Florida Real Estate: the market becomes a little less favorable to Canadians

The holiday is perhaps not yet complete, but Canadians wishing to purchase a property in Florida to take refuge in the winter should begin to monitor signs .
Two distinct trends over the past year had the effect of diminishing the purchasing power of Canadians in this American state for the first time since the recession : the decline of the one part , ten percent of the loon on the U.S. dollar and rising , on the other hand, about ten per cent on the price of homes in the United States.

Bargains are always possible in Florida , since the real estate market has not yet fully recovered from the stock market crash of 2008. There remains potential buyers should expect a much more competitive than in recent years market.

And data from the 2013 National Association of Realtors in the United States demonstrated . Home sales rose 9.1 percent, the best performance since 2006, while the median price of properties increased 11.5 percent, the largest increase since 2005.

At the same time , acquisitions of houses by foreigners fell last year . Figures for international transactions are not yet available but already in March 2013, the total sales stood at U.S. $ 68.2 billion, down from U.S. $ 82.5 billion recorded in 2012.

Canadians make up a quarter of foreigners buying properties in the United States . And Florida is a destination of choice, with 39 percent of transactions being performed therein . Arizona ranks second with 24 percent , followed by California, Hawaii and Texas.

An economist also said that trends this year would have consequences , albeit limited .

Statistics analyzed by TD Bank for The Canadian Press suggests that the decline in the Canadian dollar ten cents is not a mean annual decrease of 250,000 Canadian tourists in Florida. But the rapid growth of Canadian tourism in the state was so high that even a reduction will result in growth, however, will be more modest than in previous years developed.

In 2010, the number of Canadians in Florida rose 12 percent , followed by six percent (2011 ), six percent (2012 ) and three percent in 2013. TD Bank expects this year an increase of approximately two percent.

"I think that growth is slowing , but I do not think that spending and the presence of Canadians in the real estate market will decline to levels observed there five or ten years before the recession," said Vice President and Deputy Chief Economist, TD Bank , Derek Burleton.