Wednesday, March 31, 2010

New rules may help short sales

There are a lot of acronyms being thrown around in the attempts to help the short sale market.

The main one short sale sellers should pay attention to in April is HAFA, Home Affordable Foreclosure Alternative.

There are bunch of rules that go with this program but in a nutshell it is apparently designed to speed up the short sale process.

Lenders who are participate in this program will have weeks not months to respond to an offer.

It is supposed to help pay second mortgage holders and help out the homeowner in getting their home sold.

According to what I have read this is not for investment homes rather primary residence and the sellers are going to have to meet a bunch of requirements. Plus the lender will have to have signed on to this federal program.

It may all sound to good to be true. The program like others in this vain may need tweaking.

The good news is that between the federal government and the lenders there appears to be a concerted effort to get the housing crisis behind us.

All the best
Greg Owens P.A.
Realtor
Certified Distressed Property Expert (CDPE)
Keller Williams On the Water
941.932.6343
greg@teamworksfla.com
www.teamworksfla.com

The inevitable has happened


It was bound to happen even in the hardest hit housing markets.

Prices are starting to inch upwards.

According to the Stander & Poor's/Case Schiller 20-city home price index prices rose .3 percent in the seasonally adjusted rate from December to January.

The index doesn't track Sarasota and Manatee but for the Tampa area there was a .5 percent increase according to an article in the Sarasota Herald Tribune.

We have been talking about price stabilization for months in our area. The next step is price increases.

The higher end homes for sale are starting to feel a dramatic impact of price drops while the more affordable homes are seeing stablization and probably the first signs of potential price increase since the bubble burst.

This doesn't mean anyone who bought during the height of the market will soon be getting back their investment but it can mean those who bought before the frenzy could see an increased return on their homes.

It could take years to recover back almost a decade in price increases. The slope downward appears to have stopped and that climb may have begun.

All the best
Greg Owens P.A.
Keller Williams On the Water
941.932.6343
greg@teamworksfla.com
www.teamworksfla.com

Friday, March 19, 2010

Beach me

Is our market recovering? Sure.

Will it be a while? Definitely. Probably a year just to start seeing an increase in prices of any note.

Are people still going to move here. You bet.

The latest information out is that Florida is back in the positive column for migration to the state.

You live in my area on the Gulf Coast right now and it seems a Florida licence plate is a rarity.

New York, Michigan, Ontario, Quebec, Nova Scotia, well you get the picture.

A strong Canadian dollar, lower prices, make our area pretty attractive.

Will people keep retiring in our community? Go out to Anna Maria Island or Longboat Key and walk the beach. Enjoy the cool breeze and sunshine. You know the answer.

Just beach me.

All the best
Greg Owens P.A.
Keller Williams On The Water
941.932.6343
greg@teamworksfla.com
www.teamworksfla.com

Short sale delays may turn a corner

Like many areas Sarasota/Manatee counties are deluged with short sales.

Short sales for the longest time have meant short on money long on time. We are talking months and months and months of waiting. Few buyers are willing to wait that long.

Think of the extent of the problem last month in Manatee County 52 percent of home sales were distress sales, which means foreclosures or short sales. This is not going away anytime soon.

So the problem is how do lenders shorten up the process?

Well Bank of America for example and others have recently turned over their short sales to a system called Equator. This software, real people, short sale system is supposed to speed up the approval process somewhere between 30 and 45 days.

This would be a vast improvement. If it works short sales could soon be a lot more attractive to buyers who don't want to wait months or possibly a year or more for a response.

All the best
Greg Owens P.A.
Keller Williams On The Water
941.932.6343
greg@teamworksfla.com
www.teamworksfla.com

Monday, March 01, 2010

Our community

One role of real estate agents here is to play tour guide with our buyers.

A lot of people come here knowing they want to live in Bradenton or Sarasota but they don't know where.

Just the other day I took another agent out to show them the highlights of our community.

Good shopping. The Ellenton Outlet Mall. Bonus it has an ice arena nearby. Throw in a couple of champion figure skaters who practice there.

Great biking and nature trails. Easy. Emerson Point park and DeSoto Park the islands. Views of Tampa Bay, the Gulf of Mexico, Sunshine Skyway Bridge are added value.

Great beaches. No problem. Anna Maria Island, Siesta Key, Longboat Key, miles and miles of sand.

Good restaurants. Everywhere. On the water and off the water. You can dine and watch a sunset at the same time from the Manatee River to Sarasota Bay.

Recreation. Well there isn't a marina on every corner but it sure seems like it. Ditto for Golf courses and tennis courts.

You get the idea. You drive around our community and remember it has so much to offer.

All the best
Greg Owens P.A.
Keller Williams On The Water
941.932.6343
greg@teamworksfla.com
www.teamworksfla.com

Season is almost over

In our great communities of Manatee and Sarasota counties we have a home selling season.

Call it tourist season, snowbird season whatever you like.

If you are selling a home the watershed time period is between Thanksgiving and Easter.

This is when the flocks of people come down from up north to the somewhat warmer climate.

Many with dreams of getting there Florida dream home for retirement or future vacations.

But that season is quickly coming to a close.

For sellers out there it is time to get your home on the market if you want to sell it this season.

Within the next couple of weeks buyers from up north will be putting pen to paper and purchasing their slice of paradise.

If you are not on the market now they may never know what they missed.

All the best
Greg Owens P.A.
Keller Williams On The Water
941.932.6343
greg@teamworksfla.com
www.teamworksfla.com

Time to looking at moving up

We all know that our market from Sarasota to Longboat Key, Lakewood Ranch to Anna Maria Island has taken a big hit in prices over the past couple of years.

That is the past now we need to start looking at the future.

For the moment lets just say prices have hit bottom for housing in our market. Some may argue yes or no for various reasons but the fact we are seeing a steady increase in sales and less price depreciation gives us at least a murky bottom.

What that means for the home sellers who are not underwater (owe more than their home is worth) it really is time to start thinking about the move up market.

A couple of quick reasons.

The number of homes for sale on the market is down, about 24 percent in January year over year for Manatee and 29 percent for Sarasota. Less inventory means less choice for buyers and more opportunities for sellers.

Mortgage rates are at historic lows. Think early 1970s lows. A lot of people have never seen mortgage rates this low.

Your buying power has increased. The price of homes has dropped significantly. That mansion on the water that was unattainable before may actually be in your budget now.

A few years from now I am sure many people will be looking back and saying I could have bought that house for (fill in the blank) and kicking themselves for not doing it.

If you can sell your home now and make money the buy on the other side can be that dream home that you couldn't afford before.

All the best
Greg Owens P.A.
941.932.6343.
greg@teamworksfla.com
www.teamworksfla.com

Canada vs USA

We recently returned from our annual Keller Williams Realty Family Reunion.

Think of this as a high powered education conference where they give you a fire hose full of information to digest over a four day period.

About 7,500 agents come out with a dazed look of wow and enough information to digest for months to come.

One of the intriguing parts was an analysis of the U.S. housing market versus the Canadian.

Canada right now is touted at having the most secure financial system in the world.

The banks did not do exotic loans and regulators kept a close eye on the banking system.

The U.S., well we know what happened down here.

Why is this important.

Canada's housing market is continuing to climb with prices going up and a steady growth, not a boom but a steady growth.

Our market in the boom areas, such as Bradenton/Sarasota saw a skyrocket rise in housing prices and roller coaster ride to the bottom.

Keeping a tighter reign on financing is going to be key to avoiding the roller coaster and enjoying a pleasant smooth upward trend.

Greg Owens P.A.
Keller Williams On The Water
9541.932.6343
greg@teamworksfla.com
www.teamworksfla.com

Market check

Looking at the market figures for January of 2010 gives you a bit of hope.

For single family homes in Manatee County you are looking at a 42.5 percent increase in pending sales. In real numbers that is 416 homes going under contract compared to 292 the year before according to Trendgraphix.

What is also interesting is there was a 24.4 percent drop in the number of homes on the market for sale, 2909 versus 3847 the year before.

There are several reasons for the upswing in the market but the key one can be broken down.

First, mortgage rates are at a historical low which means the buying power is greater for those who have the credit and cash to buy.

Secondly, prices have dropped on average well below the 200k mark which means first time home buyers can get into the market.

First time home buyers nationally are helping to drive the market up. The above combinations are making it attractive for them to get into the real estate market.

The tax credit has helped but the economics of lower prices and great mortgage rates is fueling the fire.

All the best
Greg Owens P.A.
941.932.6343
greg@teamworksfla.com
www.teamworksfla.com

Sales, sales everywhere

Nationally sales were down just over 7 percent in January

Here in Manatee/Sarasota counties we were up 30 percent.

The median home price in our area fell slightly.

What does this all mean.

Well it could be attributed to the snowbirds coming to town or just the fact that our prices have come down so far that Florida has become a bargain again.

In the long run we have seen months of continuing strong sales and not a large fluctuation in prices.

All the signs are pointing towards stability in a market that went from red hot, to ice cold and now up to potentially lukewarm.

All the best
Greg Owens P.A.
941.932.6343
greg@teamworksfla.com
www.teamworksfla.com