Inventory and Sales

There are over 18,000 homes for sale in the tri-county. The monthly sales/closings are between 1200 and 1400 for homes priced under $1,000,000.00. Homes between 200K and 300K are selling better than any other price range.

New tax deduction for 2007

Homeowners who pay less than 20 percent down must many times pay for PMI, but a law recently passed by Congress makes that cost fully deductible on income taxes starting in 2007. It applies to new loans for households making less than $100,000 per year.

Mortgage rates around the country fell this week, with rates on 30-year mortgages dipping to 6.11 percent, the second lowest level of the year. Today's buyer of a $221,300 home would save $13,763 over the life of the loan compared to rates one year ago.

Neither the threat of hurricanes, soaring insurance rates or high property values will dampen Florida's growth, according to two studies released yesterday. Participants such as UF, the St. Joe Co. and 1000 Friends of Florida predict that the state will double its population and develop seven million acres of land.

Stonger Housing Market?

A growing number of analysts are beginning to hint that the country’s housing slump may be over, pointing to a rebound in home builder stocks and declining mortgage reasons as proof.

Indeed, builder stocks rallied sharply on Nov. 30 following an analyst’s upgrade, while Freddie Mac confirms that the average interest on a 30-year fixed mortgage slipped to 6.14 percent this past week.

Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight (OFHEO) Chief Economist Patrick Lawler reports, “The transition from sizzling markets to normal or weak markets has been orderly so far, and recent drops in interest rates lessen the likelihood that precipitous changes will occur.”

Still, there is no denying that the U.S. residential property sector is still soft compared with the previous three years, with several once-sizzling markets still vulnerable to continued sales and home-price declines.

Don't let your emotions rule your business sense

People may think they make cold, hard decisions in financial transactions such as buying and selling a house. Increasingly, though, research shows that emotions play as big a role as intellect. Evidence is mounting that people set prices, particularly for housing, as much on ego and self-image as on an objective review of the market. Many people will pass up sure profits for illusory ones. Some will turn down profits if they believe someone else is unfairly profiting more. Some will even refuse to sell if they believe they may come to regret it, because fear of future regret can be as powerful a motivator as money in the pocket today.

Buyers and sellers are waiting for the other to blink: The housing slowdown isn't giving buyers the big bargains that they might have hoped; and where there are discounts, buyers aren't leaping to grab them, says Karl E. Case, an economics professor at Wellesley College, who specializes in real estate. Case says the most recent survey he and a colleague conducted among homebuyers revealed growing pessimism about buying in a down market. "They're scared they're going to buy something very expensive that's going to fall in value," he says. Sellers, meanwhile, are being "stubborn. They seem to be holding out so far." The result: "People are staring each other down." Case described home prices as having "downward stickiness," meaning they don't fall nearly as much as they rise during the strong periods. In previous down periods, Case points out, the economy has been in a general slump. This time, in most parts of the country, the economy is growing and adding jobs. Case concludes the housing market is in "that flat period, of four to six quarters, where prices don't plummet. They hold on."

Rates on 30-year mortgages dropped this week to 6.31 percent -the lowest level in a month - according to Freddie Mac's weekly nationwide survey, as financial markets viewed new evidence of a slowing U.S. economy as a sign that inflation will decline.