Home prices rising around the country

In March, home prices rose in 16 of 20 major cities. This is evidence again of a slow recovery in progress. Phoenix, Dallas and Seattle had the largest increases. Tampa and Miami both registered
home price increases in April.Over the last 12 months, prices had continued to drop. This increase in
April is welcome news for the industry.

Florida on economic rebound!

Highlights from Economic Outlook 2012

“When you can’t make them see the light, make them feel the heat.”
Ronald Reagan

Things are really heating up and we’re not just talking about warmer temperatures. There is a lot more to get excited about in the Sunshine State besides the beautiful weather. Take a look at some highlights from “Economic Outlook: May 2012” compiled by Wells Fargo Securities.

· More businesses are expanding their operations or relocating facilities to the state.

· The shadow inventory of homes is gradually being whittled away, and prices for non-distressed properties have firmed up a bit.

· The gap between Florida’s unemployment rate and the nation’s continues to narrow, suggesting that Florida’s economy is now growing faster than the nation.

· According to a recent study by the National Association of Realtors, Florida has the highest concentration of foreign buyers of any state, with buyers from other countries accounting for 31 percent of all sales in 2011. These foreign investors are primarily from Canada, Venezuela, and Brazil.

· There is a clear return of retiree buyers around the state with Florida seeing the second-largest state-to-state gain in the country.

· Hiring has picked up across the state, with private-sector employers adding 195,700 jobs since employment bottomed in December 2009. The unemployment rate has fallen 2.4 percentage points over roughly this same period, falling to 9.0 percent

· Tampa’s labor market continues to post strong gains. The professional and business services sector remains the top performing sector, accounting for more than 50 percent of the jobs added since the Bay area’s labor market bottomed,

· Home prices appear to have bottomed in Tampa. Data from Trulia shows that the median sales price for existing homes in the Tampa region have increased by more than 10 percent over year-ago levels.

· Tampa Bay appears poised for stronger gains. Tourism continues to grow solidly and the opening of the Dali Museum in St. Petersburg last year continues to win widespread acclaim.

According to Senior Economist Mark Vitner and Economic Analyst Joe Seydl and at Wells Fargo, when we review all of the materials that we look at to assess the health of Florida’s economy, it is difficult not to come away encouraged. Florida is now firmly in recovery mode following one of the worst recessions in its modern history. The actions taken by businesses and governments to help promote economic activity and make Florida more competitive with other states are beginning to pay real dividends and will truly show their worth once the national economy ramps up again.

As reported by Dewey Allen, Prudential Tropical Realty, Palm Harbor, Fl. 

Great Clearwater Seville 2/2 condo

Convenient, lifestyle friendly, sizable, and available describe a really nice condo listed at

2630 Pearce Drive, #107 ( Pinellas MLS # U7541778 ). Attractively priced, spacious, and with

a huge wrap around patio, and a corner first floor setting, this 1450 SF beauty can be your next home.

Tampa Bay Leads Nation in Foreclosures

The Tampa Bay Times reports that once again, Tampa Bay leads the nation in foreclosures. The number of bay area properties receiving default notices rose 18% from March to April, and is up 59% year over year. Miami was second at 38%. Statewide, forclosure filings fell nearly 8% in April. Nationally, there were 188,780 filings, the smallest number of monthly filings since July 2007. Home inventories are very low allowing distressed properties to be absorbed better. There is less than a 5 month supply of homes on the market. As more distressed homes are sold, non-distressed homeowners will feel better about putting their homes on the market in anticipation of rising prices.

Interest rates hit all time low last week!

Can you imagine seeing interest rates down at the 3% level?  They hit the lowest point ever this past week. Now is the time to buy if you will be getting a mortgage. This past week, I had a buyer getting
a loan in excess of $135,000 and is paying less than $800 a month for principle, interest, taxes, and
insurance. This sure beats paying $1200 in rent and gaining no equity.

Non-Distressed New Listings Sell Rapidly!

A new resale, in good shape, comes on the market. It may last a few days. In Clearwater, one came on the market Monday, 5/7, and I called at 8:30 am. I was the first call on the property. I showed it, and made an offer by late Monday evening. The listing agent had already sent 3 seller's disclosures out indicating 3 offers were coming on the first day!  The buyers I have been working with have tried to buy 3 other homes in the past week ($130-$160,000), and been out bid on all of them. There is less than 2 months supply of really nice homes on the market...so when they come on the market...there is a stampede to get there first. This reminds many experienced agents of the hot selling days of 2005. This is a good thing for sellers, but not much fun for buyers. It has to put upward pressure on prices. That is a good thing for the housing recovery.

Nice Homes are attracting multiple offers!

This past week, I have worked with clients trying to find nice homes that are not short sales or bank owned.  On 3 occasions we found ourselves in mulitiple offer situations on the same homes that had been on the market just a few days.The inventory on nice homes is at it lowest point in 5 years. This has already started an upward push on pricing which will most likely filter over to short sale and bank owned values as well. We are seeing signs of recovery similiar to the "frenzy" the industry saw in 2005. If your are a buyer, it is time to get off the sidelines and into this market.