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National Market Update 
There are currently 57 blog entries related to this category.
IS NOW A GOOD TIME TO BUY SARASOTA REAL ESTATE? YES, EVEN IF PRICES CONTINUE TO DROP!
Friday, September 3rd, 2010 at 2:55pm. 16 Views, 0 Comments.
And here is why.....I know prices are still dropping in some areas, but is this a good time to buy? The answer is a resounding YES. If you bought a $400,000 dollar home (for the purpose of illustration obtained a $320,000 loan) and that house drops 10% in the next year, the math is easy. You just lost $40,000. BUT - and this is a big BUT - if you obtained a loan today for that house at 4.25% and if that same loan in one year costs 6%, then the difference in payment is a lot LESS if you buy the house now. ($320,000 @ 4.25% = $1574 / $320,000 @ 6% = $1918) for a difference of $344 every month. Over 30 years, that difference is a whopping $123,840! One thing we have been assured of is that interest rates have to and eventually will be going up as the…
DID I MESS UP BY MISSING THE OBAMA TAX CREDIT? NO!
Friday, September 3rd, 2010 at 2:54pm. 7 Views, 0 Comments.
At the end of April (when the tax credit expired) the interest rate was hovering around 6% versus about 4.25% now. That means that if you took out a loan for $320,000, in April your loan would be $320,000 @ 6% = $1918 versus now $320,000 @ 4.25% = $1918, for a difference of $344 every month. Over 30 years, that difference is a whopping $123,840!
Despite what you read and see, homes ARE selling. Our team has been having a stellar year selling lots of homes for our sellers and finding quality homes at good prices for our buyers. We have become experts at distressed sales (short sales) and are CDPE certified, and we are even listing and selling some bank owned homes (REOs).
We are well aware that you have a choice in Realtors. We feel that now more…
U.S. HOME PRICES SHOWED IMPROVEMENT IN MAY
Wednesday, July 28th, 2010 at 11:04am. 35 Views, 0 Comments.
Home prices rose in May for the second straight month as federal tax incentives pulled more buyers into the market. The Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller 20-city home price index released Tuesday posted a 1.3 percent increase in May from April.
Nineteen of 20 cities showed price gains month over month. Minneapolis and Atlanta led the way with 2.8 percent and 2 percent increases, respectively. San Diego posted its 13th straight monthly gain.
Only Las Vegas recorded a price decline. That metro area hit a record low in May. Home prices there have lost 56.4 percent of their value since peaking in August 2006. While Detroit recorded a 0.7 percent increase from April, the average home price there is about the same as it was in 1994.
The Sarasota real estate…
STRONG SHOWING FOR JUNE IN THE SARASOTA REAL ESTATE MARKET!
Wednesday, July 28th, 2010 at 11:03am. 33 Views, 0 Comments.
Home sales in Southwest Florida soared during June, rising 35 percent in the Sarasota real estate market. June was the fourth straight month that sales topped the 1,000 mark in the Sarasota real estate market, a level that harkens back to the pace of summer 2005, when the real estate boom was still in swing.
The median sales price of $170,400 in the Sarasota real estate market was a 5 percent increase from a ago and up 2.4 percent from May, according to data released Thursday by Florida Realtors, the former Florida Association of Realtors.
The region's strong showing -- and a 17 percent spike in sales statewide -- was somewhat overshadowed by a 5.1 percent decline nationally, evidence that the broader housing market is struggling and may drag on the…
NEW HINTS OF RELIEF FOR HOUSING IN SARASOTA REAL ESTATE
Wednesday, July 28th, 2010 at 11:01am. 24 Views, 0 Comments.
Southwest Florida entered 2010 with dire predictions from a bevy of experts that a housing market showing signs of sales and price stability would be overwhelmed by summer with a wave of new foreclosures driven by the region's stubbornly high unemployment rate. But so far, that has not been the case. In fact, the most recent foreclosure data would seem to suggest that Manatee, Sarasota and Charlotte counties may have dodged the bullet.
The great unknown is just how many loans on properties will ultimately fall into the distressed category. Foreclosure filings in June hovered around their lowest point since summer 2009, according to data released Wednesday by RealtyTrac Inc., a California company that has been tracking the phenomenon.
Realtors will…
SARASOTA COMMERCIAL REAL ESTATE DEFIES NATIONAL DECLINE!
Wednesday, July 14th, 2010 at 2:40pm. 49 Views, 0 Comments.
Despite a nationwide decline in rents and an increase in empty office and retail space, landlords in Sarasota, Miami and Pensacola reported collecting more rents on commercial property during the first four months of the year than they had during the same period in 2009, data from the Florida Department of Revenue shows.
In March, Sarasota County landlords took in $55 million, their best single month since May 2005 and 14 percent more than March 2009 revenues. While January, February and April were still down from last year, March was so strong that revenues were up 1 percent for the four-month period, compared with the same period last year.
That is a big improvement from 2009, when landlord revenues were down 8 percent in Sarasota County.
This…
HOUSE VOTES TO EXTEND HOMEBUYER TAX CREDIT!
Wednesday, June 30th, 2010 at 12:16pm. 50 Views, 0 Comments.
Homebuyers would get an extra three months to complete their purchases and qualify for a generous tax credit under a bill overwhelmingly passed by the House on June 29th. Under current law, homebuyers who signed purchase agreements by April 30 have until Wednesday to close on the sale to qualify for tax credits of up to $8,000. The bill would give buyers until Sept. 30 to complete their purchases.
The extended deadline only applies to people who signed purchase agreements by April 30. The National Association of Realtors estimates that about 180,000 homebuyers who already signed purchase agreements are likely to miss the Wednesday deadline.The bill passed 409-5. It now goes to the Senate, where Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., has sponsored…
HOME BUILDING IS THE STRONGEST IN 18 MONTHS!
Wednesday, May 19th, 2010 at 1:54pm. 87 Views, 0 Comments.
Home construction rebounded last month to the highest level in 18 months as buyers capitalized on tax incentives. But now that those tax credits have expired, builders are scaling back. That means the home-building industry is not likely to contribute as much to the economic recovery. Analysts expect sales to fall this summer as the effect of the tax credits fades.
Mortgage rates have remained near record-low levels, but high unemployment and tight lending standards, combined with the end of the tax credits, will keep a lid on home construction,
The rate of construction of single-family homes and apartment buildings rose 5.8 percent last month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 672,000, the Commerce Department said Tuesday.
That is the highest…
PENDING SALES OF HOMES UP IN MARCH 2010!
Wednesday, May 5th, 2010 at 1:40pm. 83 Views, 0 Comments.
The number of buyers who signed contracts to buy homes surged more than expected in March, another sign that government incentives are propelling the housing market this spring.
The National Association of Realtors said Tuesday its seasonally adjusted index of sales agreements for previously occupied homes rose 5.3 percent from a month earlier to a reading of 102.9. Pending sales also have been rising in Southwest Florida. In the territory covered by the Sarasota Association of Realtors, for example, pending sales stood at 1,060 in March, or about 30 percent higher than the same month a year earlier, when they were at 817.
Pending sales surged by 13 percent in the South, 2 percent in the West and 1 percent in the Midwest. They fell 3.3 percent in the…
Certified Luxury Specialist Website Updated!
Sunday, May 2nd, 2010 at 6:34pm. 77 Views, 0 Comments.
Looking for a broker or an agent who specializes in Luxury or Waterfront Homes. The International Luxury Real Estate Association has updated their website at http://www.CertifiedLuxurySpecialist.com
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