Florida's foreclosure woes are so bad that one in every 360 homes received a foreclosure filing in December; the state boasts nearly 25,000 foreclosed homes, so many, in fact, that bold-faced names such as O.J. Simpson, pro football player Santana Moss, and Burt Reynolds have all faced repossession. Fun times!
Despite Florida's frowny face—and certainly because of the state's cheap inventory—a new study of about 100M properties conducted by real estate search engine Trulia shows that many people want to move there. Of the 10 metro areas that online house hunters showed the greatest interest in, seven are Floridian, including Palm Bay/Melbourne/Titusville and Cape Coral/Fort Myers. Additionally, out-of-towners show an active interest in Miami—of those scouting the city, one-third came from more than 500 miles away. As Stefanos Chen at AOL Real Estate puts it, "Couple steep discounts with snowbirds' perennial quest for sunnier, happier places to live, and Florida's dominance in the report makes perfect sense." Below, find a chart detailing where demand among online house hunters is strongest.
· Out-of-Towners Covet Florida Real Estate, Locals Scratch Heads [AOL Real Estate]
· Trulia [official site]
· All Foreclosures coverage [Curbed National]