I sounded funny a year or two ago when I affirmed to my colleagues that the time would come when we would complain about lack of properties to sell.
It seemed impossible.
Buyer was king.
Canadians, Frenchmen, and South Americans would exhibit to us their country's abject press articles mentioning the never attained "bottom" to be reached by crumbling real estate in South Florida, and we would sometimes lose our temper thinking of the greed of these buyers presented with incredible opportunities, ever waiting "a bit more; it will surely get worse".
However, sales were happening all over South Florida.
Especially in tourism-oriented areas, since 2008, a slow but steady flow of sales was occurring.
Miami Beach, Hallandale Beach, Sunny Isles, Hollywood Beach, Aventura, Fort Lauderdale, registered a growing activity.
We could still offer some of the best apartments in many buildings at the beach areas.
What was noticeable is the lack of new inventory entering the market.
And that was the reason why I was predicting the future shortage.
When zero construction had been the rule during at least four years, it was natural to think that it is only a matter of time till the trend would be reversed.
And it happened, of course.
Starting 2011, we started to feel the pressure.
Searches for my clients would not be as easy and we would have to settle for lesser "water views", lower floors, and weakened bargaining power.
The trend accelerated at the end of that year, with the winter tourists flocking Florida.
By then, I could sense a more active presence of less wealthy buyers in search of low-priced properties.
Turning their attention to communities and buildings, farther away from the ocean, which had often been the residences of northern retirees, Canadians were the prominent force behind this activity.
Even income properties such as apartments, and duplex homes, started to get the attention of numerous buyers when it became evident that the famous bottom had been reached or was already behind.
We eventually reached the point when a search on behalf of a potential buyer became an arduous task.
Now we have to deal mostly with the least valuable parts of the inventory that had not been already sold.
Sellers are often holding their ground in a way that we have not seen in years.
I have not failed to do my personal calculations at the scale of my farm areas.
You look at buildings where a 10, 15 or even more than 20% of the units were for sale a couple of years ago, and you find a 2% or 3% availability at the most.
Of course, in certain less privileged areas, there are still sizable amounts of foreclosures and short sales hitting the market every day, but the panic of 2008 and 2009 has completely subsided.
And what I now tell my foreign buyers is: "if you want to buy, from me or from any other agent, you would better make your move now; because at any price you could be buying now, it is still a real bargain.
" And it is not at all a sales gimmick, but very good advice.
What saddens me at this point is that I haven't sold much to local residents, and that all my transactions during the last four or five years have been strictly out-of-town investors.
Not the best way to build the "American Dream of Home-ownership".