Broward County's beleaguered housing market showed slight improvement at the end of 2006, giving some hope that the worst of the yearlong slump might be over.The median price of an existing home last month was $367,600, only a slight drop from the $369,000 in December 2005, the Florida Association of Realtors said Thursday. There were 618 sales, a 7 percent drop from 666 in December 2005.While certainly not stellar, those figures are better than what many people had expected after sales remained slow throughout the year and prices started dropping in the summer and continued through the fall.


West Palm Beach housing analyst Brad Hunter said he sees a glimmer of hope for frustrated sellers."We're not out of the woods yet," he said. "But we're starting to see some signs of a return to equilibrium very slowly."Mike Larson, an analyst with Weiss Research in Jupiter, isn't as optimistic.

Interest rates are creeping up, and he expects the inventory of homes to rise as frustrated sellers who took their properties off the market late last year try again this spring."Sellers shouldn't expect sunshine and roses in 2007," Larson said. "If you're a buyer, I expect you'll be in the driver's seat, and you should negotiate like it."Analysts agree that it will take months to sell all the properties on the market. Broward now has 35,362 homes and condominiums for sale, more than double the number from this time last year, according to Keyes Co. Realtors.For 2006, the median price for an existing home in Broward was $367,800, up 2 percent or $6,700 from 2005's $361,100. The median means half the homes sold for more, half for less.Sales fell 26 percent last year, putting the county in the middle of the pack with other metropolitan areas statewide.

The condo market remained uncertain as sales for the year declined sharply but prices rose.After a five-year boom, Broward's housing market faded last year, as short-term investors left the market. Sellers who were accustomed to multiple full-price offers and fast deals waited weeks or months just for someone to look at their homes.Sellers resorted to offering cars, cruises, bonuses and other perks to buyers and their agents, often to no avail.

Some desperate sellers held auctions, while others inquired about swapping homes.Sherrie Nemetz of Plantation has been trying to sell her four-bedroom home for nearly a year. She finally fielded her first offer, and it was for more than $100,000 less than the $449,900 listing price.She has reduced the price and switched agents. Her next goal: trying to improve how the house shows on the Internet."There are just so many houses on the market," Nemetz said. "If your house isn't marketed correctly, there's no incentive for people to look at it."

But Mike Pappas, president of Keyes, said he expects sales to pick up as buyers try to beat looming interest-rate hikes.What's more, Florida legislators decided to pass a measure that's expected to lower Floridians' property insurance costs. Gov. Charlie Crist signed the bill Thursday."That definitely brings some stability and a calmness to the market," Pappas said.As the market sagged in 2006, foreclosures became a major concern.