. The deal included the debt assumption of $4.2 million from JP Morgan Chase.

Richard Tarquinio of CBRE represented the seller, Fenway LLC. The buyer, a private investor, was self-represented.

For more information on this transaction, please refer to CoStar COMPS #2285147.

Cal Thomas

Tribune Media Services

April 12, 2012

A STUNNING living environment is what you’ll find when you enter this house. There are high-quality fixtures and fittings, spacious rooms and tasteful design, not to mention extensive leisure facilities – all in a setting that is breathtaking.

Whitegates has been skillfully created by the current owners, extending what was a modest 1920s village home to create a generous family home.

The attention to detail is sublime and when viewing the property it is instantly noticeable that great care has been taken to retain the character and features of the original property, while bringing it up to date with a perfect mixture of contemporary design.

The result is an impressive, modern and cleverly designed house.

Externally, you’ll see that the house has been built of mellow Ashlar Stone which sits under a slate roof. The location of the house means that it offers wonderful privacy as well as rural views overlooking rolling countryside.

Tom De Ville said: “The highest of standards run throughout the accommodation.”

The whole house features underfloor heating, solid walnut floors and state-of-the-art sound and lighting systems.

On the ground floor there’s an entrance hall that gives access to the cloakroom, drawing room and dining room.

There is a beautiful and large contemporary open living kitchen with well-defined kitchen, dining and living areas, and these also give access to the remainder of the downstairs accommodation, comprising a large family room, study, and utility room.

In addition, this end of the house also gives access to an integral three-car garage with a useful playroom/ studio above.

The generous first-floor landing leads to the luxurious master bedroom with its dedicated dressing area and en suite.

There’s a guest bedroom with en suite, two further identical double bedrooms, again, both benefiting from en suites, and finally bedroom five, which has the use of the luxurious family bathroom.

Features continue with an extensive leisure suite, located on the lower ground floor.

This fantastic addition to the accommodation includes a heated indoor swimming pool and changing facilities/ steam room.

The leisure area has glass sliding doors which open straight on to the terrace and garden, merging the outdoor areas with the main house to create immensely usable space.

The house sits within beautifully maintained gardens and grounds of approximately two acres. Access is via twin electric gates into a sweeping driveway which provides plenty of vehicle parking and access to the integral three-car garage.

The mature gardens which wrap around the property include a mixture of formal and less formal areas and a wide variety of specimen shrubs and mature trees.

A variety of outbuildings include a summer house, garden office and a gardener’s store.

Epperstone has long been one of the county’s most highly regarded villages.

Mr De Ville said: “Whitegates is one of Nottinghamshire’s ultimate and most desirable country homes. It is a stunning edge-of-village property in one of Nottinghamshire’s most sought after locations.

“It is a delightful village set in the unspoilt Trent Valley, close to the extensive amenities of both Southwell and Nottingham.”