Housing News that Jensen Beach Homeowners Have Been Waiting For

08.09.15 by

Housing News that Jensen Beach Homeowners Have Been Waiting For jensen beach fl real estate

For Jensen Beach homeowners, the news was a long time coming. The bounce back from last decade’s dizzying plummet in the nation’s residential housing values has been underway for quite a while now—but those values hadn’t quite returned to their former heights.

Until last month!

The Wall Street Journal was early to break the long-awaited headline, “Existing-Home Prices Hit Record: $236,400.” Using just-released June sales numbers, the Journal reported that the nation’s average housing prices now topped the previous high water mark set in 2006. It meant that a lot of paper losses have been obliterated—and the return of full nights’ sleep for many U.S. homeowners who have long been underwater.

Another aspect of June’s housing report card could also ease nerves on a wider scale. USA Today led with it: “Existing homes were sold at the fastest pace in eight years…” It quoted the NAR’s Lawrence Yun as pronouncing this year’s spring buying season “the strongest since the economic turndown.”

That’s where the current housing market profile seems to differ in kind from the previous peak of $230,400, registered in July 2006. That mark was reached after sales volume had started to fall. Prices then followed, starting with a slow decline that continued until the spring of 2008, when the slump became a nosedive—unleashing the subprime mortgage crisis. The “bubble” of unsupported high prices had burst.

There was more glad tidings in last week’s news, as well. U.S. home builder confidence levels hit its highest mark in “nearly a decade” (WSJ). A rise in demand for apartment housing caused a jump of 9.8% in housing starts.

But the biggest news was the existing-home price rise, reported as having “rocketed” 35% since 2011, “benefiting current homeowners by giving them an opportunity to trade up to better homes or sell and cash out.” That’s the kind of spur that can stimulate the entire housing market.

With one economist (Andrew Hunter of Capital Economics) quoted as saying “the housing recovery has shifted into a higher gear,” it wasn’t surprising that other analysts were in agreement. “Don’t Laugh” read one headline from international observer Quartz.com; “the U.S. housing market is the best story in the global economy right now.” Reuters agreed about the implications. Their headline: “Strong U.S. housing data boosts dollar.”

Jensen Beach residents don’t have to be global investors to take advantage of this summer’s values. A simple call to my office is all it takes to get things started!

Housing News that Jensen Beach Homeowners Have Been Waiting For

Putting Stuart Real Estate Prices in Perspective

05.30.15 by

Putting Stuart Real Estate Prices in Perspective

 Prices?

Whenever you are getting ready to buy or sell a residence, taking the temperature of the local housing market is part of how you prepare to engage. When Stuart real estate prices are on the rise, bargain hunters know they’ll have to scramble. When Stuart real estate prices are flat or on the downturn, spotting good value in the local listings is easier. A slow market means that those sellers who are impatient to move on will be willing to reduce their asking price. They will tend to “find the market” more quickly, rather than waiting it out.

Our Martin County real estate prices are seldom in exact lockstep with the national market—but when it moves, the impact is felt sooner or later. Of all the national barometers that are out there, the pre-eminent one is the research done by under the Case-Shiller banner.

At the end of last month, the latest S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Index again confirmed the uptrend we’ve been seeing for nearly 3 years now. No surprise there: nationally, residential real estate prices continued to rise at the moderate clip that we’ve grown accustomed to. The only standouts were in the 20-City Composite (the single month rise of .5% was the largest increase since July) and in Denver and Dallas—both of which have now actually surpassed the peaks registered at the height of the real estate price bubble (which might have Coloradans and Texans wondering if it was a bubble at all)…

But what was unusually interesting were some observations published at the end of the Case-Shiller report, in the Analysis section. It noted that the data marked the 34th consecutive month of year-over-year price gains, and that home real estate prices “continue to rise and outpace both inflation and wage gains.” It pointed out that, nationally, average residential real estate prices are within 10% of the “housing boom peak.” And then it came up with an insight that puts things in perspective in a way that hasn’t appeared elsewhere. This by S&P Dow Jones Index Chairman David Bitzer:

“A better sense of where home prices are can be seen by starting in January 2000, before the housing boom accelerated…”

Looking at inflation-adjusted numbers, the latest U.S. real estate prices as registered in the Index rose just a touch under 30% from January 2000 to February 2015. In other words, when you remove the whole statistical bulge—the “bubble” phenomenon—out of the picture, residential real estate prices have risen at an annual 1.7% rate. That’s real appreciation, adjusted for inflation. Slow—but “steady as she goes!”…and for the past three years or so, it’s more than doubled that long-term gain.

Stuart homeowners whose stress levels went up and down with the extreme price rise and fall would have been a lot more comfortable had they just snoozed through the whole affair, confident that the long-term history of real estate demonstrates, as the name implies, just about the most ‘real’ investment you can make.

When you get ready to take a look at the residential market, I hope you will want to give me the first call. I’ll share the latest up-to-the-minute info on Stuart real estate prices and activity that will put everything into meaningful perspective!

 Putting Stuart Real Estate Prices in Perspective

Palm Beach County, Florida, 2nd Quarter 2012 Real Estate Summary

06.01.12 by

Palm Beach County, Florida, 2nd Quarter 2012 Real Estate Summary

1. What’s Happening?

I’m seeing continued improvement in the real estate market. Still nothing to get over-excited about. Kind of like an F student getting a D+. It’s better but not a cause for celebration.

2. Prices

Home prices are going up. The average price per square foot was $156 in March versus $147 in February.

3. Sales

Sales were up in March (1,071) compared to February (1,002). However, they were down compared to last year at this time (1,223).

4. Buyers: Who’s buying? First-timers, mover-uppers, downsizers, foreign buyers, or other?

Inventory is moving fast in the $200,000 to $400,000 category (8.7 months worth of inventory), and slowest in the $1,000,000 market (34.8 months of inventory). However, both categories are going down regardless.

5. Distressed Properties

Short sale inventory is stable but foreclosure inventory is rising. I’m also seeing the first beginnings of the end of the short sale. I lost a deal with a purchasing client on a deal because the court and bank would not stop a short sale and the property went to auction. Have 2 other properties where the auction process has started. Part of the reason banks have wanted to short sell is they have been waiting for 3 years on average in Florida to foreclose! Homeowners have been basically living rent-free for 3 or 4 years! The party is over as banks are now foreclosing faster. While it’s still advantageous for banks to work out a short sale and avoid the foreclosure costly process, we will see much less of this as that 3-year time table goes down significantly. One investor who purchases lots of short sales told me that he thought there was a 12-month window left for short sales. In 2006, I had no idea what a short sale was, so the rarity of the short sale might be what we are going back to.

6. Financing

My clients are not having that many issues getting loans. It’s just a lot more red tape with more verification (a good thing) and scrutinized appraisals. The short sales are the most difficult because you need to do a double appraisal; one that appraises low (for the 3rd party institution) and the other high for the new lending institution. More on those goofy dynamics below.

Comcast Must Be in the Short-Sale Business

New federal rules that could speed up the short-sale process to within 30 days if the loan is owned by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac should be taking place by June. To that I say there is a better chance of my cable company getting their customer service act together. It’s just not going to happen. Cable missed 4 appointments with us last week. They have this automated system that confirms appointments. Twice the automated system never called. Once it did, but I picked it up in a middle of a message, and another time I missed the call by a minute. Only after a call to my HOA and the threat of losing 640 homes, did the account representative make it happen. Short-sales are like our cable company only far worse.

The loan company won’t verify the price until an offer is received, paperwork goes from one department to another and instead of using licensed appraisers, and the lien holder gets a broker’s opinion. While this saves them hundreds of dollars, the broker has to do huge volume and cover a vast territory. I had one house recently that the broker told me he does 60+ “broker opinions a day” and goes from Miami to Orlando. That’s crazy, as you can’t be an expert for the whole state. He also thought there were 3 baths where the house only had 2½ baths. Further to complicate things, the house has to appraise in order to get the price low enough so the lien holder knows they aren’t giving it away. On the flip side, you hope it appraises high when the buyer’s mortgage company appraises it for sale. Furthermore, with some institutions, if a buyer walks, they start the whole process all over again. The lien holder has to be incurring a ridiculous amount of costs holding the note and analyzing each short sale. What really should be done on short sales is that prices should be set before they go on the market like a foreclosure. Those prices should be good for 3 months. If they really analyzed it, they probably would be better off foreclosing on the house because the time and energy to handle the short sale has to be enormous. Fortunately, the red tape in the court system is speeding up and short sales may be passé in a year or two. Until then, maybe the lien holders should do like me and order Direct-TV.

This is a guest post from Jeff Lichtenstein who specializes in luxury real estate in Singer Island oceanfront condos and  Jupiter real estate in South Florida.  His website is at www.JeffRealty.com