JOBS AND
ECONOMY
What do you think will happen with the U.S. economy over the next 12 months?
Liza Mendez, 2014 Chairman of the Board for the Miami Association of Realtors: We expect the Miami and South Florida real estate markets to continue to strengthen at a moderate rate due to continued strong demand from both U.S. and foreign buyers. Increasing population growth, solid job creation, increased interest from U. S. and international, second and vacation homebuyers, improving consumer confidence, manageable interest rates and greater access to financing are all factors that should continue to fuel the multiyear expansion of Miami’s healthy real estate market.
Chris Leavitt, Douglas Elliman and Million Dollar Listing Miami: I’m not really seeing any signs of falling down. It looks positive. I think the worst thing that could happen is that business would stay the same and no one is making any profit.
I’m not really seeing any signs of falling down. It looks positive. I think the worst thing that could happen is that business would stay the same and no one is making any profit.
What do you see happening with the job market, and how will that affect housing?
Liza Mendez: During the recession 8 million jobs were lost. Through May of 2014, 10 million jobs had been gained. In 2014, we had the best year for job gains since 1999. Job creation remains strong in the U.S., in Florida (4th highest ranking state for job growth), and in Miami-Fort Lauderdale (highest number of jobs since 2008). The outlook for job growth remains positive and should continue to positively impact the real estate market.
Jill Eber, The Jills Coldwell Banker: I don’t see any reason to indicate that that’s going to change dramatically. I can talk about our markets here. There’s so much happening in development, and as there’s more development whether it’s commercial or residential, the more development that happening the more jobs become available, and I think that can only be healthy for the whole environment here.
Brandon Brotsky, Primary Residential Mortgage: I think an increase in minimum wage in inevitable. The obvious upsides to that is more purchasing power for those that may be priced out of the market right now. The increase in pay for a secondary borrower may put a household into a buying position when before they were locked out.