Buyer's Market

With a plentiful inventory of homes for sale in most of the nation, buyers will head into the spring selling season – typically the busiest time of the year – with lots of choices and bargaining power. In some markets, real estate associates say buyer traffic has picked up in the last month or two.

Housing Sales

Florida’s housing market mirrored the national trend in 2006, with sales of existing single-family homes slowing to a more sustainable pace following a five-year run of record closings. By year’s end, a total of 180,037 homes changed hands statewide for a 28 percent decrease compared to the 248,575 homes sold in 2005, according to the Florida Association of Realtors® (FAR). At the same time, 2006 sales figures made it into the record books for several markets around the state; 2006 also is expected to be the third highest sales year on record nationally, according to the National Association of Realtors® (NAR).

FSBOS

FEWER GOING IT ALONE. NAR reports a drop in the number of for-sale-by-owner (FSBO) transactions to 12 percent of all sales today from 18 percent in 1997. NAR spokesman Walter Molony says property owners believe agents are better equipped to achieve fast sales at top dollar in a slow market, adding that the median price for agent-assisted transactions was about 16 percent higher than FSBO sales last year. Molony notes that agents orchestrate showings, handle paperwork and identify serious buyers for sellers – who often lack the time or experience necessary to complete such tasks. NAR's 2006 Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers shows that 5 percent of sales from mid-2005 to mid-2006 involved FSBO sellers turning to an agent, with only 1 percent of sales involving sellers who abandoned their agents to go it alone. Source: Investor's Business Daily (01/19/07) P. A8; Kelly, Brad© Copyright 2007 INFORMATION, INC. Bethesda, MD

Sales up for December/January

The number of homes closed from 12-15-06 thru 1-21-07 doubled from the prior month and were up to 2,799 for homes priced under 1 million dollars. Pending sales also increased. There are 4,148 homes scheduled to close in the next 60 days.

Insurance resolution in the works

A series of homeowners’ insurance bills promising meaningful rate rollbacks are expected to hit the floors of both legislative chambers today as lawmakers dive into Day 2 of a weeklong special session. The Senate is advocating a state-backed “super reinsurance pool” that would cap insurers’ exposure in megastorms. The House’s skepticism about Citizens was pervasive. On Tuesday afternoon, a House council approved a bill from Rep. Ellyn Bogdanoff, R-Fort Lauderdale, that would wipe out the public-private company’s board of directors, to be replaced with appointees by the new House speaker, Senate president and governor.

Florida's Growth

Florida continues to have the fastest job growth rate and lowest unemployment rate of the ten most populous states, with 27,200 jobs created in Tampa from October 2005 to October 2006. This represents a job growth rate of 2.1%, compared to a national job growth rate of 1.5% for the same period, according to the report.

On Thursday, the National Association of Realtors reported that its index of signed purchase agreements fell 0.5% – a third consecutive decline – to 107 from 107.5 in October. The index was down 11.4% from November 2005. The silver lining is that the decline from the previous year has been narrowing since July, suggesting sales could be stabilizing.

Insurance reductions???

This article came through Planet Realtor. Hopefully this will be the start of Insurance and Tax reform to keep our state growing. The first test for Florida Gov. Charlie Crist comes in less than two weeks, when the Legislature meets for a four-day special session on windstorm insurance. Crist says he won't be satisfied until a solution that lowers rates is found -- a statement that has raised Floridians' expectations by predicting greater results than those suggested by House and Senate leaders.Read the full story:http://www.floridarealtors.org/NewsAndEvents/n1-010407.cfm

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.