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TALLAHASSEE, Fla. /Florida Newswire/ -– Governor Charlie Crist today met with Florida REALTORS® to discuss Florida’s housing market. Governor Crist encouraged first-time home buyers to take advantage of the tax credit made available through the federal American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. The $8,000 tax credit applies to primary residences as long as they are purchased before December 1, 2009.
“Even though today is Tax Day, first-time Florida home buyers can still claim the tax savings on their 2008 tax return – even if the closing is after today – by requesting an extension or filing an amended return,” Governor Crist said. “Or they can also claim it on 2009 tax return, which will be filed next year. Either way, I encourage Floridians and newcomers to Florida to take advantage of this tax break and bargain prices on Florida real estate.”
Governor Crist also discussed his continued commitment to reduce the tax burden on Florida homeowners and business property owners. He has proposes a set of property-tax reforms that builds upon previous legislation resulting in the largest property tax cut in state history.
The National Association of REALTORS estimates that the impact of the federal economic stimulus package and lower interest rates will result in approximately 900,000 additional home sales in 2009 compared to conditions before the stimulus package. According to Freddie Mac, interest rates for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 4.87 percent for the week of April 9, 2009, down significantly from the average rate of 5.97 percent in March 2008.
According to the Florida Association of REALTORS, Florida’s existing home sales rose in February, making it the sixth consecutive month with an increase in sales activity. Existing home sales rose 20 percent in February 2009 compared to the number of homes sold in February 2008. Statewide, existing condo sales increased 25 percent over the total units sold in January.
About the First-Time Florida Home Buyer Tax Credit
For homes purchased before December 1, 2009, the credit does not have to be paid back unless the home ceases to be the taxpayer’s main residence within a three-year period following the purchase. First-time homebuyers who purchase a home in 2009 can claim the credit on either a 2008 tax return, which are due today, or on a 2009 tax return, due April 15, 2010. If the purchase occurs after April 15, 2009, home buyers can still receive the credit on a 2008 tax return by requesting an extension of time to file or by filing an amended return.
Information about the tax credit for first-time home buyers can be found at www.FlaRecovery.com in the “Tax Relief” section. For more information about Florida’s use of the federal recovery dollars made available through the federal American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, please visit www.FlaRecovery.com
Jason Donn - Real Estate Open Networkers
Sunday, April 19, 2009
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
Housing market on the mend in some cities
After months of bad news there are signs the Twin Cities housing market is recovering, but a lot depends on where you live.
We learned on Friday that home sales jumped 21 percent in March thanks to low interest rates and tax breaks, but some communities are more active than others.
Todd Shipman recently sold his home near Lake Calhoun for nearly $900,000, but he says the lower of the market is where the real boom is happening.
"The first-time home buyer credit of $8,000 is really fueling the fire," Shipman said.
Home prices have dropped in part because of foreclosure sales. Interest rates have dropped to historic lows. All those factors combined to spike a 21 percent increase in home sales in March 2009 compared to March 2008.
But it's still hard to say whether sold signs are the new sign of the times or just a temporary rebound.
"As with any market rebound, there are gainers and losers," Shipman said.
Brooklyn Center saw a 184 percent increase. Brooklyn Park is up 57 percent. St. Paul is up 32 percent and Minneapolis up 10 percent. Many of those sales have been sparked by first-time home buyers and foreclosure sales.
On the other hand, other suburbs are not seeing a big rebound. Minnetonka is up just two percent and Edina is down two percent. Eagan is down 21 percent and Waconia down 51 percent.
Shipman says some of that is because there's a migration back to the core cities.
In terms of home prices, the median sales price of all homes was down 23 percent from a year ago, but that's skewed heavily by so many foreclosure sales. The sales price involving just traditional home sales was down just two percent.
Jason Donn
We learned on Friday that home sales jumped 21 percent in March thanks to low interest rates and tax breaks, but some communities are more active than others.
Todd Shipman recently sold his home near Lake Calhoun for nearly $900,000, but he says the lower of the market is where the real boom is happening.
"The first-time home buyer credit of $8,000 is really fueling the fire," Shipman said.
Home prices have dropped in part because of foreclosure sales. Interest rates have dropped to historic lows. All those factors combined to spike a 21 percent increase in home sales in March 2009 compared to March 2008.
But it's still hard to say whether sold signs are the new sign of the times or just a temporary rebound.
"As with any market rebound, there are gainers and losers," Shipman said.
Brooklyn Center saw a 184 percent increase. Brooklyn Park is up 57 percent. St. Paul is up 32 percent and Minneapolis up 10 percent. Many of those sales have been sparked by first-time home buyers and foreclosure sales.
On the other hand, other suburbs are not seeing a big rebound. Minnetonka is up just two percent and Edina is down two percent. Eagan is down 21 percent and Waconia down 51 percent.
Shipman says some of that is because there's a migration back to the core cities.
In terms of home prices, the median sales price of all homes was down 23 percent from a year ago, but that's skewed heavily by so many foreclosure sales. The sales price involving just traditional home sales was down just two percent.
Jason Donn
Wednesday, April 8, 2009
A shadow lurks in the housing market
This is scary. The San Francisco Chronicle reports that lenders are sitting on hundreds of thousands of foreclosed homes that haven’t even been listed yet. If this “shadow inventory” hits the market, we’ll have a new definition of bottomless pit.
From the article:
“We believe there are in the neighborhood of 600,000 properties nationwide that banks have repossessed but not put on the market,” said Rick Sharga, vice president of RealtyTrac, which compiles nationwide statistics on foreclosures. “California probably represents 80,000 of those homes. It could be disastrous if the banks suddenly flooded the market with those distressed properties. You’d have further depreciation and carnage.”
The Chronicle suggests several reasons why banks might not be selling off their foreclosures:
— The “pig in the python”: Digesting all those foreclosures takes awhile. It’s time-consuming to get a home vacant, clean and ready for sale. “The system is overwhelmed by the volume,” Sharga said. “In a normal market, there are 160,000 (foreclosures for sale nationwide) over the course of a year. Right now, there are about 80,000 every month.”
— Accounting sleight-of-hand: Lenders could be deferring sales to put off having to acknowledge the actual extent of their loss. “With banks in the stress they’re in, I don’t think they’re anxious to show losses in assets on their balance sheets,” O’Toole said.
— Slowing the free-fall: Banks might be strategically holding back some foreclosures so prices don’t fall as fast. “They want to be careful about not releasing them too quickly so they don’t drive prices down and hurt the values,” O’Toole said.
And then, there are people scamming the system. Two dozen people have been indicted for “allegedly conducting a wide-ranging mortgage fraud based in San Diego and led by a street gang member.” From Reuters:
The defendants allegedly used straw buyers and inflated appraisals to purchase homes that had sat on the market for extended periods and had been reduced in price.
They submitted offers that exceeded the homes’ asking prices, and had the overage paid to a shell construction company that they claimed would make upgrades or handicap modifications to the properties, prosecutors said.
The defendants instead disbursed the “kickback amount” to members and associates of the enterprise as payments for their participation, the indictment said.
Lenders later foreclosed on the properties, taking “severe financial losses,” after the straw buyers failed to make payments, the indictment said.
Jason Donn - Real Estate Open Networkers
From the article:
“We believe there are in the neighborhood of 600,000 properties nationwide that banks have repossessed but not put on the market,” said Rick Sharga, vice president of RealtyTrac, which compiles nationwide statistics on foreclosures. “California probably represents 80,000 of those homes. It could be disastrous if the banks suddenly flooded the market with those distressed properties. You’d have further depreciation and carnage.”
The Chronicle suggests several reasons why banks might not be selling off their foreclosures:
— The “pig in the python”: Digesting all those foreclosures takes awhile. It’s time-consuming to get a home vacant, clean and ready for sale. “The system is overwhelmed by the volume,” Sharga said. “In a normal market, there are 160,000 (foreclosures for sale nationwide) over the course of a year. Right now, there are about 80,000 every month.”
— Accounting sleight-of-hand: Lenders could be deferring sales to put off having to acknowledge the actual extent of their loss. “With banks in the stress they’re in, I don’t think they’re anxious to show losses in assets on their balance sheets,” O’Toole said.
— Slowing the free-fall: Banks might be strategically holding back some foreclosures so prices don’t fall as fast. “They want to be careful about not releasing them too quickly so they don’t drive prices down and hurt the values,” O’Toole said.
And then, there are people scamming the system. Two dozen people have been indicted for “allegedly conducting a wide-ranging mortgage fraud based in San Diego and led by a street gang member.” From Reuters:
The defendants allegedly used straw buyers and inflated appraisals to purchase homes that had sat on the market for extended periods and had been reduced in price.
They submitted offers that exceeded the homes’ asking prices, and had the overage paid to a shell construction company that they claimed would make upgrades or handicap modifications to the properties, prosecutors said.
The defendants instead disbursed the “kickback amount” to members and associates of the enterprise as payments for their participation, the indictment said.
Lenders later foreclosed on the properties, taking “severe financial losses,” after the straw buyers failed to make payments, the indictment said.
Jason Donn - Real Estate Open Networkers
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