Investors 'coming back to Florida market'

Property investors are one of the two main groups being credited with boosting the property market in central Florida as the number of transactions grows.

The bulk of new buyers are said by professionals in the sector to be either investors or first-time buyers, with foreclosed or short-sold property - where banks agree to sell for less than the value of the mortgage - making up the majority of sales, the Orlando Sentinel reports.

Such buyer opportunities are presenting many chances to grab bargains, with Orlando area realtor Patrick Higgins telling the news provider: "Lenders are becoming more responsive" as they show more willingness to short-sell.

However, Mr Higgins noted, short-selling does tend to take longer to proceed than normal transactions.

Last month saw concrete evidence of increased sales activity in the Orlando area when the Orlando Regional Realtor Association produced figures for the city showing the number of sales in February to be 28.1 higher than in the same month in 2008.

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