State of the Current Real Estate Market

Florida State Foreclosure Facts

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Feb 24, 2011 – One media story says foreclosures are up – the next story says foreclosures are down. A report released by Florida Realtors clears up the confusion by explaining the three different levels of foreclosure activity that analysts consider, and listing the state numbers for each during 2010.

“The Florida Foreclosure Report” found general confusion about the definition of foreclosure. One group might focus on the number of homeowners who received at least one notice of foreclosure and consider that “the number of homes in foreclosure.” A second group might focus only on the number of homes actually taken over by a bank. But while the number of foreclosure notices could be rising, the number of homes actually taken over by a bank could be declining.

The report outlines three levels of foreclosure, which added together are the “foreclosure rate”:

• Lis Pendens: Homes under Lis Pendens have received at least one foreclosure notice.

• Notice of foreclosure sale: Homes that received a notice have been scheduled for a foreclosure sale, but the homeowner may still find a way to keep the house.

• Real estate owned (REO): Bank-owned homes post-foreclosure.

In 2010, only 2,800 Florida properties made it through the foreclosure process to become REOs. Of the rest, 180,402 were Lis Pendens and 140,105 received a notice of foreclosure sale. However, the total number of homes in some phase of foreclosure – all three categories – comes out to 323,307 Florida households.

Other report highlights:

• In 2010, 1 in every 29 Florida housing units were in some phase of foreclosure. In 2008, it was only 1 in every 54.

• The top Florida counties for high foreclosure rates are, in order: Lee, Miami-Dade, Osceola, Charlotte and Orange.

• The Florida counties for lowest foreclosure rates are, from least up: Taylor, Union, Jefferson, Lafayette and Liberty.

Tampa FL 50% Homes Sold under $100K

The average sales price for a single family home in Hillsborough County FL in January 2011 was $134,653. This is down almost $20,000 from December 2010. So what drove down the average sales price by $20,000 in Hillsborough County in January 2011?

Almost 50% of the homes that closed in January 2011 were sold below $100,000. I went back to January 2008 and only 13% of the closed homes sold for less than $100,000. This is why the average sales prices is at $134,653

Investors and first time home buyers are attracted to homes under $100,000. When is a great time to buy? Today!

Great End of Year In Riverview Florida

Low home prices and low interest rates are whats driving the great end of year home sales in the Riverview Florida area. Riverview is a suburb of Tampa Florida.

We have seen an increase in investor buyers. They are taking advantage of short sales and bank owned properties.

The real estate market has had a dramatic shift from buyers to renters. This in turn is driving up demand for rental propeties. With families losing their homes to foreclosure they still need a place to live. Single family homes offer a lot more to familes than apartment complexes. Especially, if they have pets.

The real estate market will continue to grow in 2011. First time home buyers are taking advantage of low home prices and mortgage rates. Even boomers are taking advantage of the current real estate market. Investors will continue to buy rental properties because of demand.

When is a great time to buy a home? Today! Remember the old saying, "you snooze you loose"? You don't want to be kicking yourself in the butt because you let opportunity pass you by.

Impact of Loss of Federal Tax Credit

The loss of the Federal Tax Credit for first time buyers and some repeat buyers has had a definite impact on the number of homes going contract in my market area for May 2010. My market area is in the South Shore communities of Hillsborough County Florida. I did the numbers today and contracts for May were down almost 40% from what the were in April. I was hoping that low interest rates and attractive home pricing would compensate for the tax credit. I see now that the tax credit was driving home sales in our market area. Hopefully, the summer selling season will compensate for the loss of tax credit.

Hillsborough County Florida Market Analysis 2000-2010

Hillsborough County Market Analysis 2000 to 2010

Here is a quick snap shot of what the real estate market has been doing in Hillsborough County for the past 10 years.

On the way up, average sales price increased 214%.

On the way down, average sales price decreased 181%

We are experiencing the real estate market of 2002 all over again. This time with short sales and REOs.

We are paying today for the market spike of 2005 and 2006.

By my estimates, if the market never spiked and we continued to grow at a regular rate. Average home sale prices today would be around $190,000.

Fast Facts Foreclosures & Short Sales Tampa-Bay Area

FAST FACTS

Foreclosures & Short Sales

1st Qtr thru May 2010

Over 35% of the homes sold nationally in March 2010 were short sales. NAR

Nationally, 30 day mortgage delinquencies are down 6.57%. That's a drop of about 16,630 delinquent loans and, though modest, it is the first decline in the delinquency rate since early 2006. RealtyTrac

Nationally, Foreclosure filings — default notices, scheduled auctions and bank repossessions — were reported on 333,837 properties in April, a 9 percent decrease from the previous month and a 2 percent decrease from April 2009, according to RealtyTrac’s monthly update.It was the first year-over-year drop since RealtyTrac started tracking foreclosure filings in January 2006.

Florida’s foreclosures fell 18 percent from March and was down 25 percent from April 2009. Despite the improvement, the state still posted the second highest number of foreclosures in the nation, with 48,384 properties receiving a foreclosure filing during the month.

New foreclosure filings April 2010 for; Riverview 216, Brandon 137, Valrico 99, Seffner 44, Apollo Beach 41, Ruskin 39, Lithia 32, Gibsonton 21 and Wimuama 10.

Over 33% of the properties currently listed for sale in the South Shore Area are Short Sales. (Apollo Beach, Gibsonton, Riverview, Ruskin, Sun City and Wimauma Florida). Total Active 1822; Short Sales 604; Bank Owned 60; Traditional/New 1158

Over 24% of the properties that have sold since January 1, 2010 in the South Shore Area were Total Sold 995; Short Sales 247; Bank Owned 136; Traditional/New 612

Over 44% of the properties currently listed for sale in Riverview Florida are Short Sales. Total Active 667; Short Sales 331; Bank Owned 26; Traditional/New 310

Active Listings for Apollo Beach, Brandon, Gibsonton, Lithia, Riverview, Ruskin, Seffner, Sun City, Valrico and Wimauma Florida. Total Active 2966; Short Sales 1035; Bank Owned 115; Traditional/New 1816

Sold Listings since January 1, 2010 for Apollo Beach, Brandon, Gibsonton, Lithia, Riverview, Ruskin, Seffner, Sun City, Valrico and Wimauma Florida. Total Sold 1716; Short Sales 432; Bank Owned 298; Traditional/New 986

The good news is that Traditional/New home sales outnumber Short Sales and Bank Owned in almost all categories.