How to make informed decisions when buying a home-Tampa, Fl

Gaylord: Know Your MarketNAR President

Richard Gaylord says consumers need to understand what’s going on in their own area. “There is no such thing as a national housing market – it doesn’t perform like the equities markets,” he says. “What’s really important for consumers is to make informed decisions based on individual needs, desires, and timelines in a given area.

Most people plan to stay in a home for 10 years, and for buyers with a long-term view, housing is an excellent investment.”Typical sellers purchased their home six years ago, with the median price in the third quarter of 2001 at $159,100.

Despite the dip in the national median price over the past year, the median increase in value for home sellers who bought six years ago is 38.8 percent. “Nearly every market is showing positive long-term gains, with a home equity accumulation of $61,700 over the past six years for a typical U.S. home owner,” Gaylord says.

Even in most of the places that are undergoing a large price decline, like Tampa, Florida, a long-term increases are quite respectable, he says. For example, the Sarasota area of Florida is showing a median rise in home value of $112,000 over the typical holding period, and ranks well above norm for overall gains.”

To find a Realtor in your area who can provide you with a detailed comparable market analysis contact us or visit http://www.tampabaydwellings.com/

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Home prices falling at record pace in August-Best Time To Buy

ECONOMIC REPORT
Home prices falling at record pace in August
Down 4.4% over the past year in 20 major cities, Case-Shiller says
By Rex Nutting, MarketWatch
Last Update: 11:29 AM ET Oct 30, 2007

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) - The 13-month-long decline in home prices in 20 major U.S. cities accelerated in August, with prices dropping a record 0.7% in the month, according to the Case-Shiller price index released Tuesday by Standard & Poor's Corp.
Prices were down 4.4% in the past year, the fastest decline in the seven-year history of the 20-city index. In the original 10-city index, prices have fallen 5% in the past year, the biggest decline since 1991.

"The fall in home prices is showing no real signs of a slowdown or turnaround," said Robert Shiller, co-creator of the index and chief economist for MacroMarkets, in a release. Read more.
"With supply overhang growing and mortgage financing tougher to obtain, home prices are going to soften considerably further in the quarters ahead," wrote Joshua Shapiro, chief U.S. economist for MFR Inc. The last time prices fell so much, it took more than eight years for home prices to return to their peak level.

In a separate report, the Conference Board said consumer confidence fell to its lowest level in two years in October, with consumers more pessimistic about job growth and less inclined to buy homes or major appliances. See full story.

The Case-Shiller index, which tracks multiple sales of the same homes, is considered by many observers to be the best gauge of national and metropolitan-area real-estate values.
Falling prices make it more difficult for homeowners to tap the equity in their homes or refinance their mortgages. Millions of homeowners who took out adjustable-rate loans in 2005 and 2006 face sharply higher mortgage payments this year and next, with foreclosures having already soared as the result of payment resets.

The biggest declines are the Rust Belt and in the former boom towns along the coasts. Prices are up in the Pacific Northwest and in areas of the South, but they're rising at a slower pace.
Prices could fall much further. In a separate report, analysts at Goldman Sachs figured that prices in California are about 35% to 40% overvalued, compared with past relationships between home prices and income growth. The median sales price of a home in California was $589,000 in August, Goldman said, but should be around $375,000, they said.

In the Case-Shiller index, fifteen of the 20 cities tracked in the index have seen prices fall in the past year, led by Tampa, Fla., with a 10.1% decline, followed by Detroit with a 9.3% loss. Indeed, eight of the 20 cities recorded their largest-ever year-over-year price declines in August.

Detroit had held the top spot for price declines among the 20 cities in previous months. A year ago, prices in Tampa had been rising at an annual rate of 14.3%.

Prices were up in five cities, led by Seattle with a 5.7% increase and Charlotte, N.C., with 5.6%. After adjusting for inflation of 2.4% in the past year, real prices were up in just three of 20 cities.
Here are the year-over-year nominal price changes for the 20 cities covered by the index:
Tampa, down 10.1%; Detroit, down 9.3%: San Diego, down 8.3%; Phoenix, down 8%; Miami, down 7.8%; Las Vegas, down 7.6%; Washington, D.C., down 7.2%; Los Angeles, down 5.7%; San Francisco, down 4.2%; Cleveland, down 4.1%; Minneapolis, down 4%; New York, down 3.8%; Boston, down 3.6%; Chicago, down 1.3%; Denver, down 0.4%; Dallas, up 0.5%; Atlanta, up 0.8%; Portland, Ore., up 2.8%; Charlotte, up 5.6%; and Seattle, up 5.7%.

Rex Nutting is Washington bureau chief of MarketWatch.

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Housing Trends-Best Places For Real Estate Deals

Hello,
This was on Forbes.com today and thought it was a very encouraging article for the Tampa area.

Towers of Channelside

Home sales have sunk to their lowest levels since 2001. Investors are jumping ship, foreclosures are mounting and lenders are exercising caution.

Still, there are areas of the county where it makes sense for some to buy. That's because, in a market slump, sellers eager to unload their homes often accept less money from buyers. New construction also slows. Both bode well for those hoping to score a deal--if the market in which they are buying is expected to experience increased sales.

To find such places, we paired with Moody's Economy.com to research current home sales patterns and sales projections in the country's 40 biggest real estate markets. Based on models that estimated 2008 housing inventory, sales rates and turnover, we arrived at a list of markets that are experiencing price stalls or declines, but where over the coming year are expected to provide deals for buyers.

Tampa and Miami--are expecting to see significant pickups in sales activity, according to Moody's, and therefore become better buyers' markets because of a relatively lower risk.

But economists caution that while over the next year the dust may settle in these 10 spots, buyers should be prepared for future swings. This is especially true in the case of riskier markets like Orlando and Las Vegas, where the expected increase in sales volume and housing turnover doesn't necessarily mean that the price trough is imminent.

"Housing market activity revives when house prices decline sufficiently to restore housing affordability and entice buyers to step up and make a purchase," says Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody's Economy.com. "Some markets are already approaching those price points, in many others prices will have to decline much more to get to that point."

If you are in the market to purchase a home please feel free to contact us or visit http://www.tampabaydwellings.com/ to search listings in all of Tampa Bay.


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Survey reveals 49% of consumers say right now is the time to buy!

Tampa Bay Business Journal - August 17, 2007
by Michael Hinman
Staff Writer

More than half of the homeowners in the Tampa Bay region feel that this is as good a time as any to buy a new home, but getting them to buy is a different story.

Sales for existing homes continue to decline as much as 35 percent in the area while median prices are dropping just 6 percent according to the Florida Association of Realtors. However, a new survey from Attorney's Title Insurance Fund says many potential buyers are waiting to see how the currently volatile market will play out.

"I've had a couple of people tell me that they are going to wait to see what happens next year," said Rae Catanese, a Real Estate Agent with Prudential Tropical Realty in South Tampa. "With as many homes that are on the market right now, I think there has just been too much bad publicity lately about the market and people are scared of the unknown."

Harris Interactive conducted the housing survey on behalf of the Insurance Fund in June, asking more than 1,400 homeowners in Florida their thoughts on the current housing market.

Some 49 percent in the Tampa area said right now is a good time to buy a house or condominium compared to 42 percent last year. However, just 25 percent of those respondents said they intend to buy a home themselves in the next two years.

A January report by the Greater Tampa Association of Realtors said available inventory in the area had doubled since the beginning of 2006 and that an increased inventory played into lower prices.

Buyers waiting for larger drops may be missing an opportunity. Lawrence Yun, a senior economist with the National Association of Realtors, said new construction has been drastically reduced, causing existing home median prices to actually rise nearly 2 percent nationwide by early next year.


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Home Prices Expected to Recover in 2008-Tampa, Fl

Home Prices Expected to Recover in 2008 As Inventories Decline Says NAR Wednesday, July 11, 2007 -

Home prices are expected to recover in 2008 with existing-home sales picking up late this year and new-home sales rising early next year, according to the latest forecast by the National Association of Realtors®.

Lawrence Yun, NAR senior economist, said a good buyers’ market has evolved. “Buyers now have an overwhelming advantage given the wide selection of homes available in many markets,” he said. “But with profit margins coming under pressure, homebuilders will limit new construction well into 2008.

This should help the overall inventory level to move steadily into a more balanced state.”

Existing-home sales are expected to total 6.11 million this year and 6.37 million in 2008, down from 6.48 million last year. New-home sales are projected at 865,000 in 2007 and 878,000 next year, compared with 1.05 million in 2006. Housing starts, including multifamily units, are forecast at 1.43 million units this year and 1.44 million in 2008, down from 1.80 million last year.Existing-home prices are likely to rise 1.8 percent to a median of $222,700 in 2008 after a 1.4 percent decline this year to $218,800.

The median new-home price should rise 2.2 percent to $222,700 next year following a 2.6 percent drop in 2007 to $240,100.“Markets that sharply reduce new construction in 2007 will generally experience respectable price increases in 2008,” Yun said. “Local conditions vary considerably, but with historically low mortgage interest rates this summer and sustained job gains, it could be a good time for first-time buyers with a long-term view to test the housing waters.”

Inflation, as measured by the Consumer Price Index, is projected at 2.6 percent in 2007, down from 3.2 percent last year. Inflation-adjusted disposable personal income should rise 3.0 percent this year, up from a 2.6 percent gain in 2006.

Originator Times, a BEXT Inc. publication http://originatortimes.com/ Copyright 2006 BEXT Inc. All Rights Reserved

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