by David and Polly Parker, Realtors®

"Home Buyers Nationwide Are Starting to Notice Palm Beach and Broward Counties"

It seems that South Florida is getting a little love across the country. San Francisco-based real estate firm Trulia.com recently reported that Palm Beach and Broward counties are seeing big jumps in the number of searches on its Web site -- an indication, presumably, that free-falling home prices during the past three years are getting would-be buyers' attention. Searches for real estate opportunities in Fort Lauderdale increased 202 percent from February 2008 to February 2009. The city ranks sixth nationwide in the biggest year-over-year percentage increases. West Palm Beach searches jumped 62 percent, giving the city a national ranking of No. 71. Miami is ranked third, with its searches more than tripling (357 percent). Fort Myers and Cape Coral, the epicenter of the housing bust, had the two largest percentage increases -- 430 percent and 401 percent, respectively. - Sun Sentinel