Not to sound repetitious, BUT, the stats from first quarter '09 inventory are finally out. After 70% increase of sales in Miami-Dade, 46% in Broward, and another 37% in Palm Beach, our inventory's expected time on the market has gone from an all-time high of 14 months to a seasonally adjusted 9 months. Note: amount of homes in the market divided by amount of homes sold = expected time on market before the inventory sells.
I know that experts will talk about the condo market. But those of us who have been around since the last banking crisis (Savings & Loan) know that that period saw the Brickell corridor become a great rental area until the sales for that market re-emerged.
Yes, I know, I sound like an optimist. But it is not optimism. What I'm preaching is opportunism. There was a serious correction in the market, and prices in our area are still in flux. Homes are being sold at less than replacement value. What does that mean? You can buy a home for less than what it cost to build it, and the land is free. This plus current mortgage rates makes this a great investment opportunity in our beautiful paradise.
But, if you still need more proof, take a look at the little spreadsheet below from NAR which offers national stats and from my marketplace.
Until the next time....
E.V.
http://www.realtor.org/wps/wcm/connect/882586804e108aadb922ffec21680fb0/REL09Q1T.pdf?MOD=AJPERES&CACHEID=882586804e108aadb922ffec21680fb0
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Friday, June 26, 2009
!! New Exciting News on Financing !!
There has been a drastic change in the credit score requirement for new loans in the FHA guidelines. I know this does not sound like much to a lot of people, but this 20 point reduction on the credit score requirement brings it down from 620 to 600. This means more families can take advantage of the great market opportunities we are having in South Florida. Our prices have never been lower. That means FHA and VA requirements for loans are more accessible to new buyers or investors. Take a look below or contact us for more information. E.V. http://www.rwsf.com/
Thursday, June 25, 2009
!! Even Superman Homes Sells !!
After a long long time in the market Shaq's magnificent waterfront palace in Miami sold at a discount--but it sold.
Read below for more information. E.V http://www.rwsf.com/
The NBA super star was traded to Cleveland today as news broke that his Miami Beach mansion was sold - four years after it was first put on the market and for way less than what he wanted for it.
The seven-bedroom Star Island waterfront home was originally listed at $32 million in 2005, and was brought down as low as $22.5 million this past April. The final terms of the deal haven't been disclosed.
The house has quite a history. The Superman bought the 2-and-a-half acre pad -- originally built in '92 by another former Miami Heat player, Rony Seikaly, for $19 million in 2004 when he joined the Heat in a trade from L.A.
In 2007, Yankee Alex Rodriguez signed a contract to buy the house, when he was still married to wife Cynthia, but he backed out of the deal. Shaq was shipped to Phoenix in February '08, and has been sitting on the house since.
The property includes the standard mansion amenities: an indoor basketball court, tennis court, six-car garage, dock, two-bedroom guest house, and, of course, a pool emblazoned with a Superman logo, and amazing views.
Read below for more information. E.V http://www.rwsf.com/
The NBA super star was traded to Cleveland today as news broke that his Miami Beach mansion was sold - four years after it was first put on the market and for way less than what he wanted for it.
The seven-bedroom Star Island waterfront home was originally listed at $32 million in 2005, and was brought down as low as $22.5 million this past April. The final terms of the deal haven't been disclosed.
The house has quite a history. The Superman bought the 2-and-a-half acre pad -- originally built in '92 by another former Miami Heat player, Rony Seikaly, for $19 million in 2004 when he joined the Heat in a trade from L.A.
In 2007, Yankee Alex Rodriguez signed a contract to buy the house, when he was still married to wife Cynthia, but he backed out of the deal. Shaq was shipped to Phoenix in February '08, and has been sitting on the house since.
The property includes the standard mansion amenities: an indoor basketball court, tennis court, six-car garage, dock, two-bedroom guest house, and, of course, a pool emblazoned with a Superman logo, and amazing views.
"Home Buyer Tax Credit"
The Administration initiative to help move the real estate inventory looks like its beginning to work.
Now the Senate is working on extending the tax break until 2010 and taking the cap to $15,000.00 plus also give a credit to those who refinance.
For more information read below. E.V.
The first-time home buyer tax credit of up to $8,000 has helped to move housing inventory during an otherwise sluggish real estate cycle, according to industry analysts. Now both legislators and the business community are hoping to build on the incentive’s success by expanding it.A number of bills have been introduced in the House and the Senate that lobby for an expansion of the measure. Among the proposed changes: Setting a new cap of $15,000. Extending the tax break into mid-2010. Making the benefit available to all home buyers, not just first-timers. Offering a separate tax credit to $3,000 for borrowers who refinance.
Now the Senate is working on extending the tax break until 2010 and taking the cap to $15,000.00 plus also give a credit to those who refinance.
For more information read below. E.V.
The first-time home buyer tax credit of up to $8,000 has helped to move housing inventory during an otherwise sluggish real estate cycle, according to industry analysts. Now both legislators and the business community are hoping to build on the incentive’s success by expanding it.A number of bills have been introduced in the House and the Senate that lobby for an expansion of the measure. Among the proposed changes: Setting a new cap of $15,000. Extending the tax break into mid-2010. Making the benefit available to all home buyers, not just first-timers. Offering a separate tax credit to $3,000 for borrowers who refinance.
Sales up in South Florida
After what has been the biggest real estate price correction in the Sunshine State, most analysts are beginning to say the we have hit bottom. Month after month sales have increased in Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach with as much as 76% increase in the volume of sales.
All though 60% of the sales were short sales or foreclosure, I see it as a good sign the inventory is beginning to pick up and prices appear to be stabilizing.
Take a look at the following article for more details. E.V.
Is the worst over for South Florida housing market?
Is the South Florida housing market finally touching bottom? The answer, of course, can only be seen in the rear view mirror, but analysts agree that the most terrifying part of the downward slide is behind us.
New monthly figures from the Florida Association of Realtors show sales of existing homes and condos continued to post gains in May, the ninth consecutive month-to-month increase and a strong step in the right direction. Although sale prices are still way down from last year's numbers, monthly declines appear to be stabilizing.
''If you look at the yardstick of housing sales, which is a typical yardstick, we are in the recovery stage and we're in the bottoming phases on pricing,'' said Coral Gables-based real estate analyst David Dabby.
The market remains mired in a swamp of foreclosures and short-sales, however, and as long as there are still a sizable number of these distressed sales, it will continue to depress prices. As job losses mount and more homeowners enter foreclosure, such properties could continue to pour into the market.
Still, distressed sales are driving market activity.
Sales of single-family homes were up by 76 percent in Miami-Dade County and 47 percent in Broward County, compared to May of last year. Condo sales also rose by 36 percent and 25 percent in Miami-Dade and Broward, respectively.
As many as 60 percent of those sales, according to recent research from the Dabby Group Advisors, were foreclosures or short-sales that are sold for less than the mortgage owed against them. In some areas, like Homestead, the percentage of distressed sales is as high as 80 percent.
During the last market crash of the mid-1980s, distressed property sales accounted for no more than 15 percent of sales.
But now the low prices are spurring buying, which in turn is eroding the huge supply of homes and condos offered for sale.
The number of single family homes for sale in May fell from a year ago by 33 percent in Miami-Dade and 36 percent in Broward. The number of condos for sale dropped by 20 percent in Miami-Dade and 26 percent in Broward.
On the pricing front, median sale prices for single-family homes in May were down significantly from a year ago, dropping 39 percent in Miami-Dade to $194,700 and 36 percent in Broward to $190,000. The Miami-Dade median condo price slid 50 percent to $140,300 and 42 percent in Broward to $80,400.
The median price is the point at which half the homes sold for more and half for less.
Month-to-month figures, which are important to follow as market dynamics change, show pricing was essentially flat for homes and condos in Broward between April and May. In Miami-Dade, the median price actually rose by 10 percent for homes and 5 percent for condos.
A slowing of price declines and median prices that fluctuate only slightly from month to month is a sign that a bottom may be approaching.
The price of a Broward condo, for instance, has bounced between $85,000 and about $80,000 for the last five months. Similarly, the median home price has jumped between $219,000 and $190,000.
In Miami-Dade, Jenny Huertas, a real estate agent with Bal Harbour-based Condo Vultures, said more home buyers who can get financing are paying full list price for bank-owned properties in an effort to outbid investors with lots of cash.
''I have an investor from New York who wants to buy ugly houses and fix them up and sell them to first-time home buyers, but every time he gets outbid,'' Huertas said.
Consequently, these cash-laden investors are being pushed to the condo market where they can bully-down prices because average buyers are having a tough time getting condo loans.
When prices will start appreciating again is anybody's guess. ''Just because you reach the bottom, doesn't mean you are going to turn around and come right back immediately,'' said Andrea Heuson, a University of Miami finance professor who studies the real estate market.
If history is any gauge, home prices should come back sooner than condos. Until prices peaked in 2006, single-family home prices had fallen only one other time in the past 50 years. They dipped slightly after the real estate boom of the 1980s, but recovered in about a year.
Condos, on the other hand, have been an entirely different story. After the similarly overbuilt condo market crashed in 1984, the average price of a condo in Miami-Dade fell 47 percent and didn't recover its peak price of $86,479 until 14 years later, according to research from the Dabby Group.
It took even longer in Broward, though for different reasons. Condos there were mainly in retirement communities and there was less demand.
The current overstock of developer-held condos still vastly exceeds that of the 1980s, Dabby said. In the greater downtown Miami area alone, developers will still have roughly 10,000 unsold units on their hands by the end of this year.
All though 60% of the sales were short sales or foreclosure, I see it as a good sign the inventory is beginning to pick up and prices appear to be stabilizing.
Take a look at the following article for more details. E.V.
Is the worst over for South Florida housing market?
Is the South Florida housing market finally touching bottom? The answer, of course, can only be seen in the rear view mirror, but analysts agree that the most terrifying part of the downward slide is behind us.
New monthly figures from the Florida Association of Realtors show sales of existing homes and condos continued to post gains in May, the ninth consecutive month-to-month increase and a strong step in the right direction. Although sale prices are still way down from last year's numbers, monthly declines appear to be stabilizing.
''If you look at the yardstick of housing sales, which is a typical yardstick, we are in the recovery stage and we're in the bottoming phases on pricing,'' said Coral Gables-based real estate analyst David Dabby.
The market remains mired in a swamp of foreclosures and short-sales, however, and as long as there are still a sizable number of these distressed sales, it will continue to depress prices. As job losses mount and more homeowners enter foreclosure, such properties could continue to pour into the market.
Still, distressed sales are driving market activity.
Sales of single-family homes were up by 76 percent in Miami-Dade County and 47 percent in Broward County, compared to May of last year. Condo sales also rose by 36 percent and 25 percent in Miami-Dade and Broward, respectively.
As many as 60 percent of those sales, according to recent research from the Dabby Group Advisors, were foreclosures or short-sales that are sold for less than the mortgage owed against them. In some areas, like Homestead, the percentage of distressed sales is as high as 80 percent.
During the last market crash of the mid-1980s, distressed property sales accounted for no more than 15 percent of sales.
But now the low prices are spurring buying, which in turn is eroding the huge supply of homes and condos offered for sale.
The number of single family homes for sale in May fell from a year ago by 33 percent in Miami-Dade and 36 percent in Broward. The number of condos for sale dropped by 20 percent in Miami-Dade and 26 percent in Broward.
On the pricing front, median sale prices for single-family homes in May were down significantly from a year ago, dropping 39 percent in Miami-Dade to $194,700 and 36 percent in Broward to $190,000. The Miami-Dade median condo price slid 50 percent to $140,300 and 42 percent in Broward to $80,400.
The median price is the point at which half the homes sold for more and half for less.
Month-to-month figures, which are important to follow as market dynamics change, show pricing was essentially flat for homes and condos in Broward between April and May. In Miami-Dade, the median price actually rose by 10 percent for homes and 5 percent for condos.
A slowing of price declines and median prices that fluctuate only slightly from month to month is a sign that a bottom may be approaching.
The price of a Broward condo, for instance, has bounced between $85,000 and about $80,000 for the last five months. Similarly, the median home price has jumped between $219,000 and $190,000.
In Miami-Dade, Jenny Huertas, a real estate agent with Bal Harbour-based Condo Vultures, said more home buyers who can get financing are paying full list price for bank-owned properties in an effort to outbid investors with lots of cash.
''I have an investor from New York who wants to buy ugly houses and fix them up and sell them to first-time home buyers, but every time he gets outbid,'' Huertas said.
Consequently, these cash-laden investors are being pushed to the condo market where they can bully-down prices because average buyers are having a tough time getting condo loans.
When prices will start appreciating again is anybody's guess. ''Just because you reach the bottom, doesn't mean you are going to turn around and come right back immediately,'' said Andrea Heuson, a University of Miami finance professor who studies the real estate market.
If history is any gauge, home prices should come back sooner than condos. Until prices peaked in 2006, single-family home prices had fallen only one other time in the past 50 years. They dipped slightly after the real estate boom of the 1980s, but recovered in about a year.
Condos, on the other hand, have been an entirely different story. After the similarly overbuilt condo market crashed in 1984, the average price of a condo in Miami-Dade fell 47 percent and didn't recover its peak price of $86,479 until 14 years later, according to research from the Dabby Group.
It took even longer in Broward, though for different reasons. Condos there were mainly in retirement communities and there was less demand.
The current overstock of developer-held condos still vastly exceeds that of the 1980s, Dabby said. In the greater downtown Miami area alone, developers will still have roughly 10,000 unsold units on their hands by the end of this year.
First Post
Well this is my first venture into the blogging world, but it was the natural next step. I look forward to this opportunity to share my knowledge of and experience with the current real estate market and current news, especially those that affect the South Florida area.
Please feel free to comment on all posts.
Looking forward to a long relationship with all of you.
E.V.
Please feel free to comment on all posts.
Looking forward to a long relationship with all of you.
E.V.
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