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By DUANE MARSTELLER - dmarsteller@bradenton.com Buzz up!
MANATEE — A little-known agency is looking for some prospective homebuyers in Manatee County who need to borrow money.
Using proceeds from a $16.6 million bond issue, the Housing Finance Authority of Manatee County said Wednesday it wants to help qualifying residents finance their home purchases. Continue reading ‘Little-known program helps home-buyers’
TAMPA, Fla. – Jan. 26, 2010 – Federal tax credits for homebuyers have certainly boosted the Tampa Bay area real estate market.
The incentives have prompted nervous buyers to get off the fence, and that has helped the area shed thousands of homes from the region’s inventory of unsold properties.
But as these buyers prepare to cash in on their purchases by filing their tax returns, many are finding they may not qualify after all or don’t know how to file. Continue reading ‘Homebuyer Tax Credit, A Clarification’
INFO THAT HITS US WHERE WE LIVE
Our hearts go out to the people of Haiti recovering from the terrible tragedy of last Tuesday’s earthquake. We know everyone’s thoughts are with the Haitians. It has been inspiring to see the American people support the relief efforts in so many ways.
Last week, housing market news was thin on the ground. It was good to see that fixed-rate mortgage rates dropped again, according to Freddie Mac’s weekly survey of conforming mortgages, which came out Thursday. The report was accompanied by encouraging words from Freddie Mac’s chief economist Frank Nothaft, who said: “The Federal Reserve recently reported positive news in both the housing market and the overall state of the economy in its January 13 regional economic report….Economic activity improved in 10 of its 12 districts. Home sales…increased due in part to the home-buyer tax credit and house prices appeared to have changed little since its last report.” The bottom in home pricing appears to have formed in many areas of the country. Continue reading ‘Manatee County Real Estate, Week in Review: Jan 18′
INFO THAT HITS US WHERE WE LIVE It was reported last week that Pending Home Sales (contracts on existing homes) fell 16% in November, not at all surprising since buyers expected the $8,000 tax credit to expire at the end of October. This artificially boosted contract signings for August-October and artificially depressed them for November. Still, November pending sales were higher than at any time from mid-2007 to mid-2009. Continue reading ‘Bradenton Real Estate, Week in Review: Jan 11′
INFO THAT HITS US WHERE WE LIVE
Last Tuesday the Case-Shiller Home Price Index for 20 cities came in UP a seasonally adjusted 0.4% for October. This was the fifth consecutive monthly increase for the index. Year-over-year, prices are still down 7.3%, but that’s a less steep rate of decline than we’ve been seeing.
It looks like home prices could be stabilizing, though well below their peaks in most markets. This price decline, plus the dramatic drop in mortgage rates, have made homes more affordable than they’ve been in a long time. A writer for the Wall Street Journal compared home price index values, mortgage rates and average weekly earnings going back to 1987. The finding? On average, housing is as affordable now as it was in the mid-1990’s, when homes were a real steal. Of course, this conclusion is based on average prices, so affordability may be greater or less in individual markets. Continue reading ‘Bradenton Real Estate, Week in Review: Jan 4′
INFO THAT HITS US WHERE WE LIVE
Last week presented us with divergent housing news. First, November Existing Home Sales came in UP 7.4%, at an annual rate of 6.54 million. This was way ahead of estimates and a 44.1% sales jump over a year ago. We had increases in all regions of the country, all due to single-family homes.
The median price went up to $172,600, down 4.3% from a year ago, but a big improvement from January, when prices were off 17.5% from the prior year. The supply declined to 6.5 months, as inventories fell to 3.52 million, their lowest level since December 2006. In the past three months, Existing Home Sales are up 28.5%. One more sign of housing market recovery came in a report that prices for homes financed with conforming mortgages increased 0.6% in October. Continue reading ‘Manatee County Real Estate, Week in Review: December 28′
Manatee County, Florida has just released funds to help people with down payment assitance for the purchase of a home. The funds will be distributed to qualified home buyers with a sales contract on a first come, first serve basis. Continue reading ‘Manatee County Bond Program with Down Payment Assitance’
FL Broker #CQ1003173. 7411 Manatee Avenue W Suite 100 Bradenton, FL 34209
Fax: 941-761-0150  An Equal Housing Opportunity Realtor®
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