News: Real Estate News
Pending Home Sales See Biggest Gain in 3 Years
The market is likely to stabilize in the months ahead, according to the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS®' forward-looking indicator on pending home sales.
The Pending Home Sales Index, based on contracts signed in June, was 5 percent higher from the downwardly revised May index of 97.5, but is still 8.6 percent below June 2006 when it stood at 112. The 5 percent monthly gain is the largest in more than three years, since a 6.1 percent increase was recorded in March 2004.
Lawrence Yun, NAR senior economist, says it’s encouraging that the increase occurred in all four major regions of the United States. "However, it is too early to say if home sales have already passed bottom," he says. "Still, major declines in home sales are likely to have occurred already and further declines, if any, are likely to be modest given the accumulating pent-up demand."
The index is a leading indicator for the housing sector, based on pending sales of existing homes. A sale is listed as pending when the contract has been signed but the transaction has not closed.
What Happened Regionally
Read More
Hank Fishkind: Other economists wrong - housing on slow upswing
ORLANDO, Fla. - July 26, 2007 - Economist Hank Fishkind calls other economists' dire warnings and negative news about the housing market overblown, and says that, outside of Miami's condominium market, the state's housing markets hit bottom months ago and are now on a slow return to normalcy.
Fishkind, speaking Tuesday on his radio talk show, pointed to recent stories released by respected economists. Last Friday, for example, Bloomberg news published a story with an ominous headline - "Miami condo glut pushes Florida's economy to brink of recession." It quoted Moody's/Economy.com's Mark Zandi who predicted Miami condo price drops as much as 30 percent and a state recession perhaps by October.
"There is no doubt that the Miami condominium market is severely overbuilt, and that there will be sharp price drops and massive defaults," says Fishkind. "But, this is no surprise to anyone who has followed this market." But, he adds, "It is also important to note that Florida's housing markets, outside of Miami's condo market, have hit bottom months ago. The closing volume for new and for existing homes has stabilized."
Fishkind doesn't predict a huge upswing in closings, but "they are no longer declining. Therefore, we have already seen the worst for this cycle. There is no evidence of sharp price drops anywhere in the state, and there is no reason to expect any such drops outside of Miami condos. Population growth is holding up well as the state continues to attract large volumes of retirees and working families looking for jobs."
Read More
Florida Property Tax Issue
FAR has pledged up to $1 million to support passage of an amendment to reform Save Our Homes. The amendment, which goes before voters Jan. 29, 2008, would allow property owners to continue the 3 percent tax cap they currently enjoy as a result of the 1992 Save Our Homes amendment, or to choose a new "super-homestead" exemption. This option would take up to $195,000 off their home's taxable value - providing meaningful tax relief for thousands of families.
"Passage of this amendment is critical to the future of Florida," says FAR President Nancy Riley. "It will provide first-time homebuyers a large tax exemption. It will begin to equalize property taxes among neighbors. And it will allow the people who are the foundation of our neighborhoods - teachers, nurses, police officers and emergency first responders - to afford to live in the communities they serve.
"It's time to reform Save Our Homes," Riley continues. "We invite other groups to make an investment in Florida's future by supporting this amendment."
©2007 FLORIDA ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS®
Read More
Florida Hurricane Expos
Get ready: The Florida Department of Financial Services (FLDFS) has scheduled a number of hurricane expos around the state, and many are open to the public.
Topics vary for each meeting but focus on hurricane mitigation techniques to boost a home's defenses against a storm, including information about the state's My Safe Florida Home program and defensive moves such as storm shutters and fortified garage doors.
Currently scheduled expos and topics are listed below, but for more information or to see future events, visit the FLDFS Web site at: http://www.fldfs.com/Consumers/consumerOutReach/eventsbycategory.asp.
Crist Signs Home Inspector Licensing Bill
Don't expect quick changes, however. The new law becomes effective July 1, 2010. The three-year gap until implementation gives the Department of Business and Professional Regulation (DBPR) time to create a program for certification, establish licensing fees and draft rules.
The newly signed law, which covers 30 pages and establishes the maximum fees DBPR may charge for applications and renewals. Home inspectors, for example, would pay a maximum of $200 for an initial license fee; and the law requires 14 hours of continuing education every two years and 120 hours of pre-license education.
In creating the bills, the Legislature said it "recognizes that there is a need to require the licensing of home inspectors and to ensure that consumers of home inspection services can rely on the competence of home inspectors, as determined by educational and experience requirements and testing." In 2006, a similar bill, also promoted by FAR, died in committee.
To read SB 2234, go to: http://www.flsenate.gov. On the left side, select 2007 session and search using the bill number.
Read More
Tax-Savings Bill Signed
Crist started his day in Tallahassee this morning signing one bill that forces local governments to cut up to $15 billion in property taxes during the next five years and another that authorizes a special election to ask voters to reform the way primary homes, known as homesteads, are taxed.
At the Tallahassee ceremony, Crist brought along two local residents who could save about $200 this year and potentially could cut their property tax bills by 66 percent next year with the Save Our Homes reform.
In West Palm Beach, Crist's ceremony will include Michael and Jeanette Waddle, who could save $350 this year and about $2,000 with the constitutional amendment.
Crist will also appear with local families at stops in Miami and Tampa later in the day.
Read More
Customers' Coverage Confusion
Even in the shadow of Hurricane Katrina's losses, a survey finds that one-third of today's homeowners believe that flooding is covered under their standard homeowners policy, according to the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC).
In fact, typical property and liability policies don't cover home damage from floods, earthquakes, water line breaks, termites, mold and several other perils, large and small. The survey found that 33 percent of U.S. heads of household, who own a home and have homeowners insurance, incorrectly believe flood damages would be covered by a standard homeowners or property and liability policy, despite extensive media coverage on Hurricane Katrina victims whose claims were denied because they lacked flood insurance.
"Many homeowners learned the hard way that their insurance policies did not provide flood protection," says Walter Bell, NAIC President and Alabama Insurance Commissioner. "As we enter the 2007 hurricane season, we strongly encourage consumers in flood-prone areas to check whether they are properly covered."
The NAIC survey also revealed other homeowner misunderstandings when it comes to common loss situations - none of which are covered by standard homeowners insurance policies - such as:
Read More
Housing Slowdown May Be Over
The worst of the housing slowdown is over, but the nation's economy still faces challenges including rising unemployment and uncertainty over gas prices, University of Central Florida economics professor Sean Snaith
reported this week.
Snaith, director of UCF's Institute of Economic Competitiveness, said in his second quarter U.S. forecast that housing starts will decline in the third quarter and then begin a "slow upward climb through 2009."
Mortgage rates will "creep to 6.9 percent in 2009" and excess supply of homes in many markets will continue to put downward pressure on prices through 2007 and into early 2008.
Read More
