Long considered a cornerstone of the American dream, homeownership has been sliding since the housing bubble burst in 2006. New projections say the rate could plummet to about 62%, compared with 69.4% in 2004. Homeownership rates haven’t been that low since 1960, when they hit 61.9%.

14 Million Underwater, Deutsche Banks Predicts 20% Increase by 2011

In other real estate news, more than 14 million homeowners are underwater on their mortgage today and Deutsche Bank expects that number to increase to 20 million by the end of 2011. The bank also expects a rise in strategic defaults.

Foreclosure Workshop Shares Tips to Learn from the Wealthy

Roy Oppenheim shared what homeowners can learn from the wealthy during his monthly Strategic Foreclosure Workshop this week. Hundreds participated as Oppenheim shed some light on strategic defaults, short sales and loan modifications strategies.

Real Estate Black Swan Arrives: Free Legal Foreclosure Workshop February 4

The attorneys at Oppenheim Law point to the crisis in Haiti as a “black swan event,” an occasion no one could have foreseen with drastic effects on the South Florida real estate landscape.

Join Oppenheim Law at the next free legal real estate workshop on February 4, as Roy Oppenheim explains how the tragedy in Haiti will affect South Florida foreclosure. The workshop will also provide insider tips for buying and selling Florida real estate in this turbulent market and explain how to avoid deficiency judgments at all costs through South Florida short sales and other Florida foreclosure defense strategies.

What: The Black Swan is Here: Free Real Estate Workshop

When: Thursday, February 4, 2010 – 6:00 to 7:00 PM

Who: Real estate professionals and homeowners facing foreclosure, buyers, and sellers

Where: 2500 Weston Road, Suite 404, Weston, FL 33331

Cost: Free with advanced registration

RSVP: To register email roy@oplaw.net or call 954.384.6114

For more information visit the Oppenheim Law News Room to access all of the event’s details. Please feel free to leave a comment if you have any questions or suggestions for the workshop.

Oppenheim Law looks forward to seeing you all on February 4^th.

All of this data has been download from the MLS South Florida residential market and compiled into graphs and statistics.

South Florida Real Estate Trend Charts
Sales Price To List Price Ratio
Number of Properties Sold
Highest Priced Home Sales
Number of Short Sales for Sale
Number of REO for Sale
Average Home Sales Price
Average Days Home for Sale on the Market
Number of South Florida Properties for Sale

Evan Rosen’s Analysis
I always try to let the statistics speak for themselves without giving too much input or opinion, certainly as it pertains to the future. I do however like to point out the highlights or low-lights from the stats or make note of anything I notice while researching and compiling the data that would not be readily observable to the reader.

In this month’s graphs and statistics, we see the continued trend of approximately six months now of level average sales prices. Besides that, I believe there are three other interesting statistics worthy of comment.

• First, the number of properties selling per month has doubled in just the past four months after an extended period of low sales volume.
• Second, the number of bank owned/post foreclosure properties has fallen significantly from the prior month.
• Third, the number of short sales available are flat, which is not surprising based upon my experience with short sales. There’s nothing easy or “short” about a short sale. Additionally, most agents don’t want to be bothered fighting with a bank to try to get a short sale approved when they can easily get a post foreclosure or “REO” property.

The fact that sales prices have been level (a large increase in properties selling and decreased foreclosures available) is a good indication of a stabilizing market. However, it’s very possible that a second large wave of foreclosures is coming, which would have the potential to affect these trends. As I’ve said in prior newsletters, this looks like the bottom statistically but only time will tell the facts.

by Evan Rosen