S & J Journal

Florida Realtors gives clear reasoning on the pros and cons of renting versus buying real estate... read the article .

Now is the time to put your home on the market right after the first of the year, especially here in Coral Gables. A   Florida Realtors   article shows that pending sales are slowing down. The Pending Home Sales Index indicates a projection of almost 10 % higher home sales in 2014, and an 11% increase in existing home prices. Read the article.

In Coral Gables, home sales slowed down slightly in the last few months, while i nventory climbed in September after a steady four-year downward clip from 650 homes on the MLX in 2009 to 260 homes in May of 2013. Now we are up to 273 single-family homes for sale but this has just inched up since June.    Although   Florida Realtors  reported that U.S. home prices are rising but at a slower pace than months before, we see the same thing in the Gables.   We do not foresee prices dropping. They have only fallen once (in 2007-2008) since I started selling real estate in the early 1970's. What we do predict is that buyers will begin to be more particular and not rush so much to get into a bidding war where multiple offers come in the first week on well-priced new listings.  The number of days listings are on the market will increase a bit.  We are going to be shifting from a very strong seller's market to a less st...

Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller Index reported home prices rose the most since February 2006.  Read more in the Florida Realtors article. In Coral Gables, this figure is even higher as inventory decreases.   101 homes were listed for sale in the Gables in August 2013. That is down 1.9% compared to the previous month and 8.2% lower than the same time last year. The Average Sold Price per Square Footage in August 2013 for the Gables was $297. It is up 0.3% compared to July 2013 and 11.8% higher than last year.   Jeannett

Florida Realtors reported a list of changes to Florida laws that went into effect this past Monday: Residential Landlord and Tenant Act Several changes were made including a change to the disclosure language landlords who rent five or more dwelling units are required to give. While the law becomes effective July 1, use of the revised disclosure is not mandatory until Jan. 1, 2014. Renting with a Homestead Exemption A “safe harbor” written into the law allows people to rent their homestead up to 30 days a year without losing the homestead exemption. However, rentals that exceed 30 days for two consecutive years jeopardize the homestead exemption in year two. Citizens Property Insurance A new rule requires all new applicants to go through a clearinghouse to establish if they’re eligible for Citizen’s coverage. Taking Ownership of an Abandoned House A claim of adverse possession now requires 1) payment of all outstanding taxes and liens levied by the state, county...

Florida Realtors reported yesterday that U.S. home prices “jumped in February by the largest amount in 7 years, evidence that the housing recovery strengthened ahead of the all-important spring-buying season.” The real estate data research company CoreLogic reported that home prices rose 10.2% in February compared to the same time last year. For 12 months straight, prices have been steadily climbing. (Coral Gables has also seen a steady increase in home prices in the past year. Several reasons were cited for the increase in prices: more sales of previously owned homes and a very low inventory of homes for sale. The cities with the largest home price increases were Atlanta, Los Angeles, New York, Phoenix and Riverside, Calif. Although home values remain low, down 26% since April of 2006, consumer confidence is being fueled by higher home prices - enticing buyers to act quickly on a purchase before prices rise further and making homeowners feel the...

The Home Price Index report just released by CoreLogic shows home sales prices increased in 2012 by 7.5% and predicts they are on the road to rise 6% in 2013, leading to a continued housing recovery. Read the Florida Realtors article and access the full report.

I thought I should post this interesting report from Florida Realtors about the reliability of Trulia and Zillow: According to the study funded by Redfin, online listing services such as Trulia and Zillow didn’t have the same accuracy as broker-owned websites, in large part because licensed agents have direct access to a local Multiple Listing Service (MLS)...   Read the full article.    

Florida Realtors reported that the nation is seeing the highest pending home sales figures in over five years. The data reflects activity in the market in the form of contracts (not closings). “The Pending Home Sales Index (PHSI) in the Northeast slipped 0.1% to 79.2 in October, but it’s 13.3% above a year ago. In the Midwest , the index jumped 15.6% to 104.4 in October, and is 20.0% above October 2011. In the West, it declined 1.1% in October to 105.7, but is still 0.9% above October 2011. Pending home sales in the South rose 5.5% to an index of 117.3 in October, and that is 17.4% higher than a year ago."  Read more here .

Approaching housing boom... We have been saying that housing prices in the Gables have been creeping upward, a good sign of a recovering market. Now Florida Realtors reports that economists predict a new national housing boom by 2015, with prices rising by 5% to 7.5% per year and home construction by 20% per year.   Florida Realtors Article

Out of the four states where 51% of foreign buyers purchase homes - Florida, California, Texas and Arizona - Florida has the largest share at 26%. This data stems from a study conducted from June 2011 to June 2012. Read the complete report online at Florida Realtors’ website: Profile of International Home Buyers in Florida 2012. Excerpts from the report: • 82% of international sales were cash transactions. • The median price paid by international buyers was $194,700 compared to an overall Florida median price of $125,100 and a U.S. median price of $167,758. • Canadian buyers tended to buy in the lower price range; European and Latin American buyers bought at a higher price range. • Condos account for 45% of properties, townhouses 10% and detached single-family homes 36% .

Florida Realtors reported yesterday that Trulia performed an assessment of the number of foreign buyers that accessed their website to search for a home in the U.S. and it seems foreigners are dropping off as home prices rebound. However, international investors remain interested in U.S. real estate primarily in Florida. Trulia listed the top 10 cities searched by foreign buyers through its website, and six are in Florida: 1. Miami (15.7% of the Miami searches done through Trulia were by foreigners) 2. Los Angeles 3. Fort Lauderdale 4. Lakeland-Winter Haven 5. Orlando 6. West Palm Beach 7. Cape Coral-Fort Myers 8. Honolulu 9. San Francisco 10. Las Vegas Home searches by foreigners on Trulia are regularly from Canada, the United Kingdom, Germany and Australia. On this real estate blog, Jeannett’s Journal , foreign readers are mainly from Russia, Slovenia, Canada and Germany, and make up 5% of our total blog visitors. At Slesnick & Jochem, we specialize in propert...

First-time homebuyers are struggling to buy in this recovering real estate market, the Sun Sentinel reported last week. Although prices are affordable and mortgage interest rates are at an all-time low, first-timers are facing competition from banks who have tightened lending requirements and investors who are cash buyers. Sellers prefer cash or even buyers that have pre-approved conventional loans because they are weary of FHA loan transactions. Even when these first-time buyers put down offers on a home over the list price, they often lose it to cash buyers. Today’s first-time buyers also face a shortage of available homes. First-time buyers accounted for roughly a third of all home sales nationwide in May, according to the National Association of Realtors. Ideally, the percentage should be 40 percent or more, said Walter Molony, a spokesman for the Realtor trade group. It is conventionally first-time buyers that stimulate confidence in the real estate market. To compete...