I am reading with great interest this article on the NY times the other day. It made me reflect on the phenomenal rate of appreciation in real estate we experienced in just the last few years. I spent a couple hours looking through my records and decided to chart my findings with the help of Excel. I thought it might be interesting reading to some of you, as I share few of my observations. First off, I didn’t have too much trouble defining the average price per square foot for a single family home in Coral Gables year-to-year since 2002. Like any other markets, there are different price ranges, and certainly the price per square foot will vary depending on location, size of the lot, finishes on the house… Though, I can honestly say that in today’s market in Coral Gables, a decent house with approx. 2,000 sqft in a good neighborhood with three bedrooms/ two baths on nice lot will be priced in the $800,000’s. Following the same logic with given aggregate price per square foot the same house was $500,000 in 2002. In essence, in 2002 with a down payment of $100,000 your monthly payment for ownership was $3200 (PITI). Today, you’ll need $168,000 cash down and will have to qualify for $5,500 a month (PITI). In today’s market, Buyers are making a statement; they’re having a very difficult time to commit. Many feel prices will come down considerably. On the other hand, Sellers are holding firm on their price. Meanwhile there are 14 homes in Coral Gables that went under contract since the beginning of this month. Three of these deals I had my eyes on for a Buyer I am working with. The inventory is still relatively high, but prices seem to be holding at the current level. There are Buyers out there….