Tampa housing market among the worst

The real estate market in the Tampa Bay area is among the worst in the nation, but recovery may be a little closer. Fourteen other markets fared worse, and Tampa appears to be near the bottom of home price depreciation, according to a report from California-based data company Clear Capital. The Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater area ranked No. 15 in the lowest performing major markets in the second quarter, the company said. Although prices haven fallen recently, the year-over-year picture was better. Sales prices went down by 2.3 percent from the previous quarter but went up 1.6 percent from the same quarter last year. Twenty-three percent of the sales in the first quarter were bank-owned properties. Detroit was the worst-performing metro with a 10.7 percent decline from last quarter and 19.6 percent rise in prices from last year. Nearly 50 percent of the sales were homes taken back by lenders.

Click here to enter the Tampa Realtors MLS (updated daily)
Register to receive an email every morning of today's new listings
Visit my website or contact me by email

Condo owners with bad drywall may get no tax break

Florida's condominium and townhome owners with tainted drywall may be excluded from tax relief promised in a new law. The Florida Department of Revenue said Wednesday that deep tax breaks only belong to owners of traditional homes. "The department doesn't think the law was meant to cover any structure other than detached, single family homes," said Robert Babin, legislative affairs director for the department. "There is a statutory provision that defines single-family differently than other types of homes." This comes after the governor's office said Monday that condos and townhomes would qualify for the help. The office has since said it made a mistake. The law, passed earlier this month, says owners of single-family homes who cannot live in their houses because of bad drywall won't have to pay a penny of property tax on the home's value. (The owner would still be responsible for taxes on the land.)

Click here to enter the Tampa Realtors MLS (updated daily)
Register to receive an email every morning of today's new listings
Visit my website or contact me by email

Little Change Seen in Mortgage Rates This Week

The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) averaged 4.75 percent with an average 0.7 point for the week ending June 17, 2010, up from last week when it averaged 4.72 percent. Last year at this time, the 30-year FRM averaged 5.38 percent.

Click here to enter the Tampa Realtors MLS (updated daily)
Register to receive an email every morning of today's new listings
Visit my website or contact me by email

Florida Builders Are Going Smaller

Builders are snapping up cheap real estate in Florida, paying 40 percent to 60 percent less than they did during the housing boom. While a glut of foreclosed properties remains, builders are beginning to build new homes that are smaller than those built pre-boom, often positioned to compete against foreclosed properties. Because land is cheap, builders are able to make money selling homes as small as 1,800 square feet, built for about $150,000 and sold for $160,000 to $170,000, says Steve Fusilier, principal in Fusilier Realty Group in Orlando.

Click here to enter the Tampa Realtors MLS (updated daily)
Register to receive an email every morning of today's new listings
Visit my website or contact me by email

Mortgage Rates Remain Historically Low

The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) averaged 4.72 percent with an average 0.7 point for the week ending June 10, 2010, down from last week when it averaged 4.79 percent. Last year at this time, the 30-year FRM averaged 5.59 percent.

Click here to enter the Tampa Realtors MLS (updated daily)
Register to receive an email every morning of today's new listings
Visit my website or contact me by email

Instability in Financial Markets Overseas Lowers Mortgage Rates Here

The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) averaged 4.78 percent with an average 0.7 point for the week ending May 27, 2010, down from last week when it averaged 4.84 percent. Last year at this time, the 30-year FRM averaged 4.91 percent. The 30-year FRM has not been lower since the week ending December 3, 2009, when it averaged 4.71 percent.

State tax breaks for homeowners survive in court

A pair of state constitutional amendments that give tax breaks to primary homeowners survived another legal challenge today as the Florida Supreme Court refused to hear the case. The Florida justices' unanimous decision lets stand rulings by a trial judge and appeal court upholding the Save Our Homes Amendment, which took effect in 1995, and Amendment 1, which was effective in 2008. Save Our Homes limits annual property tax assessment increases to 3 percent for primary homeowners. Amendment 1 has a "portability' provision letting those homeowners take at least part of their accumulated tax break to a new home. Save Our Homes limits tax increases when real estate values go up, but the state's recapture rule has the opposite effect. It raises assessments by up to 3 percent when values drop, which they've been doing in recent years. That's reduced some of the advantage longtime primary homeowners received from Save Our Homes.

Click here to enter the Tampa Realtors MLS (updated daily)
Register to receive an email every morning of today's new listings
Visit my website or contact me by email

April Tampa Area Home Sales up 27%, Prices Decline 2%

The Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater MSA reported a total of 2,962 homes sold in April compared to 2,326 homes a year ago for a 27 percent increase. The existing home median sales price was $132,900; a year ago, it was $135,200 for a 2 percent decrease. In the year-to-year comparison for the existing condo market, a total of 1,031 units sold in the MSA last month, up 77% from a year ago when 584 condos sold. The market’s existing condo median price was $102,200; a year ago, it was $98,800 for a 3 percent increase.

Click here to enter the Tampa Realtors MLS (updated daily)
Register to receive an email every morning of today's new listings
Visit my website or contact me by email

Homebuyers take advantage of tax credits in April

Homebuyers rushed to take advantage of government incentives and record-low mortgage rates in April, giving the housing market its biggest boost in five months. But now that a homebuyer tax credit has expired, any improvement will depend mainly on the lure of historically low mortgage rates. Sales of previously owned homes rose 7.6 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.77 million, the National Association of Realtors said Monday. The increase in sales sparked a rise in home prices. The median price for a new home rose to $173,100, up 4 percent from a year ago. Mortgage fell last week to the lowest level for the year and close to 50-year lows as worries over the European debt crisis sent investors rushing into the safety of U.S. credit markets.

Click here to enter the Tampa Realtors MLS (updated daily)
Register to receive an email every morning of today's new listings
Visit my website or contact me by email

Florida's unemployment rate posts first monthly decline in four years

Florida's unemployment rate last month took a turn not seen in more than four years. It went down. The 12 percent rate retreated from a record 12.3 percent set in March. The state added about 15,500 jobs, nearly half of them short-term positions for the U.S. census count. About 1.1 million people remain jobless. Friday's upbeat news from the Florida Agency for Workforce Innovation ended three straight months of record-shattering increases in unemployment. More significantly, it was the first monthly decline in the rate since February 2006. Back during those boom times, unemployment bottomed out at 3.3 percent. Florida's unemployment — fifth highest among the states — still remains at a level not experienced in the last 60 years.

Click here to enter the Tampa Realtors MLS (updated daily)
Register to receive an email every morning of today's new listings
Visit my website or contact me by email

FEMA offers insurance rate cuts under remapping

Property owners across the country fearing they may be forced to buy expensive flood insurance under a push to draw up new floodplain maps will catch a break by being offered the coverage at sharply lower rates for two years, a key lawmaker said. FEMA has agreed to offer up to two years' eligibility for the National Flood Insurance Program's Preferred Risk Policy – the program's lowest-cost option – to small businesses and homeowners on any land the new maps show are in newly designated special flood hazard areas. The new rates are available after the redrawn maps take effect, in many cases this fall or early next year. The savings could be big: An affected homeowner's yearly premium under the preferred risk program might be $300 – four to five times less than what it might cost otherwise, Les Sterman, an administrator of a flood-protection district involving three St. Louis-area Illinois counties, said Thursday.

Click here to enter the Tampa Realtors MLS (updated daily)
Register to receive an email every morning of today's new listings
Visit my website or contact me by email

Long- and Short-Term Mortgage Rates Fall Again This Week

The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) averaged 4.84 percent with an average 0.7 point for the week ending May 20, 2010, down from last week when it averaged 4.93 percent. Last year at this time, the 30-year FRM averaged 4.82 percent. Once again, the 30-year FRM has not been lower since the week ending December 10, 2009, when it averaged 4.81 percent.

Click here to enter the Tampa Realtors MLS (updated daily)
Register to receive an email every morning of today's new listings
Visit my website or contact me by email

Tampa home prices still on the decline

Home prices are up nationally, but that’s still not being felt in the Greater Tampa-St. Petersburg market. In Tampa-St. Pete single-family home prices, which includes distressed sales, fell 4.1 percent in March compared with the year before, a study released Wednesday by CoreLogic says. That beats the 6.38 percent price drop in February but is well behind the national home price improvement of 1.7 percent. In Florida, home prices were down 5.3 percent, ranking it seventh in the nation behind Idaho (down 11.1 percent), Nevada (down 8.8 percent), Illinois (down 8.2 percent), Maryland (down 6 percent), Alabama (down 5.6 percent) and Utah (down 5.4 percent). Florida’s decrease was a full percentage point behind Washington and West Virginia, which had the eighth largest drops at 4.3 percent including distressed sales.

Click here to enter the Tampa Realtors MLS (updated daily)
Register to receive an email every morning of today's new listings
Visit my website or contact me by email

Housing Prices Could Rise 12.4 Percent by 2014

Housing prices are expected to increase 12.4 percent between 2010 and the end of 2014, predicts MacroMarkets, which surveyed more than 100 analysts and market strategists. Those interviewed didn’t all see the housing market in the same light. Joseph LaVorgna, a economist at Deutsche Bank predicts that home prices will rise 37 percent by the end of 2014. On the most bearish end, both Anthony Sanders, professor of real estate finance at George Mason University, and investment adviser Gary Shilling, president of A.Gary Shilling & Co., expect prices will decline 18 percent.

Click here to enter the Tampa Realtors MLS (updated daily)
Register to receive an email every morning of today's new listings
Visit my website or contact me by email

2010 Hurricane Evacuation Zone Maps For Tampa Bay

2010 North Pinellas County Hurricane Evacuation Zone Map

2010 South Pinellas County Hurricane Evacuation Zone Map

2010 Hillsborough County Hurricane Evacuation Zone Map

2010 Pasco County Hurricane Evacuation Zone Map

Click here to enter the Tampa Realtors MLS (updated daily)
Register to receive an email every morning of today's new listings
Visit my website or contact me by email

Tens of thousands in Tampa Bay area affected by new hurricane evacuation maps

If you live in the Tampa Bay area, check your hurricane evacuation map. You might be among the tens of thousands of families who suddenly find themselves in a more vulnerable zone. The changes are the result of new storm surge models by the National Hurricane Center in Miami. That data, collected by a plane affixed with new topography sensors, showed considerable differences in storm surge risk in Florida's coastal communities. So new evacuation maps are being drawn, starting with the Tampa Bay area. Local emergency managers are scrambling to update their maps and spread the word to residents before hurricane season begins June 1.

Click here to enter the Tampa Realtors MLS (updated daily)
Register to receive an email every morning of today's new listings
Visit my website or contact me by email

HAMP Modifications Jump Sharply

The number of permanently modified home mortgages rose by 30 percent in April to about 25 percent of the 1.2 million trial modifications started under the Treasury Department’s Home Affordable Modification program begun a year ago. Treasury officials say many modifications were canceled because of loan servicers’ failure to verify homeowners’ income. Beginning June 1, the program requires that all modifications be based on verified income statements. "We expect a much lower rate of cancellations going forward as the percentage of verified income modification increases," said Herbert Allison, assistant Treasury secretary for financial stability.

Click here to enter the Tampa Realtors MLS (updated daily)
Register to receive an email every morning of today's new listings
Visit my website or contact me by email

Will Housing Feel a 'Saw-Tooth' Effect?

Some housing experts are predicting what one calls a “saw-tooth bottom” to the housing market driven by a shadow inventory that may include up to 4.5 million properties. This issue isn’t just bank-owned homes that aren’t yet on the market, but sellers who would like to sell but fear they can’t. "These sidelined sellers closely watch the market for signs of a possible turnaround and rush in if there's a hint of good news," says Leslie Appleton-Young, chief economist for the California Association of REALTORS®. This rush to sell drives prices back down — hence, the "saw-tooth" description. Stan Humphries, chief economist for Zillow.com, describes the potential problem this way: "Prices go up; inventory rises, which sends prices down again. That plays out for three to five years of no appreciation. ... Without price appreciation, it leaves more home owners in negative equity. That's toxic. Any setback, like a job loss, they go into foreclosure."

Click here to enter the Tampa Realtors MLS (updated daily)
Register to receive an email every morning of today's new listings
Visit my website or contact me by email

After 2 years, foreclosure landscape is changing

Bay area homeowners continue to fall into trouble with their mortgages, but the local foreclosure landscape is changing. Neighborhoods that were once considered fairly stable are now feeling the brunt of the economic downturn. Meanwhile, areas that were hit early on during the mortgage meltdown are beginning to bounce back. This is according to data from Calif.-based RealtyTrac, which monitors foreclosure activity across the nation. The top two Hillsborough County ZIP codes, ranked by the number of filings in the first quarter, are 33647 in New Tampa and 33615 in Town 'n' Country. Both areas had 273 filings – default notices, scheduled auctions and bank repossessions. That number represents jumps of 15 and 26 percent, respectively, from two years ago. Miles to the south, is Riverview, which has been a foreclosure hot spot for years, but the area has begun to cool down. The combined total of 464 filings in ZIP codes 33578, 33569 and 33579 was up only 4 percent from 2008.

Click here to enter the Tampa Realtors MLS (updated daily)
Register to receive an email every morning of today's new listings
Visit my website or contact me by email

When Will the Housing Market Rebound?

All the signs are there for continued improvement in the economy as well as housing markets, but it will be several years before real estate practitioners can expect to see markets returning to equilibrium, two of the country's top economists told REALTORS® this week. By the end of this year, practitioners should see 5.4 million existing-home sales and home price growth of up to 3 percent, said NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun. Already many markets are seeing home price increases, including San Diego, where prices are up some 16 percent. Orange County, Calif., and Boston are two other strong areas, with price increases of 10 percent to 12 percent, Yun said.

Click here to enter the Tampa Realtors MLS (updated daily)
Register to receive an email every morning of today's new listings
Visit my website or contact me by email

HVCC Not Going Away Anytime Soon

Although the Home Valuation Code of Conduct agreement between Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and the New York State Attorney General is set to expire on Nov. 1, that doesn’t mean it will disappear on that date. That was the message Jerome Nagy, regulatory policy representative for the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS®, had for Appraisal Committee members gathered Wednesday morning at the 2010 Midyear Legislative Meetings & Expo in Washington, D.C. According to Nagy, there is no requirement for government-sponsored enterprises to remove HVCC guidelines from seller servicer agreements after Nov. 1. He expects its impact will linger well after the expiration date.

Click here to enter the Tampa Realtors MLS (updated daily)
Register to receive an email every morning of today's new listings
Visit my website or contact me by email

Mortgage Rates at Lowest Level of the Year

The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) averaged 4.93 percent with an average 0.7 point for the week ending May 13, 2010, down from last week when it averaged 5.00 percent. Last year at this time, the 30-year FRM averaged 4.86 percent. The 30-year FRM has not been lower since the week ending December 10, 2009, when it averaged 4.81 percent.

Click here to enter the Tampa Realtors MLS (updated daily)
Register to receive an email every morning of today's new listings
Visit my website or contact me by email

Foreclosures take tumble locally, nationally

It’s been a long time — since the housing boom, in fact — that foreclosures both nationally and in Florida were on a decline. But they were in April, possibly signaling that a bottom has been found to this real estate crisis. Foreclosures in Florida were down more than 25 percent in April compared with the year before and more than 18 percent from March, finishing well ahead of the rest of the United States. Nationwide, foreclosures dropped 2.4 percent year over year and more than 9 percent since March. Sarasota had the biggest foreclosure drop in the Tampa Bay region with a nearly 28 percent decrease year over year and a 31 percent fall since March. The county had 827 foreclosures in April, representing one in every 239 homes. Hillsborough County wasn’t far behind. It had a 22 percent drop since April 2009 and a 21 percent drop since March. Its 2,530 foreclosure filings representing one in every 206 homes. Both Polk and Manatee counties reported drops between 20 percent and 2 percent, respectively, from 2009, while Hernando, Pasco and Pinellas remained on the upswing.

Click here to enter the Tampa Realtors MLS (updated daily)
Register to receive an email every morning of today's new listings
Visit my website or contact me by email

Slide in Tampa Bay home prices has moderated

Tampa Bay's great home price slide has slowed down significantly over the past year, a boast several other Florida metro areas wish they could make. The median sales prices for single-family homes in the bay area slipped 1 percent in the bay area from a year ago to $133,900, according to first-quarter data released Tuesday by the National Association of Realtors. That places it at 124th among 174 metro areas ranked best to worst in home price changes, and roughly on par with the national average change. In contrast, Orlando emerged as the country's hardest-hit metro over the year, with a 15 percent slide in home prices this quarter to a median of $131,600. Second worst: Ocala, with a 14.5 percent drop. Elsewhere in the state, Daytona Beach prices for the quarter were down 10 percent and Miami-Fort Lauderdale and Jacksonville were both down 6 percent. Just three years ago, the median home price in Orlando was a heady $261,300, far outpacing the Tampa Bay area's median price at the time of $214,900. Based on the latest numbers, Orlando has now fallen below the bay area market.

Click here to enter the Tampa Realtors MLS (updated daily)
Register to receive an email every morning of today's new listings
Visit my website or contact me by email

US foreclosures down 2 percent from last year

Millions of Americans are still likely to lose their homes in the coming years, but the foreclosure crisis is finally showing signs of subsiding. The number of households facing foreclosure in April fell 2 percent from a year ago, the first annual decline in five years, RealtyTrac Inc. said Thursday. But the data aren't all sunny. While the number of new delinquencies is dropping, the number of borrowers losing their homes is still rising. Banks seized a record 92,000 homes last month. And there are millions more potential foreclosures ahead. Nearly 7.4 million borrowers, or 12 percent of all households with a mortgage, had missed at least one month of payments or were in foreclosure as of March, according to Lender Processing Services Inc., a mortgage data research firm.

Click here to enter the Tampa Realtors MLS (updated daily)
Register to receive an email every morning of today's new listings
Visit my website or contact me by email

Bay area home sales rise 15%

The Bay area real estate market continued to show signs of stabilization in the first quarter as home sales rose 15 percent, according to Florida Realtors. There were 6,580 sales in the first quarter, compared with 5,721 in the same quarter last year. Prices, meanwhile, fell just 1 percent. The median sales price in the Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater metro area was $129,300, down from $130,800. Sales were up 24 percent in Florida, as 38,846 homes changed hands, up from 31,410 during the same period a year ago. Prices fell 5 percent to a median sales price of $133,800. That's down from $140,900.

Click here to enter the Tampa Realtors MLS (updated daily)
Register to receive an email every morning of today's new listings
Visit my website or contact me by email

Late mortgage payments drop for first time since '06

The rate of late mortgage payments dropped in the first quarter for the first time since 2006, according to credit reporting agency TransUnion. The 60-day delinquency rate slipped to 6.77 percent, from 6.89 percent in the fourth quarter of 2009. That was the first decline after 12 consecutive quarters of steady increases, TransUnion said. The first-quarter figure still represents a substantial jump from a year ago, when delinquencies were at 5.22 percent. But FJ Guarrera, vice president in TransUnion's financial services business unit, said it's still good news.

Click here to enter the Tampa Realtors MLS (updated daily)
Register to receive an email every morning of today's new listings
Visit my website or contact me by email

Mortgage Rates at Lowest Level in Six Weeks

The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) averaged 5.00 percent with an average 0.7 point for the week ending May 6, 2010, down from last week when it averaged 5.06 percent. Last year at this time, the 30-year FRM averaged 4.84 percent.

Click here to enter the Tampa Realtors MLS (updated daily)
Register to receive an email every morning of today's new listings
Visit my website or contact me by email

Survey: Florida Real Estate Improving

Foreign and domestic investors are putting more of their money in Florida real estate, according to a quarterly survey of the market by the University of Florida’s Bergstrom Center for Real Estate Studies. Life insurance companies also have returned to the state’s commercial property market, according to Timothy Becker, the center’s director. Becker says that contrary to what some prognosticators are saying, Florida investors apparently don’t believe things are going to get worse before they get better. "One of our respondents summed it up by stating that, ‘If anything, we will get less bad,’" he says. The report was less optimistic about the new-home market, which respondents said would continue to be slow because so many homes that are equally as nice as brand-new homes continue to be available on the foreclosure market.

Click here to enter the Tampa Realtors MLS (updated daily)
Register to receive an email every morning of today's new listings
Visit my website or contact me by email

Fixed-Rates Stable, Posting Little Change From Last Week's Figures

The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) averaged 5.06 percent with an average 0.7 point for the week ending April 29, 2010, down slightly from last week when it averaged 5.07 percent. Last year at this time, the 30-year FRM averaged 4.78 percent.

Click here to enter the Tampa Realtors MLS (updated daily)
Register to receive an email every morning of today's new listings
Visit my website or contact me by email

Tampa-St. Pete ranked 26th in nation in foreclosures

Foreclosure rates are starting to drop for some of the worst-hit housing markets, but not in Florida, according to a new report from RealtyTrac. The Greater Tampa area, which includes St. Petersburg and Clearwater, had a 17 percent increase in foreclosures in the first quarter compared with the year before, and a 22 percent jump from the fourth quarter of last year, to stay ahead of the national average. However, its foreclosure rate of 1 in every 69 homes was behind nine other Florida markets, including Lakeland (one in every 57 homes) and Sarasota-Bradenton (one in every 69 homes). That’s different from Las Vegas, the nation’s worst foreclosure market, where one in every 28 homes faced foreclosure despite a 19 percent drop from the pervious year. Eight of the top 10 markets ranked by number of foreclosure experienced drops but not Orlando-Kissimmee, which ranked No. 10 with a 17 percent increase. Cape Coral-Fort Myers, ranked third in the nation, had a nearly 26 percent decrease in foreclosures compared to the first quarter of 2009.

Click here to enter the Tampa Realtors MLS (updated daily)
Register to receive an email every morning of today's new listings
Visit my website or contact me by email

Service Members Get Extra Year for Tax Credit

Members of the U.S. military, foreign service and intelligence communities have another year to purchase a home and claim the home buyer tax credit. Any service member who is or has been on extended duty for 90 days or more between Jan. 1, 2009 to April 30, 2010, has until April 30, 2011, to sign a sales contract and until June 30, 2011, to close on the property. Both the $8,000 first-time and the $6,500 repeat home buyer tax credits are included in the extension. The rule that requires buyers to repay the credit if they move out of their home within three years has also been waived for qualified service members if they receive government orders to move.

Click here to enter the Tampa Realtors MLS (updated daily)
Register to receive an email every morning of today's new listings
Visit my website or contact me by email

U.S. home prices increase

For the first time since the end of 2006, home prices nationally posted an increase. In some areas such as Tampa Bay, however, February prices reached new recessionary lows. The Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller home price index released Tuesday squeezed out a 0.6 percent gain. But that was half the increase analysts had expected. On a more cautionary note, 11 of the 20 cities tracked by the index showed declines from February last year. One of them was the Tampa Bay area, where prices dropped after months of stabilization, a sign perhaps, of how deeply mired Florida is in the mortgage crisis. But a new quarterly economic forecast for the state shows economic improvement this year, although Floridians should expect double digit unemployment rates during the next two years. Prices in the Tampa-Clearwater-St. Petersburg metropolitan area fell 6 percent compared with February 2009, and 1.2 percent from January to February. The index showed prices in Tampa and five other cities - Charlotte, Las Vegas, New York, Portland and Seattle - reached recent new lows in February. Las Vegas saw the largest annual drop at almost 15 percent. San Francisco posted the biggest gain, at about 12 percent.

Click here to enter the Tampa Realtors MLS (updated daily)
Register to receive an email every morning of today's new listings
Visit my website or contact me by email

Tampa home prices find new low since boom

Tampa is among six metropolitan areas that have reached new lows in home prices in February since the housing boom peak, according to a new report from Standard & Poor’s for its S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Indices. Home prices in Tampa dropped 6 percent in February compared with the year before and 1.2 percent since January. That was the largest year-over-year drop of all the 20 cities tracked by S&P for the study. Seattle, which has had a price appreciation of more than 43 percent since January 2000, had an annual drop of 5.6 percent, followed by Detroit with a 5.4 percent fall. Detroit wasn’t among the newest lows for the cities surveyed, but Seattle was, joining Tampa; Charlotte, N.C.; Las Vegas; New York and Portland. Both Charlotte and Cleveland have had seven consecutive months of negative monthly returns. However, Tampa, Atlanta, Boston, Denver and New York are not far behind with six consecutive months of negative prints, Standard & Poor’s said. Tampa home prices are still more than 36 percent better than they were in January 2000, however, that appreciation is behind the 20-city average of 44 percent. Atlanta is just 5.7 percent bigger than it was the year before, while Cleveland is about even to home prices from the beginning of 2000.

Click here to enter the Tampa Realtors MLS (updated daily)
Register to receive an email every morning of today's new listings
Visit my website or contact me by email

Fannie Mae sweetens offer to avoid foreclosure

Struggling borrowers who give up their homes through a "deed in lieu of foreclosure" or a short sale will be able to obtain a new Fannie Mae loan in two years. Currently, these owners must wait at least four years. The new policy, which takes effect in July, is designed to make foreclosure alternatives more attractive. The policy applies only to Fannie Mae's willingness to approve a mortgage, however. Homeowners' credit scores will still take a hit following a short sale or deed in lieu of foreclosure. To qualify for a mortgage after the two year wait, Fannie Mae says borrowers must make a 20 percent down payment; but those who lost a job or have other extenuating circumstances will be able to make a 10 percent down payment.

Click here to enter the Tampa Realtors MLS (updated daily)
Register to receive an email every morning of today's new listings
Visit my website or contact me by email

Florida again No. 1 in mortgage fraud

Among the 50 states, Florida once again is the mother of mortgage fraud. Soaring rates in the state, specifically of appraisal fraud and misrepresentation, guaranteed Florida retained the No. 1 ranking in 2009 for the fourth year in a row. An annual ranking unveiled Monday by the Mortgage Asset Research Institute found that, given the volume of residential mortgages it originates, Florida had close to three times the expected amount of reported loan fraud and misrepresentation. That made Florida No. 1 by a comfortable margin in the country, ahead of the next closest states New York, California, Arizona and Michigan.

Click here to enter the Tampa Realtors MLS (updated daily)
Register to receive an email every morning of today's new listings
Visit my website or contact me by email

Value of home appraisal process in question

A year ago, the nation's housing industry adopted new rules aimed at preventing the kind of appraisal-related fraud that helped drive home prices to ridiculous — and unsustainable — heights. Now, many Tampa Bay real estate agents say the appraisal rules are a good idea gone bad, delaying and threatening sales as the market struggles to recover. During the boom, mortgage brokers and others whose fees were tied to loan production sometimes worked with appraisers to set home values. To prevent collusion, the 2009 Home Valuation Code of Conduct bars loan originators from directly selecting appraisers. As a result, most appraisers are now hired through so-called appraisal management companies. Critics complain that the companies sometimes hire inexperienced appraisers who know little about an area. The problem can be acute in older neighborhoods, like Woodlawn or Tampa's Palma Ceia, where there is a greater mix of housing than in cookie-cutter subdivisions.

Click here to enter the Tampa Realtors MLS (updated daily)
Register to receive an email every morning of today's new listings
Visit my website or contact me by email

Bill to deregulate property insurance market appears dead

A push to let Florida property insurance companies aggressively raise rates with unregulated policies appears unlikely this legislative session, a victim of Gov. Charlie Crist's threatened veto. The bill would let insurance companies raise rates up to 10 percent on a statewide average with a cap at a 20 percent hike. The Florida Office of Insurance Regulation under McCarty currently has authority to reject rate requests that are deemed excessive. But insurance companies contend the freedom is needed because present rates are artificially low.

Click here to enter the Tampa Realtors MLS (updated daily)
Register to receive an email every morning of today's new listings
Visit my website or contact me by email

March Tampa Area Home Sales Up 21%, Prices Down 3%

The Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater MSA reported a total of 2,782 homes sold in March compared to 2,782 homes a year ago for a 21 percent increase. The existing home median sales price was $131,400; a year ago, it was $135,800 for a 3 percent decrease. In the year-to-year comparison for the existing condo market, a total of 991 units sold in the MSA last month, up 92% from a year ago when 515 condos sold. The market’s existing condo median price was $95,000; a year ago, it was $109,100 for a 13 percent decrease.

Click here to enter the Tampa Realtors MLS (updated daily)
Register to receive an email every morning of today's new listings
Visit my website or contact me by email

Long-Term Mortgage Rates Mostly Unchanged from Last Week

The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) averaged 5.07 percent with an average 0.7 point for the week ending April 22, 2010, unchanged from last week when it averaged 5.07 percent. Last year at this time, the 30-year FRM averaged 4.80 percent.

Click here to enter the Tampa Realtors MLS (updated daily)
Register to receive an email every morning of today's new listings
Visit my website or contact me by email

US home sales expected to rise in March

Home sales are expected to rise 5.2 percent in March, reversing three months of declines, as government incentives juiced the housing market and kicked off what's expected to be a strong spring selling season. Economists polled by Thomson Reuters forecast the National Association of Realtors will say sales of previously occupied homes rose last month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.28 million, up from 5.02 million in February. That was the weakest month since last July.

Click here to enter the Tampa Realtors MLS (updated daily)
Register to receive an email every morning of today's new listings
Visit my website or contact me by email

Decline in Pinellas property values will be steeper than expected, appraiser says

Some local governments will be facing tighter budgets than expected if the county property appraiser's forecast of double-digit drops in land values across most of Pinellas holds true. Mid-Pinellas could see some of the steepest declines: Pinellas Park is estimated to see a 14.4 percent drop in real estate values. Kenneth City, a 14 percent decrease. Largo, a 13 percent reduction. St. Petersburg, a 12.8 percent contraction. Seminole and Clearwater are also predicted to see double-digit drops of 11.6 percent and 11.1 percent, respectively. But those are more in line with the expected countywide decline of 11 to 11.2 percent. Even many of the beach communities, which usually manage to avoid drastic drops in property values, could see double-digit decreases. St. Pete Beach, for example, is predicted to see a 10.2 percent decline.

Click here to enter the Tampa Realtors MLS (updated daily)
Register to receive an email every morning of today's new listings
Visit my website or contact me by email

Foreclosure bill rouses rally

Lawyers and consumer advocates plan a rally in Tallahassee on Wednesday to protest a controversial bill that would speed up foreclosures in Florida. The legislative bill would allow lenders to foreclose on homeowners without approval from a judge in as little as 90 days. It appears to have stalled, but the group said it wants to send a message to legislators. House Bill 1523 would allow lenders to skip legal proceedings unless the borrower requests the foreclosure go through the courts. Florida law requires a lender to file a foreclosure lawsuit and have the foreclosure granted by a judge. There are nearly 500,000 pending foreclosure cases in Florida, among the worst in the nation. Because of the backlog, foreclosures can take months or years. Critics say the bill significantly shortens the foreclosure process, making it more difficult for troubled borrowers to save their houses. They say the bill would not help the backlog of foreclosures because it applies only to new cases. Supporters say it would help judges and be good for neighbors weary of long-vacant houses in their community.

Click here to enter the Tampa Realtors MLS (updated daily)
Register to receive an email every morning of today's new listings
Visit my website or contact me by email

Florida's jobless rate hits record, Tampa fares better

Florida's jobless rate hit a record high for the third month in a row as unemployment rates slightly improved locally. Florida's rate edged up to 12.3 percent in March. The Tampa Bay area's rate improved in March, although it remained higher than the state rate. The seasonally adjusted rate represents more than 1.3 million jobless workers in Florida, according to a report released Friday by Florida's Agency for Workforce Innovation. Despite the statewide record high, each of the four counties grouped in the Tampa Bay area posted reduced unemployment rates in March. But the agency cautioned against reading too much into local improvements since the numbers aren't seasonally adjusted. The Tampa Bay area, which includes Hillsborough, Pasco, Pinellas and Hernando counties, had a March unemployment rate of 12.7 percent. That's down from 13.2 percent in February, but up from 10.1 percent from March 2009. County data are not adjusted for seasonal variations.

Click here to enter the Tampa Realtors MLS (updated daily)
Register to receive an email every morning of today's new listings
Visit my website or contact me by email

HUD's Good Faith Estimate Form sparks confusion

For anyone buying a home this spring, beware: There could be some kinks with the paperwork. In January, the Department of Housing and Urban Development rolled out sweeping changes to the Good Faith Estimate, a key consumer-protection document. The agency has given the real estate industry four months to change over to the new form, and the questions and complaints are widespread. "Borrowers are looking at this form and saying, 'This doesn't make any sense for us, why can't we have something that's more simple?'" said Pava Leyrer, president of Heritage National Mortgage in Grandville, Mich. One of her clients, Chad Veldkamp, wasn't even sure how much money he needed to complete the deal until he sat down to sign the final documents.

Click here to enter the Tampa Realtors MLS (updated daily)
Register to receive an email every morning of today's new listings
Visit my website or contact me by email