BY STEPHEN OHLEMACHER
Associated Press
Senators agreed Wednesday to extend a popular tax credit for first-time home buyers and to offer a reduced credit to some repeat buyers.
The tax credit provides up to $8,000 to first-time home buyers but is set to expire at the end of November. The Commerce Department said Wednesday that new home sales fell 3.6 percent in September, and some industry representatives blamed uncertainty about the tax credit. Continue reading ‘Senators agree to extend first-time homebuyer tax credit’
INFO THAT HITS US WHERE WE LIVE
The week ended with the terrific news that Existing Home Sales shot UP 9.4% in September to a 5.57 million annual rate. This was almost twice the increase the consensus expected and a nice boost coming off the slight drop we saw in August. Best of all, the inventory is now down to a 7.8 month supply, getting us closer and closer to the 6-month level of a normal housing market.
Earlier in the week, Housing Starts for September were UP 0.5% to an annual rate of 590,000 units. The consensus expected more, but the drag on the number all came from a drop in those volatile multi-unit starts. Single-family starts were up a strong 3.9%, their sixth gain in the last seven months and UP 40.3% since the January-February bottom. The rate of building is well below underlying demand, which some put at about 1.6 million units per year, based on population growth and the need for replacement because of fires, disasters and knock-downs. Continue reading ‘Week in Review: October 26′
MIAMI – Oct. 20, 2009 – Even after years of sinking real estate prices, thousands of South Florida property owners are fighting to further deflate the values of their homes and businesses.
Appeals of property values used for tax assessments are rising in Palm Beach, Broward and Miami-Dade counties as owners try to cut tax bills during a dreary economy. Deadlines for appealing property taxes have passed, though there are some exceptions. Continue reading ‘Property tax appeals rise during economic decline’
MIAMI – Oct. 21, 2009 – Commercial real estate vacancy rates in Florida have followed the state unemployment rate upward as it doubled in two years. But empty spaces and falling rental rates aren’t why there’s talk of a coming bust in commercial real estate. Continue reading ‘Commercial: Is the other shoe dropping?’
While obstacles to short sales remain, real estate practitioners say the process is becoming more efficient. Rather than waiting six months or more to push through a deal, agents say banks are more willing to negotiate prices up front.
“My gut feeling is that short sales seem to be the preferred avenue for distressed property now,” says Cindi Hagley of San Ramon, Calif.-based Windermere Welcome Home. “It’s cheaper for [banks] to do a short sale than go all the way to foreclosure.” Continue reading ‘Fewer Short Sales Come Up Short’
Buyers who are considering the purchase of a condominium should inspect the health of the home owner’s association before they close.
The seller should provide the buyer all financial documents relating to the association in time for an attorney for the buyer to review them before closing.
Here’s some advice from Leonard Baron, professor of finance at San Diego State University, about the information that the seller should consider:
- Does the association budget include money for operating expenses such as water, lights, elevator maintenance, and landscaping?
- Is there extra money set aside in a reserve fund for long-term maintenance? If there is an outside reserve study, that should be provided. If not, there should be adequate money in the reserves right now to cover 50 percent of the estimated cost of repairs over the next 30 years.
- Do the condo’s expenses exceed revenues due to a high foreclosure rate or other reasons that owners’ debts go unpaid?
- If there is a shortfall, does the association have a plan besides cutting back on services for making it up?
Source: The Wall Street Journal, June Fletcher (10/17/2009)
INFO THAT HITS US WHERE WE LIVE
For the third week in a row, rates on 30-year fixed-rate mortgages remained below 5% in Freddie Mac’s Primary Mortgage Market Survey. The average for conforming mortgages was 4.92% with an average of 0.7 point (including the origination fee) for 80% loan-to-value ratio loans to borrowers with good credit.
The Mortgage Bankers Association reported applications down 1.8% for the week, although re-financings were up, as more people took advantage of historically low mortgage rates. The MBA also projected double-digit growth for home sales next year. They see 2010 existing home sales up 11.2% to 5.57 million and new home sales up a healthy 21% from 2009 levels. Another encouraging stat came from the National Association of Realtors which reported 3.6 million existing homes for sale at the end of August, nicely down from 4.3 million 12 months ago. Continue reading ‘Week in Review: October 19′
Trulia.com has the worst customer service of any of the major real estate web sites. The only way I have found to get an actual living, breathing human being on the phone is to call their sales department and ask the salesman to pass along my complaint/question/concern.
It figures that the money-making arm of trulia would be the only one which answers the phone… This is why people hate you, Trulia.com. If so many home buyers did not go to your site I would cease doing business with you.
FL Broker #CQ1003173. 7411 Manatee Avenue W Suite 100 Bradenton, FL 34209
An Equal Housing Opportunity Realtor®