If you haven't checked on how much your home is worth, now might be a great time. That's according to FAU professor Ken Johnson.
"If I was seriously thinking about selling today, today would be a good time to sell."
Johnson and colleagues publish the BH&J index, which tracks conditions to help people decide whether to buy or rent a home.
It also records the average price of homes in specific areas and much of Florida is looking great. For instance, West Palm Beach is 17 percent over its normal pricing trend. Home values in Port St. Lucie are 20 percent higher than normal. There are similar figures in housing markets throughout the state.
Johnson says that record low interest rates are bringing out more buyers, along with people from the Northeast who are looking to relocate to our state.
Of those home values, he says people are being caught by surprise.
"(It) seems like a very big number and it usually takes people's breath away."
Realtors say it's a seller's market and those looking to purchase a home have to move quickly when they see a property they like.
Johnson says the increases are short of the 2006 spike that saw prices climb by 60 percent, but this spike is built on strong economic factors.
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