CBS12 News Team

Numbers show Palm Beach County real estate strengthening

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. -- Have we finally seen the real estate market bottom out here in South Florida? New numbers are in and experts weigh in, South Florida appears to be on the up-swing.

The newest Palm Beach County numbers show a dramatic increase in the median home selling price compared to this time last year. In addition, there are less homes on the market because they're actually selling.

Steve Marcantonio has gone through the steps over and over. Opening doors, showing units to people looking for a place to call home.

Steve Marcantonio/sales broker: We were seeing people that were making very, very low offers.

The housing crunch was rough for most of Florida, especially at Two City Plaza in downtown West Palm Beach.

Ed Jahn/Vice President, Kolter Urban Group: Over the next four years we had to re-sell the building.

They had to start from scratch. In a few years the tower is just more than half filled. But sales managers are noticing the selling rate the past few months is three times that during the economic crash. 15 average closings inside the urban castle per month and August projections are on pace.

Ed Jahn/Vice President, Kolter Urban: Which will be our best month as far as closings. We're very upbeat about where we are going. Our northeast buyer is back and that's key for south florida and the east coast.

The numbers don't lie, this time last year the median home sales price is up more than 16 percent and the rate of sales across the county has dropped the number of homes on the market by more than 40 percent.

Tom Essaye/Finanacial Commentator: Almost all the numbers we're getting in housing are showing a recovery.

Financial market commentators like Tom Essaye echo the news that the market could be on the rise and interest rates are expected to stay low.

Tom Essaye/Finanacial Commentator: Which is also helping fuel a turnaround in the real estate market.

Which brings us back to the sales. Whether you're shopping for a luxurious high rise condo or something smaller. This may be the time buy.

Steve Marcantonio/Sales broker: I think last year we'd call it a stabilizing market and this year it is clearly strengthening.

Many financial experts expect the fed tomorrow to keep interest rates near zero through 2015. That's believed to be a big help in stabilizing the housing market as well.

Tuesday, July 31 2012, 08:27 PM EDT

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