Archive for the 'Florida' Category (Chronologically Listed)

Northeast Florida Housing Market Nearing Rock Bottom

After months of falling, local builders and analysts say the Florida housing market is about to hit bottom.

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Posted by Jed Moss on May 21 2007 under Florida





Florida: Housing Market Slump’s Ground Zero

If the American housing market shakeout has an epicenter, it probably lies in the state of Florida. And for companies with business tied closely to that state, that is some kind of problem.

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Posted by Richard Barber on May 20 2007 under Florida, Housing Market





“Perfect Storm” of Mortgage, Debt Problems in Central Florida

A “perfect storm” of Florida mortgage delinquencies, higher energy prices and other financial troubles have caused personal bankruptcies to spike in Central Florida this year, the Orlando Sentinel reports.

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Posted by Richard Barber on May 04 2007 under Florida, Mortgage Advice





Press Release: Florida Mortgage Rates, Market Favorable for Buyers

Sales of existing homes in the Sunshine State remained at a sustainable pace in March, with buyers continuing to see favorable Florida mortgage rates and a range of housing options available across the state, according to the Florida Association of Realtors (FAR).

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Posted by Jed Moss on Apr 26 2007 under Florida





Spring Selling Season Brings Out Florida Mortgage Borrowers

In the Florida housing market, the traditional spring selling season - which commonly takes place between March and June - has officially started.

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Posted by Jed Moss on Apr 11 2007 under Florida





God Entering the Mortgage Business?

As highway mortgage billboards go, well, it was an attention-getter.

It wasn’t just the arresting background design. It was the whiplash-inducing message. “Covington Mortgage,” it read. “Taking Greed Out, Putting God In!”

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Posted by Richard Barber on Apr 10 2007 under Florida, Mortgage Lending





Prolonged Housing Market Slump Taking its Toll in Florida, Other States

State tax revenues around the United States are growing more slowly this year and in some cases falling far below projections, a direct result of the housing market slowdown that has curbed voracious spending on real estate, building materials, furniture and other items.

Nowhere is the downturn more apparent than in Florida, where tax revenue is projected to drop this year for the first time since the 1970s.

But other states, especially those where home mortgage loan costs took a new meaning in recent years, are also seeing their collections slow, especially in the sales and real estate transfer tax categories.

While the economy remains generally strong and it is too early to predict whether the housing slump will have long-term effects, some states will have to adjust their wish lists.

“It’s the year of the housing hangover,” Sean M. Snaith, director of the Institute for Economic Competitiveness at the University of Central Florida, said.

Despite continued low mortgage rates, home sales fell in February to the lowest rate in seven years, as many who tapped into home equity and spent extravagantly during the boom have started to cut back.

Those events not only threaten revenue streams for things like building materials and labor, but also spending on big-ticket items like cars and furniture, which many homeowners financed with a home equity line of credit.

Chris McCarty, survey research director at the Bureau of Economic and Business Research at the University of Florida, said it would be foolish to “underestimate the effect that the inability to extract home equity from real estate is going to have.”

In one hint of how much Floridians were relying on property wealth during the real estate boom, 16 percent of new car purchases here were being made with a home equity loan in 2006, compared with 7 percent in the whole U.S., according to CNW Marketing Research.

During the past few years, many families have relied on the cash from mortgage refinancing, made possible by rising house values, low home loan rates, a bevy of creative new loan products and more.

From 2001-2005, even as the economy was growing at a healthy clip over all, the pay of most workers failed to keep pace with inflation. Now the housing slowdown is making it more difficult to take equity out of a house, and an improved job market is finally causing wages to rise.

Still, McCarty said consumer confidence in Florida dropped markedly last month, especially willingness to buy expensive items.

Some budget watchers say that the Florida housing market boom was prolonged and intensified by the rebuilding frenzy after a series of hurricanes, and now could be a warning beacon for other states anticipating housing-related economic woes.

Last spring, nine of the 20 metropolitan areas that saw the sharpest home price appreciation were in the Sunshine State, according to OFHEO. Many areas of the state now have plummeting home values.

Despite increased fears of a bad credit mortgage loan backlash, the healthy reserves built up over the past few years by most states, as well as quite stable economic conditions outside the housing sector, should cushion the blow. At least for now.

Continue reading in the Lakeland Ledger …




Posted by Richard Barber on Apr 09 2007 under Florida, Housing Market





Northwest Sellers Must Lower Prices to Attract Florida Mortgage Seekers

We hear it every day. The Northwest Florida housing market is stabilizing, returning to normal, slowing to a more reasonable pace.

But what does that really mean? Especially for folks whose “For Sale” signs have started to grow moss? Or the newlyweds hoping to find a deal?

It means, says mortgage broker Richard Bell of Beach Bell Realty, that your price had better be right and your patience intact.

“If I’ve got $400,000 to spend on a house along the Emerald Coast, I’ve got so many choices,” Bell said. “It’s all about price.”

According to data from the Emerald Coast Association of Realtors, in the fourth quarter of 2006 it would have taken 19.3 months to sell the entire single-family home inventory in the area. It would have taken 54 months to sell all of the condos on the market.

“If you want to sell your house, you have to lower your price,” said Bell, who is based in Atlanta and has experience selling real estate in Northwest Florida. “Everybody’s got the bells and whistles, but price is that underlying equalizer.”

Early results from the first quarter of 2007 back up his claim.

“We’re seeing a lot of activity on houses that are priced right,” said Ray DiTirro, a Realtor with RE/MAX Southern Realty.

In the fourth quarter of 2006, the average list price for single-family homes was $413,302, and the average sale price was $385,973. So far in 2007, the average list price for single-family homes is $370,594 and the average sale price is $342,064.

When it comes to condos, the market is equally, if not more, crowded, Bell said.

“There’s a huge amount of condos out there,” he said. “We’re overbuilt, there’s no question about that. We’re waiting for the blood to flow.”

Many condominiums are finally receiving their certificates of occupancy, but Realtors are uncertain about Florida mortgage applicants showing up to close the deal.

“There are a lot of people who are just walking away,” DiTirro said. “They do their cash-flow analysis and they say, ‘It’ll cost me less to walk away than to carry this condo.’ ”

Some long-time developers say they’re not alarmed and that the market is simply moving from one cycle to the next.

“The market couldn’t sustain the pace it was running at,” said Lowell Larson, chief executive officer and president of Southern Ventures Corp. “I’ve seen it before. I think if you’re going to be invested in real estate, you have to take the long view.”

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Posted by Jed Moss on Apr 09 2007 under Florida





Usual Suspects Lead List of Luxury Housing Markets

California, New York and Florida.

It’s no big surprise that this luxury-home trifecta topped the list of states with the most homes valued at $1 million or more in 2005.

The rich may get richer and the homes pricier, but the lineup of the biggest luxury real estate markets changes little from year to year.

What makes these states perennial winners in the jumbo mortgage category? The obvious answers, year in and year out: lifestyle and jobs.

Earthquakes, fires, and smog have done little to deter wealthy home sales in the Golden State, powered by California’s mild weather and striking coastline, and the technology and entertainment industry hubs that are the major cities. Nothing beats New York for cultural offerings and opportunities in the financial world, or Florida for miles of prime vacation land.

Having a lot of homes in general also may give the top three an edge over other states, where standard home loan costs are more typical. California has the highest population in the U.S. (36 million), followed by Texas (23.5 million), New York (19 million), and Florida (18 million).

In 2005, California had 619,170 $1 million-plus housing units, or 8.76 percent of its total homes. New York had 165,641, or 4.21 percent, and Florida had 102,010 or 2.08 percent.

But the California housing market also has the highest percentage of total homes valued at $1 million or above, followed by Washington, D.C. (7.67 percent), Hawaii (6.64 percent), and Connecticut (4.41 percent).

The other states rounding out the top 10 largest luxury home markets are New Jersey, Massachusetts, Illinois, Connecticut, Virginia, Maryland, and Washington — all states with or near major U.S. cities, and almost all, with the exception of Illinois, along the coast.

“There was the expectation here a few years ago that the coast had seen most of their increase in home prices, and estimates were that the middle part of the U.S. was going to catch up a bit,” says John Karevoll, an analyst at real estate research firm DataQuick.

“That hasn’t happened yet, and it’s surprised a lot of analysts.”

In fact, the finite amount of waterfront space in coastal states has pushed prices up at the ultra-luxury end. The Institute for Luxury Home Marketing estimates that home sales at the $5 million-and-above price rose 11 percent in 2006, compared to a 8.4% decline in overall housing market sales.

Between 1999 and 2005, when low mortgage rates fueled a record-shattering home-buying boom, the Institute says sales of homes for more than $1 million skyrocketed over 500 percent.

The most expensive home sold in 2006 was a 63-acre estate with a 10,000 square-foot mansion in Alpine, N.J., purchased by Advanced Photonix CEO Richard Kurtz for $58 million. Chances are good no mortgage was involved in this particular purchase.

If Wall Street’s streak continues, New York could even steal California’s first-place spot in the next few years. From 2000-2005, New York saw home sales at the $1 million-plus level rise 531.7 percent, the greatest jump among the U.S. states.

Follow the link to continue reading in Business Week …




Posted by Richard Barber on Apr 02 2007 under California, Florida, New York





Housing Market Slowdown Impacts Regional Economies, Consumer Psychology

Many South Florida residents are eating out less and springing for fewer big purchases like a new car or a vacation, the Miami Herald reports.

It’s not just because of the increasing cost of living, and it’s not just limited to Florida.

Economists have talked at length about the new cost-consciousness among consumers who had relied heavily upon their houses for their net worth and are now watching the housing market slow way down.

And as the housing market slides, the new consumer psychology is rippling through regional economies - and is already hurting big companies.

Businesses are saying they’re starting to see less activity because of the housing market slowdown. And it’s not just the obvious businesses within the housing industry - like real estate, home mortgage or construction companies - which have already taken clear hits.

Miami-based home builder Lennar, for example, reported last week that its first-quarter profit tumbled 73 percent on softness in the housing market made worse by problems with subprime (bad credit mortgage) lending. Lennar warned it doesn’t expect to meet its 2007 earnings guidance.

But companies you wouldn’t automatically associate with housing are also pointing to the real estate slowdown as a big culprit for fewer earnings, in such industries as varied as cars, cruise lines and shipping.

In February, although prices remained relatively flat, sales of single-family homes declined by 31 percent in Miami-Dade County and 20 percent in Broward County compared to a year ago, Florida Association of Realtors data indicates.

The condo numbers were worse, and inventory has nearly doubled. There’s little doubt, in turn, that the bevy of for-sale signs may start wreaking havoc with consumer spending as the housing market slows.

The boom saw many homeowners taking out sizable adjustable rate mortgages or simply tapping home equity out of their properties. Now, with possible jumps in mortgage rates and the equity well drying up, people are worried and therefore more cost-conscious.

As fears of home loan woes escalate, confidence among Floridians dropped last month, according to data released by the University of Florida last week. The index, last month at 92, declined to 86.

“Housing is an increasing problem,” said survey director Chris McCarty. “It’s very clear that people were using home equity to fuel spending, so I don’t think this should be that much of a surprise,” said McCarty, citing the rampant speculative buying and use of exotic loans.

Economists see the housing slowdown working its way through the economy in this fashion: First, home prices slow down, then the number of people who are extracting equity from their homes also starts to taper off. That pool of money shrinking leads to fewer purchases of big-ticket items.

Last year, 16 percent of the new car purchases in the Sunshine State were made with a home equity loan, according to Art Spinella, the president of Oregon-based market research firm CNW Research. That compares to 9 percent in 2000.

Follow the link to continue reading in the Miami Herald …




Posted by Richard Barber on Apr 02 2007 under Consumer Confidence, Florida