Canadians are buying Florida property? That's not only my experience

There have been many Ontario tag plates on cars in and around the Disney area during the past few weeks (and other Canadian ones too).  It's too late in the year to believe they are all snowbirds, and I've come into contact with a number of potential buyers from North of the border myself - Newfoundland, Nova Scotia and other Provinces look as if they have quite a few of their residents interested in buying property in Florida.

A lot are attracted by their strong currency exchange rate and the reduce prices of Florida property, while other simply want their place in the Sun.  Apparently it's not just me that's seeing this:

To the snowbirds of Canada, the sunseekers of Europe and flight capitalists of Latin America, Florida sends you all a great big Thanks! for buying homes here in such abundance.

When it comes to international buyers snapping up housing in the United States, Florida property remains the runaway favorite. The state tallied 26 percent of international sales in the country, says a new National Association of Realtors report for the year ending March 2012.

Click here to read the rest.  And thanks again, Canada.

More confidence if you're buying Florida property?

This year has shown improved activity in the Florida property market: for example, here in Central Florida, home inventories are down, the number of buyers is on the increase and there are statistics showing actual price increases!!!

It's not just Florida property: the market across the USA has some positive signs - for example, see this article that takes a look at the wider USA property scene:

"While still in the early innings of a housing recovery, rental markets have turned the corner, home sales are strengthening, and a floor is beginning to form under home prices,” said Eric S. Belsky, managing director of the Joint Center for Housing Studies. “With new home inventories at record lows, unless the broader economy goes into a tailspin, stronger sales should further stabilize prices and pave the way for a pickup in single-family housing construction over the course of 2012."

For more information, read the whole article.

Empirical evidence is backed up by a survey that shows price rise expectations.

The changes are affecting renters too.

So for those owners waiting for prices to rise so they can afford to sell, or those buyers hanging on until the market turns - has the time arrived to make a move? Certainly, in my experience over the past few months, there is more life, optimism and interest than I've seen for the past few years. For the sake of everyone, including job seekers, business owners and even the wider general public, let's hope that this heralds a real improvement in the economy at last. What do you think?