There has been some relatively good news for those concerned about the housing market in Southwest Florida.  In December of 2012, prices in the region were the same as those for the rest of the nation with increasing demand from purchasers.  However, according to CoreLogic Inc., on the bad side, there have been quite a number of both short sales at decreased prices and foreclosures which are bringing the market down.

Still, in comparison to the situation of a year ago, there is a bright side.  In the Sarasota-Bradenton-North Port metropolitan area, there was an increase of 13 percent in house prices.  Leaving distressed sales out of the equation, year-over-year prices in Sarasota jumped by 10 percent throughout the year.

The ideal is not for huge escalations in house prices; what field analysts really want to see is a "modest appreciation."  Huge increases are not good long-term, as has been seen in the past.  Ultimately though, across Florida, prices have overall increased 9 percent despite the fact that analysts feel the figures are misleading since most of the increase has come from lower-end properties which are now in greater demand by institutional investors purchasing them for rentals.  And the nice house worth approximately $350,000 is not really witnessing much of an appreciation.