The Palm Beach Post reports, "The average rent in the county from April through June was $1,156, according to RealFacts. That is an average of all bedroom and bathroom combinations.
It is a 1.6 percent increase over the same period in 2006, according to the second-quarter report."
"Meanwhile, the occupancy rate for that period was 90.7 percent, down nearly 3 percent from a year ago, according to RealFacts, which tracks rents and occupancy rates at more than 12,000 rental communities nationwide in 15 states. "
On the other hand, the biased Sun-Sentinel reports the complete opposite of The Palm Beach Post and tries to claim that rents are going up in South Florida. They write, "'There's no question rents have gone up,' said David Levin, of the Delray Beach real estate consulting firm David Levin & Associates. Florida's previously hot residential real estate market drew in speculators, and the stock of rentals went down."
Of couse, the Sentinel never bothered to do any real research. Had they actually looked at rental prices, they would have seen what every other renter in South Florida has seen, an market absolutely flooded with amazing values on rentals. Instead, the Sentinel only quoted Levin, someone who has a vested interest in spinning postive real estate news.
A report in The South Florida Business Journal supports my claim that advertising dollars from Real Estate is driving local reporting. In the article, they state, "'Advertising results worsened across the board in the second quarter of 2007, but particularly in real estate advertising,' he said. 'Nearly three-quarters of our advertising declines are coming from California and Florida, two regions that benefited strongly from the real estate boom, and are likewise being hurt in the subsequent real estate slowdown.'"
CBS4 presented an ridiculously biased segment that could have passed for a Realtor® infomercial. Make sure to watch the video. Of course, just one day ago, the same news station presented another report on the foreclosure crisis in South Florida (here's the link). So, let me get this straight -- now is a great time to buy, yet thousands of foreclosed properties are about to hit the market? Does this make any sense?
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2 comments:
OK, so the Sun-Sentinel is probably not reporting due to pressure from advertisers... so what's new? There are so many different information sources today other than the mainstream news... for example, blogs like this one. I hope you can post some interesting, empirical infomation here so we can get the truth about what's going on with the real estate market down here in South Florida. I really want to own a home but all of the reading I have done lately has sort of convinced me to wait. What say you?
It seems like the message always stays the same. "Now is the best time to buy!" Dont buy it (the house or the advice). From all of the data, I believe waiting is the best bet.
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