Inga Wilson

There is a new study from the international consulting group IHS Global Insight has identified dozens of undervalued metropolitan markets - where household incomes, employment, population density and other factors - could support higher housing prices, but just aren’t doing it at the moment.

Some of the most undervalued markets as of the first quarter of 2009, according to the new study, are formerly high-flying boom-era cities where prices soared and then crashed. They include:

Vero Beach, Florida, where prices are now 42.5 percent below where they “should” be based on the underlying economics. You may recall that a few weeks ago, Realty Times reported on a New York investor, Larry Kestin of Glenmont Capital, who bought a mixed package of new houses and developed lots in Vero Beach for just under $9 million.
At the height of the boom, that same real estate was appraised at $100 million, according to Kestin. So he came away with a bargain basement deal of about nine cents on the dollar in Vero Beach.

Also on the “most undervalued” list - Las Vegas, where today’s $140,000 median house price is down drastically from the $290.000 median of the first quarter of 2006. Global Insight puts Las Vegas’s overall market undervaluation today at 40.9 percent.


Then there’s Fort Myers/Cape Coral, Florida. Once the hottest spot in the country during the boom for investors snapping up condos, Ft. Myers today is the foreclosure capital of the state. Its $119,000 median price in the first quarter contrasts with the $245,000 median just three years ago.
Naples Florida, just down the west cost from Ft. Myers, is rated 33 percent undervalued by Global Insight. Its current $200,000 median price is about half of what it was in 2006 — $392,000.
What does this mean to you?  It's time to buy in Florida!  If you are trying to time the market..The time is now!