South Florida has been riddled with heaps of foreclosure sales, short sales, and buyers profiting from the default of other people's loans. Now, the city is seeing a new trend: sales of unfinished homes. As more builders and construction companies left homes in mid-build due to the housing economy, these houses seemed to be nothing but a huge eyesore for neighbours and passers by. However, new life is being breathed into these homes as they are settling themselves into the market.

Although buying a half-built home is nothing new, the circumstances that surround the unfinished homes during the housing boom are a little different. Firstly, many homes were contracted to begin work and were never even started. Second, many of the builders or contractors that were originally working on a property are not around anymore, leading to confusion by the builder who takes over a project.

In Miami, officials are still unsure of how many unfinished homes are in this position as builders were given a year extension on their building permits. This happened in March of 2009, so it remains to be seen what comes in the pipeline. Builders have also been known to delay their work on a project to finish in the new year for tax benefits. Officials in Miami-Dade and Palm Beach counties say they aren't sure how many partly built homes are in this particular situation.

According to the United States Census, the percentage of half-built homes rose from 39 percent in January of this year to 43 percent by October. Even though this number reflects those homes that are under contract and under construction, it also includes unfinished homes that were abandoned by builders, and taken over by the bank.