Florida Real Estate Prices Have Hit Rock Bottom

Even though they don't expect another boom any time soon, Florida real estate experts believe the worst of the state's wrenching downturn is over.

According to a quarterly survey by the University of Florida's Bergstrom Center for Real Estate Studies. The center asked appraisers, commercial real estate brokers, bankers, investors and others to take stock of the state's real estate market.

The verdict: Commercial and residential property have hit bottom.

Timothy Becker, director of the Bergstrom Center, states:
"They're saying things like 'not getting worse' or 'getting less bad. That's not to say Florida is poised to bounce back. The state is battling record-high unemployment and tight credit that continue to hinder any recovery."

Shopping centers are suffering from weak consumer spending, while office demand is meager in a state that has been shedding jobs. And home sales are hampered by the glut of foreclosed homes, Becker said.

A silver lining: apartments. As former homeowners lose their homes to foreclosure, they need to live somewhere.

Another reason for hope: Life insurers and real estate investment trusts are beginning to buy investment properties again. Those real estate investors had taken a hiatus, but they have cash to spend and don't need mortgages to buy commercial properties.

Becker states:
"People continue to pay their life insurance premiums, and MetLife and Prudential have to put those assets to use in different asset classes."