Real estate experts offer possible solutions to deal with obstacles in the housing market

With the housing crisis in the Sunshine State, local realtors and buyers are turning to different ways to deal with the current market.
"We have two kids now and two dogs, and it's just a little too small," home buyer Andrew Seifter told WPBF 25 News.
He said he bought his first home in Jupiter about five years ago and has been looking for a bigger house nearby for almost a year.
"We were thinking about a dream home in Jupiter, but when interest rates started to rise and property values ​​didn't go down, that changed the circumstances," he said.
“We refinanced this house during 2021, when rates were at their lowest. So, we have a phenomenal interest on this house. And now with the current market of interest rates, it just makes the whole situation more difficult," added Seifter.
He then decided to meet with Jeff Lichtenstein, of Echo Fine Properties, to find a solution.
"Keep it as an investment property, and instead of buying their dream house, that 3,000 square meter house, buy a 2,000 square meter house which is a lot less money. And then when prices cool off, then maybe they'll sell their investment home, and then they make their jump to another home,” the president and broker of Echo Fine Properties told WPBF 25 News.
Seifter said he now plans to rent out his first home.
"Maybe down the road when the real estate market cools down, then we finally make that jump to the dream house we thought we were going to get," he said.
According to the National Association of Realtors, existing home sales fell nearly 37% in year-over-year transactions from January 2022 to January 2023. Median home prices also rose more than 1% in the state.
"The last year was like a break in the market," Lichtenstein said. "I think the break is going to end in the fourth quarter or the beginning of the first quarter because all new home construction has really stopped. It won't give buyers many opportunities to go there, and a lot of these people want are going to become needs."
He said buyers may have to look to nearby neighborhoods to find more affordable homes.
“You may have to go to another area. So, we see some people, for example, going to Port St. Lucia, where there is a lot of growth, but the prices are less. Or more in the West District in Palm Beach because there is also so much money coming in," Lichtenstein said.
He also mentioned how prices, in a way, are actually going down.
"Prices really go down in a different way. We currently have inflation of 6, 7 or 8% year on year. So the prices don't go up, but they really go down because of inflation because if you don't re-index it to go up according to the rate of inflation, they go down," he added.