Tuesday, October 16, 2012
Wednesday, September 26, 2012
Central Florida's Real Estate Market Update....
Home Sales and Median Home Prices are Up.....Inventory Down.
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Thursday, August 23, 2012
Friday, July 27, 2012
Welcome to Lake Mary - Just Sold
Welcome to Lake Mary....Just Sold
1764 REDWOOD GROVE TER.
$422,500
Located in Magnolia Plantation, Lake Mary's prestigious gated golf community. Fantastic home with a large private back yard with an extended screened lanai. Pool Ready! Located on a quiet street with little traffic. This home features the Master Suite and three additional bedrooms, and an office downstairs. Beautiful kitchen with upgraded 42" maple cabinets with decorative trim and molding and wine cabinet, tile backsplash, center island, stainless appliances and exotic granite counters. The adjacent Family Room features a custom built entertainment center in matching maple cabinetry. The Master Bedroom has his and her closets and a sitting area. Master bath with jetted tub and shower with upgraded tile. The secondary bathrooms feature granite counters on the vanities. Other features include rounded corners and high baseboards.
listing courtesy of LAKES & LINKS INT'L REALTY
Selling Homes 24/7
Monday, July 23, 2012
Tuesday, July 17, 2012
Friday, July 6, 2012
Just Sold In Longwood
JUST SOLD
2641 Cara Lynn Way
$228,000
Incredible 4/3 home located in desirable Jennifer Estates. Well maintained with lots of upgrades! Features: vaulted ceilings & crown molding in family & living rooms, separate dining room, eat in kitchen with stainless steel appliances, microwave over the range, electric range with double oven & dishwasher, glass tiled back splash, floor to ceiling cabinets with pull out drawers for convenience, Kitchen, master & guest baths have granite counter tops, jack & jill bathroom between two of the four large bedrooms, all bedrooms are carpeted, three bathrooms & kitchen have tile floors, family, living & dining rooms have wood laminate flooring, built in book case on either side of the wood burning fireplace, oversized two car garage, french doors lead on to a large screened patio with dining on one end and spa on the opposite end, step out the french doors in the master bedroom and relax in the spa! Top rated schools. Community offers access to crystal clear Lake Brantley with available boat ramp, picnic area & dock, tennis & basketball courts. Convenient to Maitland Center, Lake Mary, Heathrow, Orlando, 434, 436, I-4, 429, 414, and area attractions. This home is perfect for entertaining & family gatherings.
listing courtesy of RE/MAX 200 REALTY
Todd Humphrey, Realtor
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Thursday, July 5, 2012
Just Sold in Lake Mary
JUST SOLD
288 Bald Eagle Run
288 Bald Eagle Run
$250,000
Lovely home NESTLED in the QUIET neighborhood of Eagles Crossing boasts over half an acre with a screened in POOL. Located in the desirable "A" rated Lake Mary school district, only minutes from I-4, 417, Downtown Lake Mary and shopping.This MOVE-IN READY home shows pride of ownership with NEW neutral paint throughout, UPGRADED master bathroom, NEW ceramic tile and laminate flooring, high ceilings throughout, RENOVATED lanai, beautiful manicured landscape and new pool screen, NEW POOL equipment, to name a few. This home features wonderful views and great windows allowing for plenty of natural light. SECURITY ALARM and surround sound intercom system included. Shows like a model home.
listing courtesy of Realty Executives Seminole
Todd Humphrey, Realtor
"Selling Homes 24/7"
"Selling Homes 24/7"
Tuesday, July 3, 2012
Just Sold In Apopka
JUST SOLD
1264 Himalayan Dr.
1264 Himalayan Dr.
$82,000
Lovely, well maintained home in quiet CUL-DE-SAC. Great Open Floor Plan with Vaulted Ceilings and a 3 way split plan. Master Bedroom, Great Room,and Dining Room have Laminate flooring.
listing courtesy of CENTRAL FLORIDA REALTY PARTNER
Todd Humphrey, Realtor
"Selling Homes 24/7"
"Selling Homes 24/7"
Wednesday, June 20, 2012
Friday, June 15, 2012
Deer having breakfast in my yard vid.mp4
Benifit #21 - Living along the Markham Woods Corridor.
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www.LakeMaryRealEstateSales.com
Wednesday, June 13, 2012
Monday, June 11, 2012
Just Listed in Sanford
5051 KNOTTY PINE CT
$379,900
Elegant colonial, 4 bedroom 2 and ½ bath pool home located in desirable community of Tall Trees.
listing courtesy of Watson Realty Corp.
"Selling Homes 24/7"
Wednesday, June 6, 2012
Virtual Tour for New Listing in Chuluota
Here's the virtual tour for 315 Knot Hole Circle, Chuluota.
http://homesite.obeo.com/722769
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www.LakeMaryRealEstateSales.com
http://homesite.obeo.com/722769
"Maximize Your Equity...Enjoy Life!"
www.LakeMaryRealEstateSales.com
Home Prices Up for 2nd month!
CoreLogic released its April Home Price Index (HPI) report today. Nationwide, home prices, including distressed sales, increased on a year-over-year basis by 1.1 percent in April 2012 compared to April 2011 – the second consecutive year-over-year increase this year, and the first time two consecutive increases have occurred since June 2010.
On a month-over-month basis, home prices, including distressed sales, increased by 2.2 percent in April 2012 compared to March – the second consecutive month-over-month increase this year.
When distressed sales are backed out of the numbers, prices increased 2.6 percent in month-to-month for the third time in a row. Year-over-year prices, excluding distressed sales, rose by 1.9 percent. Distressed sales include short sales and real estate owned (REO) transactions.
CoreLogic also introduced a new metric – the CoreLogic Pending HPI. The Pending HPI indicates that house prices will rise by at least another 2 percent, from April to May. Pending HPI is based on Multiple Listing Service (MLS) data that measure price changes in the most recent month.
“We see the consistent month-over-month increases within our HPI and Pending HPI as one sign that the housing market is stabilizing,” says Anand Nallathambi, president and chief executive officer of CoreLogic. “Home prices are responding to a restricted supply that will likely exist for some time to come – an optimistic sign for the future of our industry.”
“Excluding distressed sales, home prices in March and April are improving at a rate not seen since late 2006 and appreciating at a faster rate than during the tax-credit boomlet in 2010,” said Mark Fleming, chief economist for CoreLogic. “Nationally, the supply of homes in current inventory is down to 6.5 months, a level not seen in more than five years, in part driven by the ‘locked in’ position of so many homeowners in negative equity.”
Highlights in April 2012
• Including distressed sales, the five states with the highest appreciation were: Arizona (+8.8 percent), District of Columbia (6.4 percent), Florida (+5.5 percent), Montana (+5.4 percent), and Utah (+5.4 percent).
• Including distressed sales, the five states with the greatest depreciation were: Delaware (-11.9 percent), Illinois (-6.8 percent), Alabama (-6.6 percent), Rhode Island (-6.2 percent), and Georgia (-5.6 percent).
• Excluding distressed sales, the five states with the highest appreciation were: Utah (+5.3 percent), Idaho (+5.1 percent), Mississippi (+4.7 percent), Louisiana (+4.6 percent) and Arizona (+4.6 percent).
• Excluding distressed sales, the five states with the greatest depreciation were: Delaware (-10.1 percent), Rhode Island (-6.2 percent), Alabama (-4.4 percent), Vermont (-2.8 percent) and Connecticut (-2.3 percent).
• Including distressed transactions, the peak-to-current change in the national HPI (from April 2006 to April 2012) was -31.7 percent. Excluding distressed transactions, the peak-to-current change in the HPI for the same period was -23.3 percent.
• The five states with the largest peak-to-current declines including distressed transactions are Nevada (-58.9 percent), Florida (-46.5 percent), Arizona (-46.5 percent), Michigan (-43.6 percent) and California (-41.0 percent).
• Of the top 100 Core Based Statistical Areas measured by population, 44 are showing year-over-year declines in April – 10 fewer than in March.
© 2012 Florida Realtors®
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www.LakeMaryRealEstateSales.com
On a month-over-month basis, home prices, including distressed sales, increased by 2.2 percent in April 2012 compared to March – the second consecutive month-over-month increase this year.
When distressed sales are backed out of the numbers, prices increased 2.6 percent in month-to-month for the third time in a row. Year-over-year prices, excluding distressed sales, rose by 1.9 percent. Distressed sales include short sales and real estate owned (REO) transactions.
CoreLogic also introduced a new metric – the CoreLogic Pending HPI. The Pending HPI indicates that house prices will rise by at least another 2 percent, from April to May. Pending HPI is based on Multiple Listing Service (MLS) data that measure price changes in the most recent month.
“We see the consistent month-over-month increases within our HPI and Pending HPI as one sign that the housing market is stabilizing,” says Anand Nallathambi, president and chief executive officer of CoreLogic. “Home prices are responding to a restricted supply that will likely exist for some time to come – an optimistic sign for the future of our industry.”
“Excluding distressed sales, home prices in March and April are improving at a rate not seen since late 2006 and appreciating at a faster rate than during the tax-credit boomlet in 2010,” said Mark Fleming, chief economist for CoreLogic. “Nationally, the supply of homes in current inventory is down to 6.5 months, a level not seen in more than five years, in part driven by the ‘locked in’ position of so many homeowners in negative equity.”
Highlights in April 2012
• Including distressed sales, the five states with the highest appreciation were: Arizona (+8.8 percent), District of Columbia (6.4 percent), Florida (+5.5 percent), Montana (+5.4 percent), and Utah (+5.4 percent).
• Including distressed sales, the five states with the greatest depreciation were: Delaware (-11.9 percent), Illinois (-6.8 percent), Alabama (-6.6 percent), Rhode Island (-6.2 percent), and Georgia (-5.6 percent).
• Excluding distressed sales, the five states with the highest appreciation were: Utah (+5.3 percent), Idaho (+5.1 percent), Mississippi (+4.7 percent), Louisiana (+4.6 percent) and Arizona (+4.6 percent).
• Excluding distressed sales, the five states with the greatest depreciation were: Delaware (-10.1 percent), Rhode Island (-6.2 percent), Alabama (-4.4 percent), Vermont (-2.8 percent) and Connecticut (-2.3 percent).
• Including distressed transactions, the peak-to-current change in the national HPI (from April 2006 to April 2012) was -31.7 percent. Excluding distressed transactions, the peak-to-current change in the HPI for the same period was -23.3 percent.
• The five states with the largest peak-to-current declines including distressed transactions are Nevada (-58.9 percent), Florida (-46.5 percent), Arizona (-46.5 percent), Michigan (-43.6 percent) and California (-41.0 percent).
• Of the top 100 Core Based Statistical Areas measured by population, 44 are showing year-over-year declines in April – 10 fewer than in March.
© 2012 Florida Realtors®
"Maximize Your Equity...Enjoy Life!"
www.LakeMaryRealEstateSales.com
Tuesday, June 5, 2012
Lake Mary New Listing For Sale
Just Listed in Magnolia Plantation
429,900
1689 Cottonwood Creek Pl
Gorgeous 3 Bedroom/3 Bath plus office/den /3 Car Garage, pool home in desirable Golf/Gated Magnolia Plantation! This beautifully maintained home on over a half acre corner lot features granite counters, tile backsplash, 42" natural maple cabinets with crown molding.......
For more details, visit http://www.lakemaryrealestatesales.com/Lake_Mary__Seminole_County_Real_Estate_Sales_listings/B94BAE80-F24C-3BE1-935551845CF01277.shtml
listing courtesy of Watson Realty Corp.
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Friday, May 25, 2012
Just Sold in Lake Mary
Lovely 4 Bedroom 2 Bath Home with Pool. Wood, Carpet & Tiled flooring throughout. New Paint and Carpet. Covered Patio. Two Car Garage. Fenced Back yard.
Lake Mary 4 Bedroom Pool Home - Sold $197,700
listing courtesy of Sand Dollar Realty Group
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Tuesday, May 22, 2012
New Listing in Chuluota....6 Bedrooms and just under 4,000 s.f.!
Zero Down Financing Available with USDA Financing! This beautiful and spacious 6 bedroom home has a wonderful open floor plan...2 giant master bedrooms....one upstairs and one down!
Open House
Saturday, May 26th
1 - 4 p.m.
$325,000
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Thursday, May 17, 2012
Thursday, May 10, 2012
Florida in top five for home price appreciation....ticking up!
CoreLogic’s latest home price index, which includes distressed sales, shows a slight month-over-month nationwide increase of 0.6 percent in home prices from February to March. But some markets are seeing much more of a price boost this spring, including Florida, which ranked No. 5 overall for home price increases.
“This spring, the housing market is responding to an improving balance between real estate supply and demand, which is causing stabilization in house prices,” says Mark Fleming, CoreLogic’s chief economist. “Although this has been the case in each of the last two years, the difference this year is that stabilization is occurring without the support of tax credits and in spite of a declining share of REO sales.”
States with highest appreciation
According to CoreLogic, the following states had the highest appreciation in March (this includes distressed sales):
• Wyoming: +5.9%
• West Virginia: +5.3%
• Arizona: +5.1%
• North Dakota: +4.7%
• Florida: +4.5%
States with biggest depreciation
Meanwhile, the states with the greatest depreciation, when also figuring in distressed sales, are:
• Delaware: -10.6%
• Illinois: -8.3%
• Alabama: -8%
• Georgia: -7.3%
• Nevada: -5.8%
Source: Melissa Dittmann Tracey, Realtor® Magazine Daily News
© 2012 Florida Realtors®
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Monday, May 7, 2012
Is housing as cheap as it’ll ever get?
Homebuyers who want a bargain may want to act now because the housing market is in the midst of a turnaround, economists say.
Home prices have fallen and mortgage rates are hovering near record lows, pushing home affordability for the average family to record highs. Meanwhile, rents have been on the rise, making owning a home cheaper than renting in most areas of the country, according to recent surveys.
But the housing deals aren’t expected to stick around much longer.
An improving job market, a decrease in the number of homeowners falling behind on their mortgage, and an anticipated improvement in access to mortgages is expected to help home prices start bouncing back by next year, economists say.
Investors eyeing profits in rentals also have been snapping up bank-owned properties, which Clear Capital’s Alex Villacorte attributes as helping to lead to an increase in prices on foreclosed properties. This “could have a significant impact on the market overall in terms of providing a rising floor to home values,” Villacorte told CNNMoney.
Some areas are already seeing prices rise. In Phoenix, housing prices have already increased 8.4 percent during the three months ending April 30, and Miami saw prices bump up 4.6 percent quarter over quarter, according to Clear Capital data.
“Stuff I was selling six months ago for $60,000 to $80,000 is now $90,000 to $110,000,” Tanya Marchiol, founder of Team Investments in Phoenix, told CNNMoney.
Loan rates, demand predictions
Buyers may want to act more quickly because mortgage rates are expected to tick up slightly by the end of the year. The increase is being sparked by greater demand, says Doug Lebda, CEO of LendingTree. He predicts 30-year fixed-rate mortgages will inch up to 4.5 percent by the end of the year, which is still low, however, by historical standards.
The Mortgage Bankers Association is also predicting a big leap in mortgage loans next year. For this year, MBA estimates that buyers will take out loans totaling about $415 billion, but by 2013 that number is expected to nearly double to $706 billion.
Source: “Buying a Home Won’t get Much Cheaper,” CNNMoney (May 3, 2012) and “Time To Trade The Lease For A Mortgage?” NPR (May 1, 2012)
© Copyright 2012 INFORMATION, INC. Bethesda, MD
Home prices have fallen and mortgage rates are hovering near record lows, pushing home affordability for the average family to record highs. Meanwhile, rents have been on the rise, making owning a home cheaper than renting in most areas of the country, according to recent surveys.
But the housing deals aren’t expected to stick around much longer.
An improving job market, a decrease in the number of homeowners falling behind on their mortgage, and an anticipated improvement in access to mortgages is expected to help home prices start bouncing back by next year, economists say.
Investors eyeing profits in rentals also have been snapping up bank-owned properties, which Clear Capital’s Alex Villacorte attributes as helping to lead to an increase in prices on foreclosed properties. This “could have a significant impact on the market overall in terms of providing a rising floor to home values,” Villacorte told CNNMoney.
Some areas are already seeing prices rise. In Phoenix, housing prices have already increased 8.4 percent during the three months ending April 30, and Miami saw prices bump up 4.6 percent quarter over quarter, according to Clear Capital data.
“Stuff I was selling six months ago for $60,000 to $80,000 is now $90,000 to $110,000,” Tanya Marchiol, founder of Team Investments in Phoenix, told CNNMoney.
Loan rates, demand predictions
Buyers may want to act more quickly because mortgage rates are expected to tick up slightly by the end of the year. The increase is being sparked by greater demand, says Doug Lebda, CEO of LendingTree. He predicts 30-year fixed-rate mortgages will inch up to 4.5 percent by the end of the year, which is still low, however, by historical standards.
The Mortgage Bankers Association is also predicting a big leap in mortgage loans next year. For this year, MBA estimates that buyers will take out loans totaling about $415 billion, but by 2013 that number is expected to nearly double to $706 billion.
Source: “Buying a Home Won’t get Much Cheaper,” CNNMoney (May 3, 2012) and “Time To Trade The Lease For A Mortgage?” NPR (May 1, 2012)
© Copyright 2012 INFORMATION, INC. Bethesda, MD
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Tuesday, May 1, 2012
Is Florida’s shadow inventory a rebound threat?
The term “shadow inventory” hangs over the real estate market, suggesting a thinly veiled catastrophe seen through the mist, just as the passengers of the Titanic watched an iceberg draw closer. However, a white paper written by Florida Realtors Chief Economist Dr. John Tuccillo finds the fear of a shadow inventory overrated.
“The fear … is that the inventory of delinquent and foreclosed loans (will be released onto) an already weakened market,” says Tuccillo. “(But) the reality, even in Florida where distressed properties make up a significant portion of the market, appears to be different.”
Tuccillo says lenders have no reason to flood the real estate market with more homes if doing so would drive prices down and impact the lender’s profit. While some observers worry that lenders were holding back on purpose, Tuccillo says that’s not so – that the large number of distressed properties on hold was “largely the result of confusion over the rules of the game, and thus missteps by the lenders.”
In conducting an analysis, Florida Realtors Research looked at data from MLSs around the state and data provided by CoreLogic, a statistical analysis company.
“We looked at the recent history of distressed property listings and transactions relative to normal market data, as well as estimates for the shadow inventory, and came to some conclusions about the likely course (for the) future,” says Tuccillo.
Conclusions
• Florida remains one of the nation’s hardest hit states for distressed property sales.
• Distressed property sales and listings have declined since late 2010, except for single-family-home short sales.
• Average prices for distressed and normal property sales have been stabilizing.
• In general, Realtors and lenders have learned how to cope with distressed properties in a way that stabilizes the market.
• Florida’s highest percentage of distressed property (compared to total listings) occurs in the I-4 corridor and Southeast Florida; the lowest percentages occur in Northwest Florida.
• Currently, Florida’s shadow inventory was 550,000 units at the end of 2011, a decline of about 9 percent from its peak in the first quarter of 2010.
• Currently, the flow of new seriously delinquent (90 days or more) loans moving into the shadow inventory is offset by the roughly equal flow of distressed sales (short sales and REOs).
• The number of foreclosures and REOs was significantly lower in February of 2012 than one year earlier, suggesting slower shadow inventory growth.
Tuccillo predicts that distressed properties will be a significant feature of the Florida real estate market over the next ten years, but it will be considered just one property type a buyer can consider – one that has its own unique sales techniques and documentation.
© 2012 Florida Realtors®
"Maximize Your Equity...Enjoy Life!"
www.LakeMaryRealEstateSales.com
“The fear … is that the inventory of delinquent and foreclosed loans (will be released onto) an already weakened market,” says Tuccillo. “(But) the reality, even in Florida where distressed properties make up a significant portion of the market, appears to be different.”
Tuccillo says lenders have no reason to flood the real estate market with more homes if doing so would drive prices down and impact the lender’s profit. While some observers worry that lenders were holding back on purpose, Tuccillo says that’s not so – that the large number of distressed properties on hold was “largely the result of confusion over the rules of the game, and thus missteps by the lenders.”
In conducting an analysis, Florida Realtors Research looked at data from MLSs around the state and data provided by CoreLogic, a statistical analysis company.
“We looked at the recent history of distressed property listings and transactions relative to normal market data, as well as estimates for the shadow inventory, and came to some conclusions about the likely course (for the) future,” says Tuccillo.
Conclusions
• Florida remains one of the nation’s hardest hit states for distressed property sales.
• Distressed property sales and listings have declined since late 2010, except for single-family-home short sales.
• Average prices for distressed and normal property sales have been stabilizing.
• In general, Realtors and lenders have learned how to cope with distressed properties in a way that stabilizes the market.
• Florida’s highest percentage of distressed property (compared to total listings) occurs in the I-4 corridor and Southeast Florida; the lowest percentages occur in Northwest Florida.
• Currently, Florida’s shadow inventory was 550,000 units at the end of 2011, a decline of about 9 percent from its peak in the first quarter of 2010.
• Currently, the flow of new seriously delinquent (90 days or more) loans moving into the shadow inventory is offset by the roughly equal flow of distressed sales (short sales and REOs).
• The number of foreclosures and REOs was significantly lower in February of 2012 than one year earlier, suggesting slower shadow inventory growth.
Tuccillo predicts that distressed properties will be a significant feature of the Florida real estate market over the next ten years, but it will be considered just one property type a buyer can consider – one that has its own unique sales techniques and documentation.
© 2012 Florida Realtors®
"Maximize Your Equity...Enjoy Life!"
www.LakeMaryRealEstateSales.com
Latest 2012 Economic and Housing Outlook
The housing market forecast has been upgraded based on a rise in pending contracts and continued moderate economic expansion.
Click her for the latest 2012 Economic and Housing Outlook from NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun. Latest 2012 Economic and Housing Outlook
Click her for the latest 2012 Economic and Housing Outlook from NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun. Latest 2012 Economic and Housing Outlook
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Wednesday, April 25, 2012
Monday, April 23, 2012
Low Ball Offers Don't Work In Today's Real Estate Market
When the number of home sellers grossly outpaces the number of buyers, no offer can be ignored, even if it’s 25 percent or more off the asking price. But in today’s rebounding market, those low-ball offers don’t often work. Many times, the potential buyer finds that they don’t get a counter-offer. And, in many cases, another more realistic buyer gets the home.
A low-ball offer – generally 25 or more off the asking price – allows buyers to see if they can land a great deal, even if they’re willing to pay more. In a survey last year conducted by the National Association of Realtors® (NAR), one in 10 respondents cited low-ball offers as a concern. According to real estate columnist Kenneth Harney, a NAR survey conducted in March and not yet released found that almost no one complained about low offers.
When the number of listings outpaced the number of buyers, many potential homeowners submitted a shockingly low offer on the theory that they had nothing to lose. If the seller balked, most would still counter with something below their asking price. Today, however, offers close to the asking price – or even beating it – will probably come in fairly quickly from someone else if a home is priced correctly in the first place.
Even buyers who still want to low-ball an offer on a home many times switch tactics after they lose a property or two to a more aggressive buyer.
Florida Realtor Marnie Matarese works with J Wood Realty in Sarasota. She told Harney that fewer buyers want to low-ball an offer in her area, but they still come in – mainly from out-of-state or out-of-the-country people who have read about the state’s foreclosures and short sales. That news, however, is old – it has not kept up with reality in many areas.
Matarese says some people still insist on making a low-ball offer, but that she doesn’t mind. “You can’t blame a buyer for trying to get a good deal,” she says.
In some cases, a seller isn’t offended by a low-ball offer, but their counter-offer shaves only a little bit off their original asking price. An Olympia, Wash., real estate agent had a $150,000 offer for a $250,000 listing, according to Harney. But after the dust settled and the seller shook off his irritation, he and the buyer agreed to $230,000.
Harney closed his column with this advice: “Rolling low-balls at sellers may have been an effective approach between 2008 and early 2011. But in 2012’s environment – at least in rebounding markets – it could be counterproductive if you truly want to buy.”
Source: Ken Harney. Distributed by Washington Post Writers Group.
© 2012 Florida Realtors®
"Maximize Your Equity...Enjoy Life!"
www.LakeMaryRealEstateSales.com
A low-ball offer – generally 25 or more off the asking price – allows buyers to see if they can land a great deal, even if they’re willing to pay more. In a survey last year conducted by the National Association of Realtors® (NAR), one in 10 respondents cited low-ball offers as a concern. According to real estate columnist Kenneth Harney, a NAR survey conducted in March and not yet released found that almost no one complained about low offers.
When the number of listings outpaced the number of buyers, many potential homeowners submitted a shockingly low offer on the theory that they had nothing to lose. If the seller balked, most would still counter with something below their asking price. Today, however, offers close to the asking price – or even beating it – will probably come in fairly quickly from someone else if a home is priced correctly in the first place.
Even buyers who still want to low-ball an offer on a home many times switch tactics after they lose a property or two to a more aggressive buyer.
Florida Realtor Marnie Matarese works with J Wood Realty in Sarasota. She told Harney that fewer buyers want to low-ball an offer in her area, but they still come in – mainly from out-of-state or out-of-the-country people who have read about the state’s foreclosures and short sales. That news, however, is old – it has not kept up with reality in many areas.
Matarese says some people still insist on making a low-ball offer, but that she doesn’t mind. “You can’t blame a buyer for trying to get a good deal,” she says.
In some cases, a seller isn’t offended by a low-ball offer, but their counter-offer shaves only a little bit off their original asking price. An Olympia, Wash., real estate agent had a $150,000 offer for a $250,000 listing, according to Harney. But after the dust settled and the seller shook off his irritation, he and the buyer agreed to $230,000.
Harney closed his column with this advice: “Rolling low-balls at sellers may have been an effective approach between 2008 and early 2011. But in 2012’s environment – at least in rebounding markets – it could be counterproductive if you truly want to buy.”
Source: Ken Harney. Distributed by Washington Post Writers Group.
© 2012 Florida Realtors®
"Maximize Your Equity...Enjoy Life!"
www.LakeMaryRealEstateSales.com
Friday, April 20, 2012
Home Buyers - It's Time To Commit
It’s an old investment adage that remains true: “Buy low, sell high.”
National Association of Realtors® (NAR) President Moe Veissi, who served as Florida Realtors president in 2002, explains why conditions have never been better to buy a home in an online radio interview.
The Real Estate Today interview can also be forwarded through Facebook and Twitter to friends, family and clients.
Veissi, broker-owner of Veissi & Associates Inc. in Miami, says today’s real estate market has “less folks looking, less inventory and more contracts working. … We’re just now seeing appreciation in real estate prices in some areas of the country. … This is a wonderful time to take advantage of interest rates that are lower than they’ve ever been.”
Veissi quotes investor Warren Buffet’s outlook on the current real estate market: “Warren Buffet appeared on CNBC about two weeks ago, and the young lady that was interviewing him asked where you should invest your money. Warren said, ‘If I had the capabilities, I’d buy 200,000 homes across this county … I think that housing in America today will outstrip the investment capabilities of the Wall Street blue chips over the longer term.”
To hear the five-minute radio interview and forward to friends and clients, visit the Real Estate Today website at: http://retradio.com/?p=4916.
WASHINGTON – April 20, 2012 – © 2012 Florida Realtors®
National Association of Realtors® (NAR) President Moe Veissi, who served as Florida Realtors president in 2002, explains why conditions have never been better to buy a home in an online radio interview.
The Real Estate Today interview can also be forwarded through Facebook and Twitter to friends, family and clients.
Veissi, broker-owner of Veissi & Associates Inc. in Miami, says today’s real estate market has “less folks looking, less inventory and more contracts working. … We’re just now seeing appreciation in real estate prices in some areas of the country. … This is a wonderful time to take advantage of interest rates that are lower than they’ve ever been.”
Veissi quotes investor Warren Buffet’s outlook on the current real estate market: “Warren Buffet appeared on CNBC about two weeks ago, and the young lady that was interviewing him asked where you should invest your money. Warren said, ‘If I had the capabilities, I’d buy 200,000 homes across this county … I think that housing in America today will outstrip the investment capabilities of the Wall Street blue chips over the longer term.”
To hear the five-minute radio interview and forward to friends and clients, visit the Real Estate Today website at: http://retradio.com/?p=4916.
WASHINGTON – April 20, 2012 – © 2012 Florida Realtors®
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Thursday, April 19, 2012
Friday, April 6, 2012
Housing Prices Expected To Soar.....
Real estate economists and analysts are increasingly optimistic that the housing market will have a dramatic recovery in the next two years, according to results of a new semi-annual survey of 38 real estate economists and analysts conducted by the Urban Land Institute’s Center for Capital Markets and Real Estate.
The economists predict that the national average for home prices will stop falling by this year and a subsequent turnaround will occur. By next year, they project that home prices will begin to rise by 2 percent, and then get a larger boost of 3.5 percent by 2014. The economists also predict that housing starts will nearly double by next year.
They also foresee rental prices continuing to increase for all property types, ranging from 0.8 percent to 5 percent.
The economists’ predictions were made on assumptions that the economy would continue to strengthen, including a larger drop in unemployment.
“While geopolitical and global economic events could change the forecast going forward, what we see in this survey is confidence that the U.S. real estate economy has weathered the brunt of the recent financial storm and is poised for significant improvement over the next three years,” says Patrick L. Phillips, ULI chief executive officer. “These results hold much promise for the real estate industry.”
Source: “Real Estate Will Rock in 2014,” RISMedia (March 31, 2012)
© Copyright 2012 INFORMATION, INC. Bethesda, MD (301) 215-4688
The economists predict that the national average for home prices will stop falling by this year and a subsequent turnaround will occur. By next year, they project that home prices will begin to rise by 2 percent, and then get a larger boost of 3.5 percent by 2014. The economists also predict that housing starts will nearly double by next year.
They also foresee rental prices continuing to increase for all property types, ranging from 0.8 percent to 5 percent.
The economists’ predictions were made on assumptions that the economy would continue to strengthen, including a larger drop in unemployment.
“While geopolitical and global economic events could change the forecast going forward, what we see in this survey is confidence that the U.S. real estate economy has weathered the brunt of the recent financial storm and is poised for significant improvement over the next three years,” says Patrick L. Phillips, ULI chief executive officer. “These results hold much promise for the real estate industry.”
Source: “Real Estate Will Rock in 2014,” RISMedia (March 31, 2012)
© Copyright 2012 INFORMATION, INC. Bethesda, MD (301) 215-4688
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Thursday, April 5, 2012
Real estate market is picking up, but foreclosures expected to surge
Even as real estate sales are picking up across most of the country, a painful second act of the housing slump looks set to unfold: Many more U.S. homeowners face the prospect of losing their homes this year as banks pick up the pace of foreclosures.
“We are right back where we were two years ago. I would put money on 2012 being a bigger year for foreclosures than 2010,” said Mark Seifert, executive director of Empowering & Strengthening Ohio’s People (ESOP), a counseling group with 10 offices in Ohio. “Last year was an anomaly, and not in a good way.”
In 2011, the “robo-signing” scandal, in which foreclosure documents were signed without properly reviewing individual cases, prompted banks to hold back on new foreclosures pending a settlement.
Five major banks eventually struck that settlement with 49 states in February. Signs are growing that the pace of foreclosures is picking up again, something housing experts predict will again weigh on home prices before any sustained recovery can occur.
Mortgage servicing provider Lender Processing Services reported in early March that U.S. foreclosure starts jumped 28 percent in January.
More conclusive national data are not yet available. But watchdog group 4closurefraud.org, which helped uncover the “robo-signing” scandal, says it has turned up evidence of a large rise in new foreclosures between March 1 and 24 by three big banks in Palm Beach County in Florida, one of the states hit hardest by the housing crash.
Although foreclosure starts were 50 percent or more lower than for the same period in 2010, those begun by Deutsche Bank were up 47 percent from 2011. Those of Wells Fargo’s rose 68 percent, and Bank of America’s, including BAC Home Loans Servicing, jumped nearly seven-fold – 251 starts vs. 37 in the same period in 2011. Bank of America said it does not comment on data provided by other sources. Wells Fargo and Deutsche Bank did not comment.
According to Moody’s Analytics, sales of repossessed properties probably will rise 25 percent this year from 1 million in 2011, Bloomberg News reported. Prices for the foreclosed homes could drop as much as 10 percent because they deteriorated as they were held in reserve during the investigations by state officials resolved in February, according to online foreclosure marketplace RealtyTrac. That month, 43 percent of foreclosures were delinquent for two or more years, from a 21 percent share in 2010, according to Lender Processing Services.
“The longer a foreclosed home is in the mill, the bigger the losses,” Todd Sherer, who manages distressed mortgage investments for Dalton Investments, a Los Angeles-based hedge fund, said in an interview with Bloomberg News. “We have a bulge of these properties coming through the system.”
Real estate company Zillow expects the resurgence in foreclosures this year, combined with excess inventory of unsold, bank-owned homes will contribute to a 3.7 percent national decline in prices before the market hits bottom in 2013 and stays there until 2016.
Copyright © 2012 washingtonpost.com; Nick Carey, Reuters.
“We are right back where we were two years ago. I would put money on 2012 being a bigger year for foreclosures than 2010,” said Mark Seifert, executive director of Empowering & Strengthening Ohio’s People (ESOP), a counseling group with 10 offices in Ohio. “Last year was an anomaly, and not in a good way.”
In 2011, the “robo-signing” scandal, in which foreclosure documents were signed without properly reviewing individual cases, prompted banks to hold back on new foreclosures pending a settlement.
Five major banks eventually struck that settlement with 49 states in February. Signs are growing that the pace of foreclosures is picking up again, something housing experts predict will again weigh on home prices before any sustained recovery can occur.
Mortgage servicing provider Lender Processing Services reported in early March that U.S. foreclosure starts jumped 28 percent in January.
More conclusive national data are not yet available. But watchdog group 4closurefraud.org, which helped uncover the “robo-signing” scandal, says it has turned up evidence of a large rise in new foreclosures between March 1 and 24 by three big banks in Palm Beach County in Florida, one of the states hit hardest by the housing crash.
Although foreclosure starts were 50 percent or more lower than for the same period in 2010, those begun by Deutsche Bank were up 47 percent from 2011. Those of Wells Fargo’s rose 68 percent, and Bank of America’s, including BAC Home Loans Servicing, jumped nearly seven-fold – 251 starts vs. 37 in the same period in 2011. Bank of America said it does not comment on data provided by other sources. Wells Fargo and Deutsche Bank did not comment.
According to Moody’s Analytics, sales of repossessed properties probably will rise 25 percent this year from 1 million in 2011, Bloomberg News reported. Prices for the foreclosed homes could drop as much as 10 percent because they deteriorated as they were held in reserve during the investigations by state officials resolved in February, according to online foreclosure marketplace RealtyTrac. That month, 43 percent of foreclosures were delinquent for two or more years, from a 21 percent share in 2010, according to Lender Processing Services.
“The longer a foreclosed home is in the mill, the bigger the losses,” Todd Sherer, who manages distressed mortgage investments for Dalton Investments, a Los Angeles-based hedge fund, said in an interview with Bloomberg News. “We have a bulge of these properties coming through the system.”
Real estate company Zillow expects the resurgence in foreclosures this year, combined with excess inventory of unsold, bank-owned homes will contribute to a 3.7 percent national decline in prices before the market hits bottom in 2013 and stays there until 2016.
Copyright © 2012 washingtonpost.com; Nick Carey, Reuters.
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Tuesday, April 3, 2012
Florida unemployment dropped again in Feb.
Florida’s unemployment rate dipped in February to 9.4 percent, the lowest since February 2009, the state labor agency reported Friday.
The rate was 0.2 percentage points lower than in the month before, and nearly a point and a half lower than a year ago. The state had over 10,000 more jobs in February than it did in January, and the Department of Economic Opportunity (DEO) said the state’s number of jobs is up 1 percent over a year earlier.
The DEO added, however, that the state still has 869,000 people looking for work out of a state labor force of just under 9.3 million, and Florida’s rate remains well above the nation’s jobless rate of 8.3 percent.
February was also a strong month for job creation nationally, and a number of economists say that it’s hard to separate how much job growth in any single location is based on local economic policies, and how much can be attributed to the overall improving national economy.
Job growth in the nation as a whole, however, has outpaced the recovery in Florida. While Florida has seen 1 percent job growth over the year, the state is actually holding the country as a whole back – the nation has seen 1.5 percent job growth in the same time period.
Still, Gov. Rick Scott, who came into office promising to put creating jobs first, trumpeted the latest numbers.
“Florida’s drop in its unemployment rate and increase in private sector job creation continues to prove our state is definitely headed in the right direction,” Scott said in a statement. “The signing of my 2012 Jobs and Economic Development Package represents a significant step towards ensuring Florida is the best place in the nation to create, attract and retain jobs.”
DEO said that 346,000 people claimed benefits this past month, down from a peak of 735,000 collecting unemployment in February of 2010.
The slow economic recovery is starting to be reflected in state tax collections as well. Legislative economists report that corporate income tax collections are up and that general revenue collection was higher than expected in February. For the fiscal year, general-revenue collections are $74.6 million above earlier estimates.
Transportation, trade and utilities led job growth in Florida in February, followed by the private education industry and the health care sector. However, construction, typically a mainstay of the Florida economy, remains sluggish. The construction industry lost jobs year over year, with construction jobs down 5.1 percent from February of 2011. The drop in private construction jobs was due, in part, to cutbacks in state government spending, DEO said. But the slow housing market remains the main culprit.
Monroe County, which includes the Florida Keys, continued to have the state’s most robust employment picture, with only 5.4 percent unemployment. Walton and Okaloosa counties in the Panhandle, both of which have large numbers of military personnel, and Alachua County, home to the University of Florida, also had low unemployment rates at 7 percent or lower. Despite Alachua County’s relatively low unemployment rate, Gainesville was one of the few metro areas that saw a net job loss in the month. Others were Pensacola and Port St. Lucie.
Flagler County continued to struggle with the state’s highest out-of-work rate at 12.7 percent. Also above 12 percent in unemployment in February was Hernando County.
The Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater area created the most new jobs during the period, creating just under 21,000, a 1.9 percent increase.
Source: News Service of Florida, David Royse
The rate was 0.2 percentage points lower than in the month before, and nearly a point and a half lower than a year ago. The state had over 10,000 more jobs in February than it did in January, and the Department of Economic Opportunity (DEO) said the state’s number of jobs is up 1 percent over a year earlier.
The DEO added, however, that the state still has 869,000 people looking for work out of a state labor force of just under 9.3 million, and Florida’s rate remains well above the nation’s jobless rate of 8.3 percent.
February was also a strong month for job creation nationally, and a number of economists say that it’s hard to separate how much job growth in any single location is based on local economic policies, and how much can be attributed to the overall improving national economy.
Job growth in the nation as a whole, however, has outpaced the recovery in Florida. While Florida has seen 1 percent job growth over the year, the state is actually holding the country as a whole back – the nation has seen 1.5 percent job growth in the same time period.
Still, Gov. Rick Scott, who came into office promising to put creating jobs first, trumpeted the latest numbers.
“Florida’s drop in its unemployment rate and increase in private sector job creation continues to prove our state is definitely headed in the right direction,” Scott said in a statement. “The signing of my 2012 Jobs and Economic Development Package represents a significant step towards ensuring Florida is the best place in the nation to create, attract and retain jobs.”
DEO said that 346,000 people claimed benefits this past month, down from a peak of 735,000 collecting unemployment in February of 2010.
The slow economic recovery is starting to be reflected in state tax collections as well. Legislative economists report that corporate income tax collections are up and that general revenue collection was higher than expected in February. For the fiscal year, general-revenue collections are $74.6 million above earlier estimates.
Transportation, trade and utilities led job growth in Florida in February, followed by the private education industry and the health care sector. However, construction, typically a mainstay of the Florida economy, remains sluggish. The construction industry lost jobs year over year, with construction jobs down 5.1 percent from February of 2011. The drop in private construction jobs was due, in part, to cutbacks in state government spending, DEO said. But the slow housing market remains the main culprit.
Monroe County, which includes the Florida Keys, continued to have the state’s most robust employment picture, with only 5.4 percent unemployment. Walton and Okaloosa counties in the Panhandle, both of which have large numbers of military personnel, and Alachua County, home to the University of Florida, also had low unemployment rates at 7 percent or lower. Despite Alachua County’s relatively low unemployment rate, Gainesville was one of the few metro areas that saw a net job loss in the month. Others were Pensacola and Port St. Lucie.
Flagler County continued to struggle with the state’s highest out-of-work rate at 12.7 percent. Also above 12 percent in unemployment in February was Hernando County.
The Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater area created the most new jobs during the period, creating just under 21,000, a 1.9 percent increase.
Source: News Service of Florida, David Royse
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Monday, March 26, 2012
Wednesday, March 21, 2012
Fla.’s housing market continues on positive track in Feb.
Pending sales and median prices rose, while the inventory of homes for sale dropped in Florida’s housing market in February, according to the latest housing data released by Florida Realtors®.
“Growing optimism about the economy, gains in the state’s jobs market and continued low mortgage rates are generating interest in Florida real estate,” says 2012 Florida Realtors President Summer Greene, regional manager of Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate Florida 1st in Fort Lauderdale. “Increased statewide pending sales for both single family existing homes, up 36.1 percent, and for townhouse-condo properties, up 19.8 percent, show that buyers are encouraged by these positive signs.”
Pending sales refer to contracts that are signed but not yet completed or closed; closed sales typically occur 30 to 90 days after sales contracts are written.
The statewide median sales price for single-family existing homes in February was $134,000, up 7.2 percent from the year-ago figure, according to data from Florida Realtors Industry Data and Analysis department and vendor partner 10K Research and Marketing. The statewide median for townhome-condo properties was $95,000, up 15.9 percent over Feb. 2011.
The national median sales price for existing single-family homes in January 2012 was $154,400, which is 2.6 percent below the previous year, according to the National Association of Realtors® (NAR). In California, the statewide median sales price for single-family existing homes in January was $268,280; in Massachusetts, it was $265,000; and in Maryland, it was $219,500.
The median is the midpoint; half the homes sold for more, half for less. Housing industry analysts note that sales of foreclosures and other distressed properties continue to downwardly distort the median price because they generally sell at a discount relative to traditional homes.
Statewide sales of existing single-family homes totaled 14,270 in February 2012, down 4.8 percent compared to the year-ago figure. Looking at Florida’s year-to-year comparison for sales of townhomes/condos, a total of 7,545 units sold statewide last month, down 16 percent from those sold in February 2011. NAR reported the national median existing condo price in January 2012 was $156,600.
In February, the months supply of inventory stood at 6.2 for single-family homes and at 6.3 for the condos/townhomes, according to Florida Realtors.
“The overall picture that these statistics show is of a stabilizing housing market,” said Florida Realtors Chief Economist Dr. John Tuccillo. “While closed sales are down, so are listings and so is inventory. These are signs of a market that’s moving from being a buyer’s market to a balanced market.
“For the past year, median sales prices have been slowly rising; and over a longer period of time, prices have really flattened out – again, signs of an improving housing market.”
The interest rate for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 3.89 percent in February 2012, down from the 4.95 percent average during the same month a year earlier, according to Freddie Mac.
To see the full statewide housing activity report, go to Florida Realtors Media Center and look under Latest Releases, or download the February data report PDF under Market Data.
ORLANDO, Fla. – March 21, 2012 © 2012 Florida Realtors®
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“Growing optimism about the economy, gains in the state’s jobs market and continued low mortgage rates are generating interest in Florida real estate,” says 2012 Florida Realtors President Summer Greene, regional manager of Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate Florida 1st in Fort Lauderdale. “Increased statewide pending sales for both single family existing homes, up 36.1 percent, and for townhouse-condo properties, up 19.8 percent, show that buyers are encouraged by these positive signs.”
Pending sales refer to contracts that are signed but not yet completed or closed; closed sales typically occur 30 to 90 days after sales contracts are written.
The statewide median sales price for single-family existing homes in February was $134,000, up 7.2 percent from the year-ago figure, according to data from Florida Realtors Industry Data and Analysis department and vendor partner 10K Research and Marketing. The statewide median for townhome-condo properties was $95,000, up 15.9 percent over Feb. 2011.
The national median sales price for existing single-family homes in January 2012 was $154,400, which is 2.6 percent below the previous year, according to the National Association of Realtors® (NAR). In California, the statewide median sales price for single-family existing homes in January was $268,280; in Massachusetts, it was $265,000; and in Maryland, it was $219,500.
The median is the midpoint; half the homes sold for more, half for less. Housing industry analysts note that sales of foreclosures and other distressed properties continue to downwardly distort the median price because they generally sell at a discount relative to traditional homes.
Statewide sales of existing single-family homes totaled 14,270 in February 2012, down 4.8 percent compared to the year-ago figure. Looking at Florida’s year-to-year comparison for sales of townhomes/condos, a total of 7,545 units sold statewide last month, down 16 percent from those sold in February 2011. NAR reported the national median existing condo price in January 2012 was $156,600.
In February, the months supply of inventory stood at 6.2 for single-family homes and at 6.3 for the condos/townhomes, according to Florida Realtors.
“The overall picture that these statistics show is of a stabilizing housing market,” said Florida Realtors Chief Economist Dr. John Tuccillo. “While closed sales are down, so are listings and so is inventory. These are signs of a market that’s moving from being a buyer’s market to a balanced market.
“For the past year, median sales prices have been slowly rising; and over a longer period of time, prices have really flattened out – again, signs of an improving housing market.”
The interest rate for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 3.89 percent in February 2012, down from the 4.95 percent average during the same month a year earlier, according to Freddie Mac.
To see the full statewide housing activity report, go to Florida Realtors Media Center and look under Latest Releases, or download the February data report PDF under Market Data.
ORLANDO, Fla. – March 21, 2012 © 2012 Florida Realtors®
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Saturday, March 17, 2012
Friday, March 16, 2012
Thursday, March 15, 2012
Property Taxes Start To Decline
More than five years after real estate prices began to tumble, Americans are finally starting to get property tax breaks on their devalued homes, a USA TODAY analysis finds.
Cities, counties and school districts today collect about 20% more in property taxes than they did in 2006, when home values were one-third higher than now, but the tax tide is slowly starting to recede.
Last year, property tax collections rose just 1.2% -- and actually declined 0.9% when adjusted for inflation, according to data from the federal Bureau of Economic Analysis. That’s the first time property tax collections have fallen below the inflation rate since 1995 and only the third time in 40 years.
If the downward trend continues, property taxes may actually bring in fewer dollars this year than last -- even before adjusting for inflation. That hasn’t happened since the Great Depression.
Property taxes generated $436 billion last year, about $66 billion more than in 2006 when home values peaked. Public schools get about 40% of this money. The rest flows to other local governments.
Most states have complex laws that make property tax declines rare, small or long-delayed, even when home values plummet. This makes the property tax stable during economic turmoil, unlike the income or sales tax.
“People say, ‘Hey, my house value went down. How about my tax bill going down?’ But it doesn’t work that way,” says Robert Ross, chief assessment officer for McHenry County, Ill., near Chicago. In Illinois, assessments are based on a formula that considers home values as far back as seven years.
School districts, already suffering from reduced state funding, are feeling the property tax squeeze most. Public schools have cut 270,000 employees -- 3.3% of their workforce -- since July 2008.
“We’re doing everything we can to save classroom teachers,” says Alexandra Nicholson, superintendent of West Northfield School District 31 in Northbrook, Ill., which gets nearly all revenue from property taxes.
The district will ask voters to approve a property tax hike on March 20 to avoid the elimination of sports, band, busing and educational assistants.
Factors delaying lower property taxes:
Tax limits. Most laws that cap property tax hikes have a little-known flip side: limits on decreases.
Delayed assessments. Many states base tax assessments on a home’s value three, six or even 10 years ago -- or on an average of multiple years.
The practice protects homeowners from fast-rising taxes when home values soar, but also delays tax cuts when values fall. It also reduces the administrative burden of assessing every home annually.
Shared sacrifice. New York, Ohio and many other states automatically raise property tax rates when real estate values fall and cut rates automatically when values rise, a practice called equalization.
During the real estate boom, this practice automatically lowered rates when values rose to prevent taxes from rising too quickly.
WASHINGTON – March 14, 2012 – Copyright © 2012 USA TODAY
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Cities, counties and school districts today collect about 20% more in property taxes than they did in 2006, when home values were one-third higher than now, but the tax tide is slowly starting to recede.
Last year, property tax collections rose just 1.2% -- and actually declined 0.9% when adjusted for inflation, according to data from the federal Bureau of Economic Analysis. That’s the first time property tax collections have fallen below the inflation rate since 1995 and only the third time in 40 years.
If the downward trend continues, property taxes may actually bring in fewer dollars this year than last -- even before adjusting for inflation. That hasn’t happened since the Great Depression.
Property taxes generated $436 billion last year, about $66 billion more than in 2006 when home values peaked. Public schools get about 40% of this money. The rest flows to other local governments.
Most states have complex laws that make property tax declines rare, small or long-delayed, even when home values plummet. This makes the property tax stable during economic turmoil, unlike the income or sales tax.
“People say, ‘Hey, my house value went down. How about my tax bill going down?’ But it doesn’t work that way,” says Robert Ross, chief assessment officer for McHenry County, Ill., near Chicago. In Illinois, assessments are based on a formula that considers home values as far back as seven years.
School districts, already suffering from reduced state funding, are feeling the property tax squeeze most. Public schools have cut 270,000 employees -- 3.3% of their workforce -- since July 2008.
“We’re doing everything we can to save classroom teachers,” says Alexandra Nicholson, superintendent of West Northfield School District 31 in Northbrook, Ill., which gets nearly all revenue from property taxes.
The district will ask voters to approve a property tax hike on March 20 to avoid the elimination of sports, band, busing and educational assistants.
Factors delaying lower property taxes:
Tax limits. Most laws that cap property tax hikes have a little-known flip side: limits on decreases.
Delayed assessments. Many states base tax assessments on a home’s value three, six or even 10 years ago -- or on an average of multiple years.
The practice protects homeowners from fast-rising taxes when home values soar, but also delays tax cuts when values fall. It also reduces the administrative burden of assessing every home annually.
Shared sacrifice. New York, Ohio and many other states automatically raise property tax rates when real estate values fall and cut rates automatically when values rise, a practice called equalization.
During the real estate boom, this practice automatically lowered rates when values rose to prevent taxes from rising too quickly.
WASHINGTON – March 14, 2012 – Copyright © 2012 USA TODAY
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Saturday, March 10, 2012
Barington Club vid.mp4
Not a Short Sale....Not a REO/Bank Owned Sale......
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Thursday, March 8, 2012
Lake Mary Pool Home With Lake View Just Listed
Lake Mary Lake View Home! Charming 3 Bedroom/2 Bath/2 Car Garage, Pool Home.
listing courtesy of Watson Realty Corp.
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Friday, March 2, 2012
Thursday, March 1, 2012
Tuesday, February 28, 2012
Monday, February 20, 2012
New Listing in Oviedo, FL - Condo/Townhouse for Sale - 3 Beds, 2 Baths - Todd Humphrey - Watson Realty Corp.
28 CANTERBURY BELL Dr, Oviedo, FL 32765 - Condo/Townhouse for Sale - 3 Beds, 2 Baths - Todd Humphrey - Watson Realty Corp.
listing courtesy of Watson Realty Corp.
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Friday, February 17, 2012
Just Out - The Commercial Real Estate Sales Prices by State
Commercial Real Estate Sales Prices by State
Take a look at the map below to see where your state falls:
According to NAR’s recently released quarterly Commercial Market Survey, commercial real estate prices were down six percent in the fourth quarter of 2011 compared to the previous quarter.
At the state level in the past quarter, however, the changes have been substantial, with a number of states starting to participate in the economic recovery. Major drivers of commercial real estate prices are jobs and the economic recovery.
On February 17, 2012, in Did You Know, by Jed Smith, Managing Director, Quantitative Research
Take a look at the map below to see where your state falls:
According to NAR’s recently released quarterly Commercial Market Survey, commercial real estate prices were down six percent in the fourth quarter of 2011 compared to the previous quarter.
At the state level in the past quarter, however, the changes have been substantial, with a number of states starting to participate in the economic recovery. Major drivers of commercial real estate prices are jobs and the economic recovery.
On February 17, 2012, in Did You Know, by Jed Smith, Managing Director, Quantitative Research
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Monday, February 13, 2012
Great New Listing.....
listing courtesy of Watson Realty Corp.
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Friday, February 10, 2012
New Listing in Longwood...
1710 Markham Glen Cir.
$325,000
This is a great 5 bedroom, pool home located in the Markham Woods corridor, on over an acre!
listing courtesy of Watson Realty Corp.
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Wednesday, February 8, 2012
http://www.lakemaryrealestatesales.com.z57preview.com/mx/idx/
Link to the MLS instantly to Search Homes for Sale....
http://www.lakemaryrealestatesales.com.z57preview.com/mx/idx/#.TzL4OmTraEg.blogger
http://www.lakemaryrealestatesales.com.z57preview.com/mx/idx/#.TzL4OmTraEg.blogger
Investors Active in Residential Real Estate Market
The December 2011 Realtors Confidence Index survey reports that investors continue to make up a significant share of the existing home sales. Prices in some markets are reported to have declined over the past three years to a point where investors can obtain a positive cash flow after making modest improvements. A number of Realtors® reported that investors are effectively shutting first time buyers out of the market by making all cash offers. This is creating some additional pent-up demand which may become evident later this year. Combine this scenario with those of today's dramatically declining inventory and the increasingly high hurdles that buyers are having to clear to obtain financing and one can understand the frustration on both home buyers' and sellers' faces. Every ebb, has a victor and at the moment, it is indeed the investor.
Tuesday, February 7, 2012
Falling Unemployment Rates: the Bigger Picture
Another way to view it is that the labor force participation rate has shrunk. A normal rate over the past 20 years could be said to be around 66 to 67 percent of people over the age of 16 in the labor force. It started to fall when the recession hit in late 2008 and is now at 64 percent. During tough economic times, many people drop out of the labor force to go to school (anything from technical community to graduate schools). The student debt load is surely piling on. Some companies, in order to save costs, may have offered early retirement packages to a greater number of people. Others may have simply given up looking for work since there is not much hope of finding what they’re looking for anyway. These discouraged workers who have given up looking for work are no longer considered part of the workforce and they are not counted as unemployed even though they do not have a job. To be officially counted as unemployed, a person must be searching for work.
If the labor force were a more normal 66 percent (rather than 64 percent as it is now), and we combined it with the current job level, then the unemployment rate would be closer to 11 percent.
What will happen to the closely-watched unemployment rate in the upcoming months? The discouraged workers who had stopped searching and were out of the labor force may renew their search for jobs in coming months. Until their new job is found they will be counted towards the unemployment rate. As a result, the unemployment rate could rise even as jobs are being created for the country, as people are encouraged to start their search again. However, there are plenty of people who may decide instead to go to school or take early retirement, and those that do are not coming back to the workforce en masse any time soon. So the likely scenario for the unemployment rate is that it will continue to fall for the remainder of the year.
What matters for the housing and the commercial real estate market is not the unemployment rate, but the actual number of people with jobs and earning income. And that, as said above, has been more than a 3 million increase from the low point 3 years ago. Demand for housing and commercial real estate, therefore, should be rising this year.
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Monday, February 6, 2012
Orlando area's home-price rebound proves spotty
Click for Video: Orlando area's home-price rebound proves spotty
"Well, there's not a single unifying theme between some of these places, but it's reminiscent of the old adage: All real-estate markets are local," said University of Central Florida economist Sean Snaith. "For some of those areas, it's a desirable location to live. For some of the others, it's a function of prices falling so far prior to last year."
Across the core market, existing-home prices were up about 13 percent during the year, to an average of $166,305 in the fourth quarter, according to the Orlando Regional Realtor Association. The two ZIPs with the biggest increases are Seminole County neighbors: west Altamonte Springs (55 percent) and west Longwood (up 44 percent). The two ZIPs with the biggest declines are on opposite sides of the core market, in Geneva (down 37 percent) and Mount Dora (down 38 percent).
Four factors appear to be driving up prices in the area, based on an analysis of the ZIPs with the largest increases in 2011: a high volume of affordable-condominium sales; the desirability of certain well-known, affluent communities; a move toward urban living in the region; and growth related to the ever-expanding Medical City at Lake Nona and the University of Central Florida in east Orange County.
A heated investor market for condominiums drove up unit prices throughout 2011 and created upward pressure in areas that about six years ago had been consumed by apartment-to-condo conversions, most notably Altamonte Springs, MetroWest and Ventura. Cheap condo prices a year ago made those areas real-estate markets in which prices could only get better, and improve they did.
Demand may be strongest in those relatively affordable, condo-heavy communities partly because the Orange-Seminole market has only a three-month supply of houses listed for less than $100,000, said David Welch, a broker for Re/Max in Winter Park. In comparison, the market has a five-month supply of houses overall. A six-month supply is considered a market in balance.
Welch also noted that, while prices overall for the local market held steady at about $115,000 from the beginning of 2011 until the end, the median price of foreclosed properties increased from about $60,000 to about $70,000.
The perennially desirable Winter Park and Windermere areas, both threaded by chains of natural lakes, also posted strong average-price gains for the year, according to the data compiled by the Orlando Realtor group.
And several downtown Orlando areas, including Delaney Park, experienced rallies that may reflect an increase in single buyers and childless couples not interested in the suburbs.
U.S. census numbers released in December pointed to a shift in demographics that may be driving urban communities such as Delaney Park, which is relatively old, and Baldwin Park, which is very new. According to an analysis of census data by the Pew Research Center, just more than half of all adult Americans — a record-low 51 percent — are married. And the center predicts that the share of married couples among all adults could fall below half within a few years; in 1960, by comparison, 72 percent of adults 18 and older were married.
Lake Mary real-estate broker Doug Packard, who specializes in representing buyers, said the sales numbers may speak to a "mini-trend" of buyers passing on the suburbs.
"For some, the suburban lifestyle just doesn't work," he said. "You rarely see people move from the urban area."
Packard worked last year with a longtime client, David Kind, who wanted to sell his house in Lake Mary and move to Winter Park. Kind said his family was "really happy" in Lake Mary, but the daily realities of commuting on Interstate 4 had become daunting. The family did not get top dollar for its Lake Mary home, selling it in a depressed market, but moved anyway into Winter Park's Windsong community.
"We were looking for a place where we'd be close to amenities, shopping and top schools," Kind said. "We wanted a neighborhood with sidewalks and streetlights. For us, at least, we really wanted the quality of life for our family, and that outweighed other considerations."
Other ZIP codes near the top of the list include Lake Nona, with its emerging residential neighborhoods built near the development's burgeoning Medical City. Similarly, growth at the University of Central Florida has driven demand in the Alafaya Trail area of east Orange County.
The boost in prices overall helped drive Metro Orlando into a top position in realtor.com's ranking of "turnaround towns." That ranking, released last week, was based on listed home prices, unemployment figures, unsold-home inventories and the number of Internet users searching the area's for-sale listings.
Orlando, which ranked third behind Miami and Phoenix, led the nation for the number of people searching its home listings online. Eight of the top 10 metro areas ranked as turnaround towns were in Florida.
The real-estate-research firm Trulia also released a report last week showing Orlando among its top 10 U.S. metro areas in terms of interest coming from online house hunters. Trulia chief economist Jed Kolko said it's all about affordability.
"What I think is behind the search activity we're seeing for Orlando, and for Florida in general, is that prices have fallen so much during the bust in Florida that it looks more affordable to many people in other parts of the country than it has looked in years," Kolko said.
"Well, there's not a single unifying theme between some of these places, but it's reminiscent of the old adage: All real-estate markets are local," said University of Central Florida economist Sean Snaith. "For some of those areas, it's a desirable location to live. For some of the others, it's a function of prices falling so far prior to last year."
Across the core market, existing-home prices were up about 13 percent during the year, to an average of $166,305 in the fourth quarter, according to the Orlando Regional Realtor Association. The two ZIPs with the biggest increases are Seminole County neighbors: west Altamonte Springs (55 percent) and west Longwood (up 44 percent). The two ZIPs with the biggest declines are on opposite sides of the core market, in Geneva (down 37 percent) and Mount Dora (down 38 percent).
Four factors appear to be driving up prices in the area, based on an analysis of the ZIPs with the largest increases in 2011: a high volume of affordable-condominium sales; the desirability of certain well-known, affluent communities; a move toward urban living in the region; and growth related to the ever-expanding Medical City at Lake Nona and the University of Central Florida in east Orange County.
A heated investor market for condominiums drove up unit prices throughout 2011 and created upward pressure in areas that about six years ago had been consumed by apartment-to-condo conversions, most notably Altamonte Springs, MetroWest and Ventura. Cheap condo prices a year ago made those areas real-estate markets in which prices could only get better, and improve they did.
Demand may be strongest in those relatively affordable, condo-heavy communities partly because the Orange-Seminole market has only a three-month supply of houses listed for less than $100,000, said David Welch, a broker for Re/Max in Winter Park. In comparison, the market has a five-month supply of houses overall. A six-month supply is considered a market in balance.
Welch also noted that, while prices overall for the local market held steady at about $115,000 from the beginning of 2011 until the end, the median price of foreclosed properties increased from about $60,000 to about $70,000.
The perennially desirable Winter Park and Windermere areas, both threaded by chains of natural lakes, also posted strong average-price gains for the year, according to the data compiled by the Orlando Realtor group.
And several downtown Orlando areas, including Delaney Park, experienced rallies that may reflect an increase in single buyers and childless couples not interested in the suburbs.
U.S. census numbers released in December pointed to a shift in demographics that may be driving urban communities such as Delaney Park, which is relatively old, and Baldwin Park, which is very new. According to an analysis of census data by the Pew Research Center, just more than half of all adult Americans — a record-low 51 percent — are married. And the center predicts that the share of married couples among all adults could fall below half within a few years; in 1960, by comparison, 72 percent of adults 18 and older were married.
Lake Mary real-estate broker Doug Packard, who specializes in representing buyers, said the sales numbers may speak to a "mini-trend" of buyers passing on the suburbs.
"For some, the suburban lifestyle just doesn't work," he said. "You rarely see people move from the urban area."
Packard worked last year with a longtime client, David Kind, who wanted to sell his house in Lake Mary and move to Winter Park. Kind said his family was "really happy" in Lake Mary, but the daily realities of commuting on Interstate 4 had become daunting. The family did not get top dollar for its Lake Mary home, selling it in a depressed market, but moved anyway into Winter Park's Windsong community.
"We were looking for a place where we'd be close to amenities, shopping and top schools," Kind said. "We wanted a neighborhood with sidewalks and streetlights. For us, at least, we really wanted the quality of life for our family, and that outweighed other considerations."
Other ZIP codes near the top of the list include Lake Nona, with its emerging residential neighborhoods built near the development's burgeoning Medical City. Similarly, growth at the University of Central Florida has driven demand in the Alafaya Trail area of east Orange County.
The boost in prices overall helped drive Metro Orlando into a top position in realtor.com's ranking of "turnaround towns." That ranking, released last week, was based on listed home prices, unemployment figures, unsold-home inventories and the number of Internet users searching the area's for-sale listings.
Orlando, which ranked third behind Miami and Phoenix, led the nation for the number of people searching its home listings online. Eight of the top 10 metro areas ranked as turnaround towns were in Florida.
The real-estate-research firm Trulia also released a report last week showing Orlando among its top 10 U.S. metro areas in terms of interest coming from online house hunters. Trulia chief economist Jed Kolko said it's all about affordability.
"What I think is behind the search activity we're seeing for Orlando, and for Florida in general, is that prices have fallen so much during the bust in Florida that it looks more affordable to many people in other parts of the country than it has looked in years," Kolko said.
8:48 p.m. EST, February 4, 2012
"Buyers, Sellers & Investors - Maximize Equity....Enjoy Life!"
Saturday, February 4, 2012
Monday, January 30, 2012
Friday, January 27, 2012
New Listing - 6532 EVERINGHAM Ln, Sanford, FL 32771 - Single Family Residential for Sale - 4 Beds, 3 Baths - Todd Humphrey - Watson Realty Corp.
Great New Listing In Sanford's Buckingham Estates!
6532 EVERINGHAM Ln, Sanford, FL 32771 - Single Family Residential for Sale - 4 Beds, 3 Baths - Todd Humphrey - Watson Realty Corp.
6532 EVERINGHAM Ln, Sanford, FL 32771 - Single Family Residential for Sale - 4 Beds, 3 Baths - Todd Humphrey - Watson Realty Corp.
Wednesday, January 25, 2012
Mortgage Giants' Agreement
The nation’s five largest mortgage lenders have agreed to overhaul their industry after deceptive foreclosure practices unfairly evicted homeowners, government officials said Monday.
A draft settlement between the banks and U.S. states has been sent to state officials for review. It would be the biggest settlement with a single industry since the 1998 multistate tobacco deal.
Those who lost their homes to foreclosure are unlikely to get their homes back or benefit much financially from the settlement, even though the banks may have to pay as much as $25 billion in total to settle with the government.
About 750,000 Americans – about half the households who might be eligible for assistance under the deal – would likely receive checks for about $1,800 each.
The agreement also could reshape longstanding mortgage-lending guidelines and make it easier for those at risk of foreclosure to restructure their loans. Roughly 1 million homeowners could see the size of their mortgages reduced.
Five major banks – Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo, Citibank and Ally Financial – and U.S. state attorneys general could adopt the agreement within weeks, according to two officials briefed on the discussions. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to discuss the agreement publicly.
The settlement would only apply to privately held mortgages issued from 2008 to 2011, not those held by government-controlled Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac. They own about half of all U.S. mortgages, roughly about 31 million U.S. home loans.
© Copyright 2012 USA TODAY, a division of Gannett Co. Inc.
"Buyers, Sellers & Investors - Maximize Equity....Enjoy Life!"
www.LakeMaryRealEstateSales.com
A draft settlement between the banks and U.S. states has been sent to state officials for review. It would be the biggest settlement with a single industry since the 1998 multistate tobacco deal.
Those who lost their homes to foreclosure are unlikely to get their homes back or benefit much financially from the settlement, even though the banks may have to pay as much as $25 billion in total to settle with the government.
About 750,000 Americans – about half the households who might be eligible for assistance under the deal – would likely receive checks for about $1,800 each.
The agreement also could reshape longstanding mortgage-lending guidelines and make it easier for those at risk of foreclosure to restructure their loans. Roughly 1 million homeowners could see the size of their mortgages reduced.
Five major banks – Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo, Citibank and Ally Financial – and U.S. state attorneys general could adopt the agreement within weeks, according to two officials briefed on the discussions. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to discuss the agreement publicly.
The settlement would only apply to privately held mortgages issued from 2008 to 2011, not those held by government-controlled Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac. They own about half of all U.S. mortgages, roughly about 31 million U.S. home loans.
© Copyright 2012 USA TODAY, a division of Gannett Co. Inc.
"Buyers, Sellers & Investors - Maximize Equity....Enjoy Life!"
www.LakeMaryRealEstateSales.com
Friday, January 20, 2012
Wednesday, January 18, 2012
Housing outlook is more upbeat
Optimism is building that the housing industry is nearing a bottom – finally.
Home sales and homebuilding are forecast to rise this year after sliding steeply the past five years in housing’s worst downturn since the Great Depression.
Recovery is expected to be slow, and home prices are widely expected to fall this year. But investors are betting on the start of an upturn, bidding up home builder stocks and causing them to outperform the broader stock market.
Chief executives are more positive. JPMorgan Chase’s Jamie Dimon said last week that housing is near its bottom but could stay there a year. Stuart Miller, CEO of home builder Lennar, said the market has started to stabilize because of low prices and record-low interest rates.
Market researcher RBC Capital Markets has also turned from a “bearish” view on housing to saying that 2012 “will mark a step in the right direction.”
Many economists expect home prices to fall more this year because of foreclosures and other properties sold at very low prices.
As foreclosures pick up this year, “prices will drop,” says Stan Humphries, Zillow chief economist. He says home prices won’t bottom until later in 2012 or next year.
On average, prices have fallen by about a third since 2006.
“This year will feel a lot better to builders, investors and real estate agents than to consumers,” says Jed Kolko, economist for real estate website Trulia.
Housing’s outlook is brightening with signs of a better economy. Last month,
While an economic shock could derail progress, “there’s now more evidence of improvement in the economy, and housing will follow the economy,” says David Crowe, chief economist at the National Association of Home Builders. More improvement is expected for:
Sales. Existing home sales will rise 12 percent this year after a 2 percent increase last year, and new home sales, coming off a horrid year, will jump 74 percent this year, Moody’s Analytics predicts.
November’s existing home sales hit their highest mark in 10 months, and new home sales were the year’s second best, IHS Global Insight says.
Construction. Single-family housing starts will rise 37 percent this year, Moody’s predicts, after falling 9 percent last year.
Home builder stocks are on a run. The S&P 1500 homebuilding index is up 38 percent since mid-October, vs. 7 percent for the S&P 500.
"Buyers, Sellers and Investers - Maximize Equity....Enjoy Life!"
© Copyright 2012
Monday, January 16, 2012
New Listing
Heathrow/Lake Mary
Beautifully maintained 3 Bedroom, 2 Bath , 2 Car Garage, pool home you won't want to miss!
See the home at:
http://www.1776cherryridgedr.z57websites.com/
http://www.1776cherryridgedr.z57websites.com/
listing courtesy of Watson Realty Corp.
"Buyers, Sellers and Investers - Maximize Equity....Enjoy Life!"
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