Homebuyers frustrated by lack of quality listings

“Buyers will really have to fight to get the house they want.” Michael Citron, real estate agent

In South Florida real estate circles, 2014was supposed to be the year of the listing.

A shortage of homes for sale dogged the market in 2012 and 2013, but more owners— encouraged by the steady increase in prices— were expected to test the waters this year and give formerly frustrated buyers new hope.

It hasn’t really happened. Although more properties are hitting the market in Palm Beach County compared with a year ago, buyers and their real estate agents are still complaining about a lack of quality inventory.

In April, therewere 7,326 active single-family listings, up17 percent over the same period a year ago, according to the Realtors Association of the Palm Beaches.

During the first quarter, listings rose 9 percent from a year earlier.

But available houses in the most desirable neighborhoods remain scarce, agents say. Some listings are in poor shape, overpriced or both, leaving buyers scrambling to find something suitable.

“There’s a lot of inventory that’s just garbage,” said Allyson Sullivan, an agent with Lang Realty in Delray Beach.

“And there’s a lot of seller greed out there. If the homes are overpriced, buyers aren’t jumping on them.”

First-time buyers Rachel Bryan and her boyfriend, Nicholas Freeman, planned to scour Delray Beach and Boca Raton for threebedroom homes priced from $325,000 to $399,000.

“On the days we went out to look, I thought Iwould be able to schedule 10 homes per day, but in reality itwas hard to find four,” said Bryan, 29, program manager for the Humane Society of Broward County. “In that price range, there just weren’t a lot of options.”

The homes they liked were already under contract, and many of those that were available needed new roofs, kitchens and other major upgrades.

Bryan and Freeman ended up buying in Boca, in large part because they put 20 percent down and were fortunate enough to submit the first offer.

Michael Citron, an agent who sells in southern Palm Beach County, said the inventory eventually will improve. But until then, “buyers will really have to fight to get the house they want.”

JIM RASSOL/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER Rachel Bryan and her boyfriend, Nicholas Freeman, struggled to find a home before closing on one in Boca Raton. Analysts and real estate agents say desirable homes remain in short supply, despite higher prices.