State Wide Open House

Open houses will be held across Florida as we Realtors try to sustain housing recovery with statewide event,Realtors in Broward and Miami Dade County and across Florida plan to showcase thousands of homes during a statewide open house in April.

The April 10-11 event, dubbed the Florida Open House Weekend, is the first coordinated statewide open house in Florida history.

“It’s a home shopper’s dream,” said Wendell Davis, Florida Realtors’ president. “For the serious buyer, the opportunity to tour dozens of homes in one weekend is a real time-saver.”

This weekend was chosen because home buyers must sign a purchase contract before April 30, and close by June 30, to qualify for federal tax credits of up to $8,000, before it expires .

We all know that the percentage who used the Internet in their home search has soared from 37 percent in 2000 to 90 percent last year, but open houses gives buyers the opportunity to visit the area and actually step into a house for the first time with out any pressure.
So lest all participated in this great event , I know we will be holding as many home open as possible


For more information follow the link below

http://www.floridarealtors.org/NewsAndEvents/article.cfm?id=231888

Looking For Condo Solutions

After what has been an unbelievable real estate market for over the past 3 years, we are now dealing with all the left over problems of not enough planing for the future growth, so we have to run to the GOVERNMENT to try make right some of this worngs in this CONDO HANGOVER.

For example one of the 2 bills being introduce into the legislature its bill — H.B. 329,this bill its being sponsored separately by Rep. Julio Robaina, R- Miami, and also bill S.B. 1196, sponsored by Senator Mike Fasano, R-New Port Richey — this two bills are going to try to pressure delinquent owners into paying or making life tougher for the delinquent condo owners , including taking away pool and clubhouse rights and siphoning rent checks (THE LAST ONE BEING THE BEST SOLUTION ). H.B. 329 is for condo associations only, while S.B. 1196 is for both condo and homeowner associations.

This two bills seek to amend the law to allow so condo associations to collect rent directly from a tenant when the unit owner is also a landlord and is behind by 90 days or more in fees and assessments to the association, including possibly costs for attorneys and collections, yes that mean Condo associations wont have to wait more than 90 days to claim the rent from the uncooperative landlord's .

This two bills also would allow the association to prevent owners and their tenants, whether they pay rent or not, from using common elements, such as the pools, clubhouses and other recreational facilities, if the owner is delinquent in the payment of assessments.

Finally, these bills would deny owners the right to vote on association matters if they are delinquent. Currently, Florida law allows all owners, despite payment records, to vote in condo elections and serve on boards as directors.

But Bill H.B. 329 goes further than the senate bill by also granting associations the authority to additionally deny the delinquent owners and tenants the right to occupy the unit.So the Tenants and or Owners will be evict after 90 days of non payment of dues

Although this bills are only being introduce at the moment we all know that something needs to be done to save the values of the condo communities

Glut of Condos in Sunny Isles

As it stand we are still real ling from the condo hang over from a few years ago , gut to ad insult to injury , the new lending regulations plus the fact the 70% of buyers were in it to flip and have walk away form their deposit we have been left with this HUGE 24% inventory of the 6,300 new condo units built Sunny Isles Beach.

``The Sunny Isles Beach had a total of 23000 unit build in a period of seven yeas.
And now its going Through a similar situation as Downtown Miami , with the difference that this area is a second home market to foreign national from all over the world .

SOUTH FLORIDA KEEPS SHOWING A FAST RECOVERY

Miami area home sales remained at a 3 year high in December as sales of existing condos, whose prices drop from 2006 high keep momentum. The median price paid for all new and resale houses and condos combined didn't budge from November and declined from a year earlier by the lowest amount - 22.5% - since late 2008, a real estate information service reported.

In December, 8,259 new and resale houses and condos closed escrow in the metro area encompassing Miami-Dade, Palm Beach and Broward counties. That was up 19.1% from November and up 41.3% from 5,846 in December 2008, according to MDA DataQuick. The San Diego firm tracks real estate trends nationally via public property records.


In the month of December sales increase from November for the season, though the 19.1 gain was below the average November-to-December increase of 29.6% since 1997.

December marked the 10 consecutive month in which the region's overall sales rose on a year-over-year basis. Existing (not new) single-family detached house and condo sales have risen year-over-year for 13 consecutive months, while new-home sales in December fell below the year-ago level for the 42nd time in the last 43 months.

The strong condo sales, And the December sales of all homes priced $50,000 to $150,000 shot up 98.5% from December 2008. The $50,000 - $150,000 sales represented 47.5% of total home sales in December, up from 33.9% in December 2008 and 15.2% in December 2007.

Sales also picked up in December at the opposite end of the price spectrum: The number of homes sold for $1 million or more rose to 243 in December, up 51% from 161 in November and up 28.6% from 189 in December 2008. The figures are based on an analysis of public property records, where there was a purchase price or purchase loan amount of $1 million or more. During all of 2009, sales of $1 million-plus homes totaled 2,061, down 32.3% from a 2008 total of 3,044. The peak month for $1 million-plus home sales was in June 2005, when 583 sold, and the peak year was 2005, when 5,452 homes sold for $1 million or more.

The median price paid for all new and resale houses and condos sold in December was $155,000, the same as in November but down 22.5% from $200,000 in December 2008. It was the smallest year-over-year decline for the overall median sale price since the median fell 22.2%, to $210,000, in November 2008.
December's median was 46.6% below the peak $290,000 median in June 2007. The Miami area's median price has fallen on a year-over-year basis for 27 consecutive months.

The median price paid for resale condos in December held steady at $105,000 - the same as in November but down 23.7% from a year ago and down 54.8% from the peak $219,000 resale condo median in July 2006. The resale condo median hit a cycle low of $99,000 in September 2009.

The median paid for resale single-family detached houses rose slightly in December to $188,000, up 1.7% from 184,800 in November but down 14.5% from a year ago and down 44.1% from a June 2007 peak of $340,000.

Another price gauge analysts watch, the median paid per square foot for resale single-family detached houses, held steady in December at $109, the same as in November but down 11.4% from $123 in December 2008. It was the lowest year-over-year decline for any month since November 2007. The December 2009 median paid per square foot stood 48.3% below the region's $211 peak in summer 2006. The measure has fallen year-over-year for 39 straight months.

The only form of fiancing available for first time home buyers is government-insured FHA loans - accounted for 42.5% of all home purchase loans in December, down from 48.5% in November but up from 35% a year ago and 5.4% two years ago.

The use of adjustable-rate mortgages ("ARMs") to buy homes was steady in December at 5.7% of all purchase loans, the same as in November but up from a decade low of 4.4% in May 2009. However, December's purchase ARM level was down from 6.9% a year earlier. Miami's monthly average for ARM use over the past decade is 49.7% of purchase loans. In December, the median ARM purchase loan amount was $280,000.


The rest of the transactions were either cash or flippers taking advantage of the market

Drastic inventory increase

The number of U.S. homes listed for sale rose dramatically in January compared to December after 18 consecutive months of decline, according to data released on Thursday by NAR.
Part of this is seller trying to capitalize in the $8,0000.00 before it runs out
It may also be banks starting to put their ghost foreclosed inventory of properties up for sale
The total number of single-family homes and condos listed for sale increased in January from December by 2.9 percent, bringing the total number of active listings in the 27 major U.S. metropolitan markets to 567,265,.

This mean that there are an additional 15,0000 homes for sale in this markets since January .

Increased supply could negatively impact the hard-hit U.S. housing market, which remains highly vulnerable to setbacks.


This new over supply could hurt the balance between supply and demand. Stabilization of the housing market is seen as key to an economic recovery .

The number of home listings year-over-year, however, was down 22.33 percent, with 163,000 fewer homes on the market, it said.

California Takes Action Against Real Estate Agents

A record number of real estate licenses were revoked in 2009 by the California State Department of Real Estate, the state department that issues licenses to real estate professionals.

The DRE also accepted another record number of license surrenders from licensees facing disciplinary action.


All together , over 775 yes 775 licensees had their license revoked or simply turn them in their licenses .


Over the past two years, the State averaged 446 license revocations and 59 license surrenders. In 2009, license revocations jumped over 50%, to 672, while license surrenders jumped nearly 80 percent to 105.


The downturn in the real estate market is a big reason disciplinary actions are up.

In 2009, the state of California initiated over 2,000 investigations involving loan modification complaints, which represents 25 percent of all cases set-up.


The DRE issued over 180 “Desist and Refrain” orders to nearly 348 different respondents performing loan modification services, ordering them to stop or change their business practices, it says. Of those, approximately 60 percent were not licensed and ordered to cease licensed activity -- which included offering loan modification services.


In addition, nearly 100 real estate licensees have been accused of violating the real estate law in connection with loan modification complaints. Many of the completed cases have been referred to law enforcement agencies for criminal prosecution

Pending home rise in Miami & Broward

Great News Pending sales rose in Miami-Dade and Broward counties during January compared to December, according to data released Tuesday by Southeast Florida Multiple Listing Service.

In Miami-Dade, pending sales of single-family homes increased 0.81 percent to 3,741. Sales of condominiums rose 3.5 percent to 4,647.

In Broward, pending sales of condominiums rose 9.4 percent to 4,137. Pending sales of single-family homes rose 6.2 percent to 3,310.

All accross the country , NAR said Tuesday that pending sales its seasonally adjusted index of sales agreements rose 1 percent from November to December to a reading of 96.6. That was a little lower than the 97.1 level analysts expected, according to Thomson Reuters.

The index has risen for nine out of the past 10 months as buyers scrambled to take advantage of an $8,000 first-time home buyer tax credit before its scheduled expiration Nov. 30.

Congress extended the tax credit to April 30 and added a $6,500 credit for current homeowners.
So what we are expirencing is the bulk of first time home buyers taking advangte of this.

ICON Brickell cuts prices by 51%

This past week prices at the ICON Brickell condo monumental project in downtown Miami have been drastically slashed to as little as $261 a square foot, a 51% discount on the average closed sales price in the complex to date, according to a new report from CondoVultures.com.

Prices vary in each of the three towers due to the location floor and the view in the 1,793-unit yes 1,793 UNIT complex.

The ICON Brickell project represents 8% of the nearly 22,250 condo units built in downtown Miami since 2003, the website reported.

To date, there have been nearly 150 closed sales in the complex at an average price of $538 a square foot, most in the 713-unit tower one, but none in tower three.

But this new price has brought new attention to the project

Mortgages fall back

This past week the average rate on a 30-year fixed mortgage fell to 4.99%, down from 5.06% from a week earlier, national mortgage company Freddie Mac said last Thursday.

It's the 3rd straight weekly decline. The drop comes after rates fall in the bond market this week as concerns about the economy have increased and demand for the safety of government debt, which is closely tied to mortgage rates.

Freddie Mac collects mortgage rates on Monday through Wednesday of each week from lenders around the country. Rates often fluctuate significantly, even within a given day, often in line with long-term Treasury bonds.

Rates for 30-year loans had dropped to a record low of 4.71% in early December, pushed down by an aggressive government campaign to reduce consumers' borrowing costs.

The Federal Reserve is pumping and extra $1.25 trillion into mortgage-backed securities to try to bring down mortgage rates, but that money is set to run out next spring. The goal of the program is to make home buying more affordable and prop up the housing market.

While it's possible that the program could be extended, analysts believe the Fed is reluctant to do so.

The rate on 15-year fixed-rate mortgages fell to 4.4%, down from 4.45% from last week, according to Freddie Mac.

Rates on five-year, adjustable-rate mortgages averaged 4.27%, down from 4.32% a week earlier. Rates on one-year, adjustable-rate mortgages dropped to 4.32% from 4.39%.Making this a very attractive pruduct

The rates do not include add-on fees known as points. One point is equal to 1% of the total loan amount.

Will changes to mortgage mod program help

The Treasury is introducing new rules to its mortgage modification program.

Do you think it'll make any difference?

Starting June 1, Banks will have to document borrowers’ financial situations from the time they start the modification process. Also, borrowers won't have to submit W-2 forms, but they will have to hand over two pay stubs and an electronic form giving the government access to their tax returns and proof of income.

As it is now, many borrowers get trial loan modifications based on simply stating their incomes. Not surprisingly, those trial mods usually don’t lead to permanent adjustments because the borrowers can’t prove they have the incomes they said they had and 6 to 9 months latter they are back to step one.

The Treasury said it's trying to make it as easy as possible for people. Many borrowers are fed up with the government program, blaming the lenders for seemingly endless delays and for never ending paper work.

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The Miami-Fort Lauderdale metropolitan area ranked among the top 10 U.S. metro areas with the highest foreclosure rates in 2009, according to a newly released report by RealtyTrac, the Irvine, Calif.-based online marketplace for foreclosures.

The report found there were 172,894 properties with foreclosure filings in the local metro area, or one in every 14 homes. The rate was up 43.5 percent from 2008 and up nearly 200 percent from 2007.

Florida accounted for eight of the top 20 metro foreclosure rates. Only California, with nine, had more.

“While it was expected that cities from states with the highest levels of foreclosure activity would top the charts, there is evidence that we’re entering a new wave of foreclosures, driven more by unemployment and economic hardship than what we’ve seen over the past few years,” RealtyTrac CEO James J. Saccacio in a news release.

Nationwide, there were 2.8 million foreclosure filings in 2009, or one out of every 45 housing units. That was up 21.2 percent from 2008 and 119.6 percent from 2007.

The Las Vegas market led the nation’s metro areas, with more than 12 percent of its housing units receiving a foreclosure notice last year. That’s more than five times the national average.

Across Florida, the Cape Coral-Fort Myers market posted the second-highest metro area foreclosure rate in the nation, with 11.87 percent. Orlando-Kissimmee ranked seventh, with 8.17 percent. Port St. Lucie ranked ninth, with 7.58 percent of its housing units in foreclosure.

Among other Florida metro areas in the top 100:


Miami-Fort Lauderdale-Pompano Beach, No. 10, at 7.16 percent
Naples, No. 13, at 6.38 percent
Deltona-Daytona Beach-Ormond Beach, No. 16, at 5.32 percent
Sarasota-Brandenton-Venice, No 17, at 5.26 percent
Lakeland, No. 18, at 5.19 percent
Palm Bay-Melbourne-Titusville, No. 21, at 4.78 percent
Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, No. 22, at 4.77 percent
Jacksonville, No. 26, at 4.53 percent
Pensacola-Ferry Pass-Brent, No. 44, at 2.85 percent
Gainesville, No. 68, at 2.08 percent
Tallahassee, No. 82, at 1.72 percent