Monthly Sales Report

Sales of homes in the MLS for the tri-county area dropped for the third month in a row. Closings reported between 10-26-08 thru 11-25-08 totaled 2,088.

Almost half of the sales were under $150,000. That is almost twice the amount of homes sold at that price point during the same period last year and while prices have dropped dramatically, sales continue to mirror the previous years activity. Last year total sales during the same period totaled 1,886.

4.5% interest rates could spur home sales.

There is talk of reducing interest rates for homeowners to 4.5%. The plan is outlined below. The problem I see is buyers with great credit are still having trouble getting loans. Banks just don't want to lend. A lower interest rate could spur activity, but will they be able to secure the financing and actually buy???

Under a Treasury plan, lenders could sell newly issued mortgage-backed securities to the government provided the interest-rate on the loans collateralizing the securities was no higher than 4.5 percent. To pay for the plan, the Treasury would issue bonds at 3 percent, creating a 1.5-percent spread that it could use for buying the securities. Those securities would then be purchased by secondary mortgage market companies Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which are under federal conservatorship. To date, tens of thousands of Realtors have sent letters to their members of Congress asking for quick action to help housing, which is widely considered a crucial first step to a broader economic recovery. Some analysts have calculated that an interest-rate buydown could help as many as 2.5 million households.

Foreclosure news

Banks are stepping up their efforts to curtail losses from souring mortgages, with Citigroup Inc. becoming the latest institution to adopt initiatives aimed at helping at-risk borrowers remain in their homes.
With defaults mounting, lenders including JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Bank of America Corp. have become more aggressive about modifications to mortgage agreements. The government is also working on an ambitious plan to help around 3 million borrowers avoid foreclosure, but details have yet to be released.
More than 4 million American homeowners with a mortgage were at least one payment behind on their loans at the end of June, and 500,000 had started the foreclosure process, according to the most recent data from the Mortgage Bankers Association.
Citigroup announced late Monday that it won't initiate a foreclosure or complete a foreclosure sale on any eligible borrower who seeks to stay in a home if it is the borrower's principal residence, the homeowner is working in good faith with Citi and has sufficient income to make affordable mortgage payments.

Monthly Sales Report

Resales reported in the MLS for the past 30 days reflected a decline from the month prior. The decline was not substantial and was 11% higher than last years sales during the same time period.

Inventory remains steady. Approximately 38,000 active listings in the tri-county area.

The biggest change was home prices. 68% of the homes closed sold for under $200,000.

Good news for buyers, but not for the owners.

Foreclose, Short Sale or Modify?????

Ever since the foreclosure/mortgage crisis began I have had clients ask .....

"Why won't the bank work with me and reduce my payment. The house isn't worth what I paid and they're going to loose more money by throwing me out!"

I agreed, and could tell them nothing that made any sense of it.

Here's a piece of an article I read......someone woke up I guess.

Maribel Carrillo is one of the new, happy-ending stories for bank regulators who hope to stem the foreclosure pandemic by modifying delinquent mortgages in bulk.

Carrillo, 32, lost her $150,000-a-year job managing a record label in Los Angeles earlier this year. With her family’s construction business sputtering, she and her husband soon fell behind on their home loan on their four-bedroom ranch home in Los Angeles. After missing three payments, the Carrillos owed $9,800 on their mortgage with IndyMac Bank. But after the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. seized IndyMac, the bank agreed to modify Carrillo’s loan, dropping her monthly payment from about $3,000 to about $1,600 for five years. Under the FDIC’s orders, about 4,000 IndyMac borrowers have been given more affordable mortgages so far. By this weekend, the bank expects to have sent out more than 15,000 modification offers to borrowers, who are saving $430 a month on average.IndyMac’s efforts, which are designed to save the FDIC money by curbing losses on foreclosed homes, are being closely watched nationwide. In fact, Bank of America Corp. is taking a similar approach with newly acquired Countrywide Financial Corp. as part of an $8.4 billion, 12-state legal settlement reached this month.And now some Congressional Democrats and state officials say the FDIC’s approach should be replicated as the Treasury Department buys billions in troubled mortgage debt as part of a $700 billion financial industry bailout.“The country is in crisis,” said Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller. “This is something that everybody should do.”

Florida Real Estate Troubles

Long before the debate over a federal bailout of the nation's financial institutions took center stage, sagging property values and soaring mortgage payments triggered in part by adjustable interest rates and increasing property taxes threatened to force thousands of Floridians into foreclosure. According to RealtyTrac, Florida's 44,000 foreclosure filings in August trailed only California's in the number of properties affected. California had 101,724 filings.

Florida experienced a home-building boom earlier this decade. There were lots and lots of people who were buying and selling real estate. The home ownership rate went from 66% to 72% between 2000 and 2006.

All of a sudden, the population growth slowed. The housing sales slowed. And the construction workers left, and so, we've been in a recession since roughly May of 2007. Florida lost nearly 100,000 jobs last year.

The Credit Freeze

I believe mortgage lenders have reached a critical stage and are no longer a viable option for buyers looking to secure mortgages for a new purchase. While people with massive down payments and outstanding credit scores may be able to get loans after jumping through 100 hoops, the general public is finding it almost to impossible to obtain financing for a home.

Underwriters are looking for ways to deny financing in fear of a future foreclosure. Normally strong candidates are scrutinized and rejected.

So what will become of these lenders who won't give loans? Wells Fargo Lawn & Care?????

If the lending continues to tighten, housing prices will continue to decline, more foreclosures will happen, and renting a property will be the new American way of life.

More brilliant real estate advice

This is a piece of an article I found.....

LEASE-TO-BUY?????

People struggling to obtain financing for a home purchase are finding a viable option in lease-to-buy agreements, which enable renters to rent a property with the option to purchase the residence at the end of the lease term.

Buyers with poor credit find that this approach gives them an opportunity to improve their credit while moving toward home ownership; and sellers find that once-vacant properties now offer a stable cash flow. Now, a growing number of condominium developers are also testing rent-to-own programs in hopes of eventually getting units sold.

There is a problem for your typical owner wanting to do that in our area. Property taxes and insurance costs push the monthly payment higher than the rent they can obtain. In case no one has noticed, there is a glut of rentals because homes aren't selling. While developers may be able to use this option your typical homeowner cannot afford to pay the difference between what they can get and what their actual costs are.

Property Tax Break??? RIGHT!!!!!!!!!

Once again the powers in the state have fallen short. I wonder what happened to the property tax amendment and it's passage "igniting" (Governor Christ's words)the real estate market in Florida. And home owners insurance wiped out the small savings if there were any by far.


Baffled by your property tax assessment this year?

The market value of your home may have fallen, yet its taxable value increased.

Does that make sense?.

The cause is state’s “recapture” rule and that raises your property taxes.

The rule has been on the books since 1995 but had no noticeable effect until the state’s real estate market collapsed.

Lawmakers are expected to take up legislation to repeal the recapture rule next year.

Want to learn more....send me an email.

Propaganda in real estate

This is from an article that I found being mailed to Realtors. The media machine drives public opinion by publishing what it wants people to believe...not always the truth.

From property taxes to market conditions...people are always being fed a line about what is going on and what is going to happen and how great or horrible things are going to be.

It's time for truth in real estate......stay tuned. This article has some actual facts but does not tell the entire story.

This fall could be a particularly great time for first-time buyers or those who have been out of the market for at least three years to jump in, say a variety of real estate professionals.

Here are the reasons why:

• Property prices are probably as low as they are going to go as the market stabilizes, thanks to the government takeover of Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae.

• Interest rates are likely to decline as Freddie and Fannie get government help.

• The Federal Housing Administration recently boosted its loan limits to $729,750 in expensive areas. It’s going to take some of that back on Jan. 1, 2009, when the loan limit shrinks to $625,500.

• The FHA allows down payments of as little as 3 percent, but that will rise to 3.5 percent as of Oct. 1. People scraping dollars together for a down payment should try to set their closing for the end of this month.

• The federal tax credit recently approved will shave $7,500 off a first-time buyer’s federal tax bill due April 15. Buyers who don’t owe tax will get the money as a refund. The government’s definition of a first-time buyer is anyone who hasn’t owned a home in the last three years.

Sales Report

August home sales by Realtors reported in the MLS were down nearly 20%.

They were also lower than the same period in 2007.

The slump continues, and buyer's are waiting to see if the market will drop further.

There are deals to be had in some areas, but owners are holding to their prices unless forced to sell.

The waiting game continues........

Sales Report

Sales remained steady for the month of July with 87 more sales than the prior month.

Inventory of homes available remained the same.

There were a total of 2,576 homes sold priced under $5,000,000.00 and as usual the majority of the sales were under $300,000.00.

Current inventory is 38,248 homes.

Downtown Tampa

TAMPA – June 27, 2008 – In 2003, Tampa Mayor Pam Iorio launched a campaign to turn the city’s small, sleepy downtown into a thriving core of offices, condos, stores, restaurants, and bars. The city’s 760-acre downtown would be transformed into a 24-hour hub of activity where residents could work, shop, play, and wake up each morning without dreading another traffic-clogged commute.

The downtown area would come to life with about 11,000 new condos, a 19-story office building [the first new downtown office tower in two decades], and new shops and restaurants. And the downtown population, which is now about 2,000, would swell to about 20,000.

City planners had every reason to believe they would be successful. The housing boom was in full swing, and young professionals and empty-nesters across the nation were coming back to city centers, which the middle class and affluent had all but abandoned starting in the 1960s in favor of suburbs where crime was lower, houses were larger, and schools were better. But during the last decade, cities from Miami and West Palm Beach to Philadelphia, Atlanta, Houston, and San Diego suddenly were hot again.

But everything changed for Tampa and for many other cities with the housing slump and foreclosure crisis, which was intensified by the year-old credit crunch. Now only about 3,500 of the planned condo units have either been built or are under construction in the downtown area, and many remain vacant. The office building also has been delayed.

Optimism for cities

“It was a false start you might say,” said Patrick Berman, senior director, retail brokerage for Cushman & Wakefield Florida, a real estate advisory group. “The market really slowed down. It was difficult to finance deals. People made deposits on condos and didn’t close.”

Berman, who lives two miles from the downtown, said that he’s certain that Tampa will finish what it started as soon as the housing market returns. He said cities haven’t lost their luster – it’s just that home buyers have become scarce. In fact, there is evidence that real estate in cities around the nation is doing better than in suburbs, especially in more distant suburbs where land was cheap and builders created an oversupply of houses.

And prices in many urban centers went up much more during the boom than they’ve fallen since. In Miami, for example, home prices nearly tripled from March, 1999, to March, 2006, when prices finally began to flatten, according to the S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Index. By comparison, prices were down 24 percent in March, 2008, compared to March, 2006.

Monthly Sales

Statistics in the MLS show that between 4/26 to 5/25, 2300 homes closed.

Price range varied from as low as $12,000 up to 5 million.

The number was down from the previous month and 68% lower than the 2005 sales reported during the same period.

Good News For Real Estate in Florida

HOUSING MARKET

A top real estate economist offered Tampa Realtors a hint of optimism Wednesday, saying the Bay area housing market should begin to improve in the second half of the year, and stabilize in 2009. He predicts that a home purchased today will appreciate 20 to 30 percent in five years.


Copyright (c) 2008, Tampa Tribune

NEW HOME SALES

New home sales were down again in March by 8.5 percent, with the median price 13.3 percent lower than in March 2007.


Copyright 2008 The Associated Press, Martin Crutsinger

Allstate is out again

ALLSTATE

A court made it official on Friday: Florida has the power to ban Allstate from issuing new policies in the state until the company submits requested information. Following the Friday ruling, Allstate submitted some of that information but said it would still not turn over everything the state had requested.


__________________________

Monthly Sales for Tri-County area

Sales were up over the last 30 days by 533 homes compared to last month. A total of 1,948 homes were sold as reported in the Multiple Listing Service.

The majority were priced under $300,000.

Inventory is up as well, but not by much, and the number of homes in pending status expected to close was up by over 400 homes compared with last months numbers.

Why buy in Florida

Miami – March 25, 2008 – The Sunshine State took four of the top-10 metro slots on the Forbes.com 2008 list of “America’s Cleanest Cities.” According to the magazine, clean water and air result from assertive steps by Florida’s cities as well as “the built-in advantage of weather patterns that blow out smog.”

Miami took the top spot, followed by Jacksonville (No. 3), Orlando (No. 4) and Tampa/St. Petersburg (No. 8).

On another bright note for Florida, air and water cleanliness apparently energizes these metro economies, according to the survey.

© 2008 FLORIDA ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS®

More Tax Reform

2008 FLORIDA LEGISLATURE

The tax cut that voters will be asked to approve in November will do more than save property owners money. It will force lawmakers to do what they have refused to do for nearly 70 years: modernize sales-tax rules.

Read the full story:

http://www.floridarealtors.org/NewsAndEvents/n1-032008.cfm
__________________________

National Home Prices

National home prices fell 8.9% in 2007, according to figures released recently by the Standard & Poors/Case-Shiller Home Price Index. Of the top 20 markets tracked by the Index, 17 of the metro areas reported annual price declines and the remaining three reporting flat or moderate.

Tampa home prices slipped 13.3%.

New FHA Loan Limits

The new loan limits for FHA and Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are now calculated at 125 percent of the HUD published median prices, with a floor of $271,050 and $417,000, respectively, not to exceed $729,750.

Expect the impact of these loan limit increases on the housing market to be significant because of the infusion of capital into the mortgage market, which should result in lower interest rates across the board. In addition, there will be a direct impact on high-cost areas that previously required borrowers to take out costlier jumbo mortgages.

Hillsborough county FHA loan limits are now set at $292,500 up from the previous $223,000 limit.

Monthly Sales

Sales to 5 million dropped over the past 30 days from the previous month. A total of 1,415 homes sold by realtor's reported in the multiple listing service for the tri-county area.

Pending sales are up by over 1000 units and inventory is up as well. There are over 40,000 homes available for sale in Hillsborough, Pinellas, and Pasco counties.

Prices continue to drop, and I recently closed a sale in Westchase at a price that hasn't been seen since 2004.

Interest rates

EarlyBird News

An information service for members of the Florida Association of Realtors ® http://www.floridarealtors.org

For legislative news visit http://farlegislative.org.

**********************************************************

DAILY BRIEFING
Friday, February 22, 2008




**********************************************************

MORTGAGE RATES

Buyers waiting for lower property prices could lose out even if prices do drop a bit more. Rates on 30-year mortgages rose to the highest level in seven weeks, breaking above the 6 percent level, and heightened worries about inflation could cause further increases.

Read the full story:

http://www.floridarealtors.org/NewsAndEvents/n1-022208.cfm
__________________________

Stimulus Package FHA Loan Limits

On February 13, 2008, President Bush signed the economic stimulus package into law. The economic stimulus package includes several important housing provisions, including increases in the loan limits for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac (GSE) and also FHA.

The increase is for FHA loans that are approved on or before 12-31-2008.
$271,050 is the new FHA floor, based on 65% of Freddie Mac current limits. The previous floor was $200,160 based on 48% of Freddie Mac limits.
The new limits will be the lesser of: 125% of the Area Median Price; or
$729,750 which is 175% of 2008 Freddie Mac limits.

HUD has 30 days after enactment to define the Area Median Prices in the Country and publish the new loan limits.

This means that ALL FHA limits will be increased by something! The areas with low median prices will go to $271,050. The areas with high Area Median Prices can go as high as $729,750. But until we know what HUD will use for Area Median Prices, we won't know what any of the exact amounts are.

Amendment 1 Challange

This will continue to happen because of the poor job done by our elected officials.

PROPERTY TAXES

As expected, property tax portability is being challenged in the courts. However, there’s a positive side: The case puts pressure on the 2008 Florida Legislature to consider additional property tax cuts for first-time home buyers, non-homestead owners and businesses.

Read the full story:

http://www.floridarealtors.org/NewsAndEvents/n2-021408.cfm

© 2008 The Associated Press


__________________________


**********************************************************

Property Tax Twist

For those who have lived in their homes for a long time and are thinking of moving, this could prove to be interesting.....

County property appraisers get requests all the time to have a property value lowered so the owner can save money on taxes, but the passage of Amendment 1 has created a new type of caller – one who wants his property value raised so he has more to port to a new homestead.

Read the full story:

http://www.floridarealtors.org/NewsAndEvents/n3-020508.cfm
__________________________

Beazer Homes Suspends Mortgage Origination, Pulls Out Of Markets

ATLANTA - Homebuilder Beazer Homes USA said Friday that it will no longer originate mortgages and will offer its buyers mortgage services through Countrywide Financial Corp.

The Atlanta-based company also released preliminary first-quarter operating data and said it will stop building homes in several communities.

Beazer will pull out of Charlotte, N.C.; areas around Cincinnati, Columbus and Dayton, Ohio; Columbia, S.C.; and Lexington, Ky. A timetable for the exits from those markets was not specified.

As of June 30, roughly 5 percent of the company's home building assets were invested in those markets.

As for its financials, Beazer Homes said it expects its results for the first quarter of fiscal 2008 to include material charges to abandon land option contracts and to recognize inventory impairments. It did not quantify the amounts because of plans to restate results from prior years.

The company also reiterated that home closings for its quarter ended Dec. 31 totaled 2,010, a 24 percent decline from the same period in the prior fiscal year. Net new home orders totaled 1,260, a decline of 29 percent from the prior fiscal year. The company saw a 46 percent cancellation rate in the quarter.

Beazer has been beset by turmoil in the housing industry that has caused its number of home closings to plunge. It cut 650 jobs, or 25 percent of its work force, in October.

By HARRY R. WEBER, The Associated Press

Fed Rate cut & how it affects you

When the Federal Reserve meets and changes rates, we all have questions: What does it mean to me? Will my mortgage rate go up or down? Is this a good time to refinance? Bankrate is here to help. We've looked at five categories -- mortgages, home equity loans, auto loans, credit cards and certificates of deposit -- to determine if the Fed's moves made you a winner or a loser. Here's a look at mortgages:


http://finance.yahoo.com/personal-finance/article/104327/Fed-Move-May-Not-Change-Mortgage-Rates

Recession???

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Jan. 30, 2008 – Florida’s consumer confidence index fell to 70 this month, its lowest level in 16 years, a new University of Florida (UF) study reports.

“Consumer confidence in Florida reflects the same conditions we had during the recession of 1990-91,” says Chris McCarty, director of UF’s Survey Research Center at the Bureau of Economic and Business Research. “Florida is almost certainly in a recession now, and the country is not far behind. Most economists agree that we are in for at least two quarters of very low growth.”

This month’s drop to its lowest level since December 1991 is due to declines in four of the five components that make up the index. The biggest drop was in consumers’ expectations about national economic conditions over the next year, which fell 10 points to 55, its lowest level since August 1992

2008 FLORIDA ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS®

Foreclosure Rate/Florida #2

According to an AP report, information received through Realtytrac reported foreclosure filings up 79% from last year.

While the numbers can be somewhat skewed due to Homeowner Association's filing actions for past due fee's, the number is still high.

Florida ranks #2 in the country.

Florida's growth slows

DEMOGRAPHICS

Census figures show that Florida continues to grow rather than shrink, but the number of incoming residents from other states dropped by about 86 percent in just two years thanks to higher home prices, property taxes and insurance costs.

Copyright 2008 The Associated Press, Matt Sedensky (Associated Press Writer).



Read the full story:

http://www.floridarealtors.org/NewsAndEvents/n3-012308.cfm
__________________________

30 Day Home Sale Report

Sales by Realtors for the tri-county area in the past 30 days dropped over 500 homes compared to the previous month to 1496 properties priced to $5,000,000.00.

Existing inventory was up over 2000 homes, and pending sales jumped by 409 properties.

No comeback yet, though buyer activity appears to be increasing as home prices drop and foreclosure's and short sales become more abundant.

Home sales for Florida

HOME SALES

Florida’s housing market followed the national trend in 2007. By year’s end, a total of 130,241 existing single-family homes sold statewide for a 29 percent decrease compared to the 2006 sales figure, according to FAR. The statewide median sales price was $233,600.
© 2008 FLORIDA ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS

Yes on 1???

Gov. Crist says that the "yes" vote on the property tax amendment will "ignite the real estate market".

Based on conversations I have had with potential out of state buyers, homeowners, and others I believe this statement is well......an over statement. While some will benifit, it does nothing for many. People moving from other states hesitate because even with a $50,000 exemption a $250,000 home purchase wil result in a property tax bill of $4,600. It's a $575 difference, save the new home buyer 50 bucks a month, but will this change the current state of our real estate market.

C'mon.

Property Tax Cut

The TBT reports that Hillsborough county would lose 8% of it's operating funds if the proposed property tax break is approved by voters on January 29th. 39 million dollars.

With a county budget of 871 million dollars will this truly affect the governments ability to function? I think not.

Time to cut the spending on unnecessary projects and programs.

Monthly Sales

Closed transactions for the period from 11/26/07 thru 12/25/07 were up by 376 properties from last month. An unusual trend for the time of year.

A total of 2041 homes closed the majority of which were priced under $300,000.

The inventory of homes dropped for the first time in six months.

Pending sales are also lower.

What does this mean? Next month will paint a clearer picture, but if the trend stays we could be experiencing a more active home buying market.