A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens opens with the line “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times . . . it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair.’  This famous line could summarize the recent changes in the real estate market.

In the summer of 2008 the talk was all about the potential to buy loan books at heavily discounted rates and the banks’ concern to avoid “jingle post” as homeowners who were underwater simply handed back their house keys.  However, the loan-book market failed to ignite because banks would not sell at the prices being offered, this according to a Tampa realty company. 

Recent market talks have been around acquisitions of non-UK loan books – what the United States is doing, loan to value defaults and issues surrounding prepack administrations.

In the development market, debt is unlikely to be available for speculative projects for the foreseeable future.

Tampa houses for sale may remain empty for a little bit longer than normal according to a Queens College demographic study conducted in 2007 regarding the influx of new residents to Florida versus the exodus of approximately 10,000 more people.

While the study found that most domestics migrate to the Sunshine State still come from New York, the numbers have decreased dramatically in the past couple of years.  Nearly 60,000 New Yorkers moved to Florida in 2007 about 40,000 fewer than in 2005.  These are the most current numbers available.

Many brokers say parts of Florida are as congested as Long Island and aggressive residential development in Georgia, the Carolinas and Virginia has made these states ideal alternatives for New Yorkers and Long Islanders looking to escape nasty winters, traffic and high taxes.

The U.S. Census Bureau backs up these numbers the real estate experts, showing more are choosing the Carolinas and Georgia, two states that gained the most people nationwide in 2007 next to Texas and California.

But Florida need not worry, with its beautiful weather and miles and miles of coastal acreage, there will always be people who migrate to the Sunshine State over the others for many different reasons.