Included is the Sales Data as mentioned in the Palm Beach Real Estate Guide.

According to the National Association of Realtors, pending home resales rose 7.4 percent – the most since October 2001 and the fourth such increase this year.

All regions of the country saw an increase in pending sales from July, with the West showing the largest increase of 18.4 percent.  The Northeast saw an 8.4 percent rise, the Midwest a 3.6 percent increase and 2.3 percent in the South.

According to reports, people are taking advantage of low home prices, and sales are up strongly in California, Nevada, Arizona, Florida, Rhode Island and Washington, D.C.

Although the likely reason for the rise in pending resales is investors buying up foreclosures, the fact remains that these houses are being taken off of the market, which has had a surplus of inventory.

Despite the continued housing market hardships, Palm Beach real estate continues to provide unprecedented buying opportunities for intrepid and financially savvy buyers.  As everyone knows sellers are also quite willing to negotiate on price, sometimes resulting in over $45,000 dollars in savings on purchases of Palm Beach homes.

Obviously the continued news of dwindling home prices is not favorable.  But like many real estate experts have predicted, the glut of unsold Palm Beach real estate sitting quietly on the market awaiting buyers is finally beginning to come down for once as the year has progressed leading many to believe that the Palm Beach real estate market and--South Florida real estate market for that matter--are slowly approaching the bottom.  While there is still more than a year’s worth of Palm Beach condos and Palm Beach homes up for sale, the actual number has decreased considerably, brining it closer to two years.

Does this signal an impending real estate market renaissance for Palm Beach?  That’s still too early to say and for the time being there is still twice as many homeowners attempting to sell off their property than there is people wanting to buy them.  However, as was mentioned, the actual number of homes up for sale is considerably less than the figures of early 2008.

Most people will agree that a true market recovery will not be happening anytime soon since the country is still grappling and figuring out how to deal with the fallout of the poor lending practices that lead to the market collapse in the first place.  However, many realtors and followers of the housing market are looking at these recent decreases in inventory with a grain of salt and plenty of cautious optimism.  During a time when the market’s future is still uncertain and could potentially improve or get worse, any positive news is certainly welcome.

According to a report by the National Association of Realtors, Canadians made up the largest percentage of foreign buyers of United States homes from May 2007 to May 2008 at 24%. One third of those buyers purchase homes in Florida.  The number of Canadian buyers of Florida homes has more than doubled since the previous year, going from 3,500 to 7,200. 

According to a report by the Florida Association of Realtors, newly lowered prices of existing single family homes is the main reason for the Treasure Coast’s 43% rise in sales, the largest annual percentage gain in the state.

After months of sales dropping in the double digits, Palm Beach County’s sales dropped only 3% last month from last year’s levels, another positive sign that the market is stabilizing.

Sources at the Realtors Association of the Palm Beaches agree, saying that buyers have been waiting to see how much prices will drop.  And they did -- median prices of existing homes in Palm Beach County fell 12% to $334,300 since June 2007, and in Martin and St. Lucie Counties, median prices fell 32% to $160,800.

Also according to the report, existing condominium sale prices fell 24% since June 2007 to a median price of $153,200, making them more affordable to first-time buyers. Martin and St. Lucie counties’ media price fell to $165,000 – a drop of 28%.

This reflects two things, according to analysts.  One – sellers are becoming more realistic about pricing their properties, and two – the amount of foreclosures in the upcoming months will drive down prices in the next 24 months.

Across the state, existing home sales fell 5% compared to last year’s figures.  Nationally, sales fell by 15%.  These low sales levels also mean lower prices – the median price dropped by 7% compared to figures from last year. 

Economists warn that there is still a way to go, but are hopeful that this is at least the beginning of the end.

Previously unnamed, the buyer of Donald Trump’s $100 million oceanfront estate is Russian billionaire Dmitry Rybolovlev, according to reports.

Rybolovlev is said to have acquired his fortune in the fertilizer industry and has no plans to relocate his primary residence to the United States, commenting to news sources that this latest purchase is merely an investment.

Trump bought the property four years ago at auction for $41.4 million and poured $25 million into renovations, producing a 62,000 square foot estate with nine bedrooms, conservatory, ballroom, art gallery, two guest houses and 48-car garage.

Rybolovlev was listed at number 59 on the Forbes list of billionaires, estimated at a worth of $12.8 billion.