Signs of Letup in Home Price Slide

The decline in residential property prices appears to be slowing, according to preliminary data from First American CoreLogic. A preview of its November report shows that home prices fell 9.6 percent last month, compared with 10.4 percent in October and 11.2 percent in September. "The consistent deceleration over the past two months with November indicating the same trend in price declines is encouraging because it could portend the trough in price declines," says Mark Fleming, chief economist for First American CoreLogic. Still, layoffs and the swollen supply of unsold homes remain a concern, he notes.

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S&P Report Shows Tampa's Home Price Drop Lower Than Other Sun Belt Markets

Home prices posted another record decline in October, falling 18% compared with a year earlier, according to a closely watched report released Tuesday. The 20-city S&P Case-Shiller index has posted losses for a staggering 27 months in a row. In October, 14 of the 20 cities set fresh price decline records. Sunbelt cities suffered the most, but most of the country is watching home values fall. Home prices in Phoenix, Las Vegas and San Francisco all fell more than 30% on a year-over-year basis. Miami, Los Angeles and San Diego recorded year-over-year declines of 29%, 28% and 27%, respectively.

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Long Term Mortgage Rates Fall To New Record Lows

The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) averaged 5.14 percent with an average 0.8 point for the week ending December 24, 2008, down from last week when it averaged 5.19 percent. Last year at this time, the 30-year FRM averaged 6.17 percent. The 30-year FRM has not been lower since Freddie Mac started the Primary Mortgage Market Survey in 1971.

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Bay area home sales inch up as prices plummet

With bargain-priced foreclosure properties enticing wary buyers, home sales in the Tampa Bay area rose again in November. The Florida Association of Realtors recorded 1,701 single-family home sales last month compared with 1,644 a year earlier. That 3 percent gain in the number of sales was helped by a 21 percent drop in home prices. The bay area's median sales price last month was $149,800, the first time local prices have broken into the 140s since April 2004.

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US November existing home sales fall by 8.6 percent

Sales of existing homes plunged far more than expected last month as buyers recoiled from October's financial wreckage on Wall Street. The median sales price fell by the largest amount on record. The National Association of Realtors said Tuesday existing home sales fell 8.6 percent to an annual rate of 4.49 million in November, from a downwardly revised pace of 4.91 million in October. Sales had been expected to fall to a pace of 4.9 million units. according to Thomson Reuters. The median sales price plunged 13.2 percent in November to $181,300, from $208,000 a year ago. That was the lowest price since February 2004, the biggest year-over-year drop on records going back to 1968 and most likely the biggest drop since the Great Depression.

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Downpayment Assistance Program Returns To Pinellas County

The Housing Finance Authority of Pinellas County announces the return of its popular Making Pinellas Home down-payment program. The program will offer interest-free, deferred payment assistance to help qualified home buyers achieve the dream of home ownership. Loans of up to $15,000 are available to households with incomes up to 80 percent of area median income. Loans can be used for a down payment and closing costs. The program is available anywhere in Pinellas County. There are no payments for the first five years and no interest, ever. Homes must be priced at or below $240,158.

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Mortgage Rates Fall To 37 Year Low

The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) averaged 5.19 percent with an average 0.7 point for the week ending December 18, 2008, down from last week when it averaged 5.47 percent. Last year at this time, the 30-year FRM averaged 6.14 percent. The 30-year FRM has not been lower since Freddie Mac started the Primary Mortgage Market Survey in 1971.

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Fewer buyers attracted to foreclosed homes

At a time when foreclosures continue to mount, there’s less of an appetite to buy these distressed homes, according a survey released Tuesday. The November survey, conducted by Harris Interactive for real estate tracking firms Trulia.com and RealtyTrac, showed that 47 percent of U.S. adults would consider buying a home in foreclosure. Only seven months ago, 54 percent said they’d like to scoop up a foreclosed property. The decline is attributed to prospective buyers gradually understanding the negative aspects of dealing in foreclosures or so-called short sales, in which lenders take less than what’s owed on the mortgages and forgive the remaining debt. Some buyers cite hidden costs, a difficulty in getting banks’ attention and the poor condition of many of the homes.

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Business Picks Up Where Prices Have Tumbled

Sales are picking up in markets where prices are deflated, but the business is different than it was before the bubble burst, observers say. The housing market in deflated markets--like Arizona, California, Florida, and Nebraska--are beginning to show signs of a rebound. Analysts say that prices have fallen to the point that those with average salaries can afford to buy once again.

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Fed cuts rates to record low

The U.S. Federal Reserve on Tuesday entered uncharted policy territory as it chopped its benchmark interest rates to as low as zero and pledged to use "all available tools" to turn back a deepening recession. In a surprise and historic move, it lowered its target for the benchmark federal funds rate to a range of zero to 0.25 percent, a record low, from 1.0 percent, and said it was willing to keep rates low for an extended period.

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Where Will Housing Prices Go Next?

How long will it take for home values to zoom back up. Some prognosticators predict decades. Others say there is a brighter picture. "We will never see these prices again in our lifetime, when you adjust for inflation," says Peter Schiff, president of investment firm Euro Pacific Capital of Darien, Conn. "These were lifetime peaks." But Wachovia economist Adam York expects home values to recover fairly quickly, beginning in 2010. "The one saving grace is the population is growing by 3 million people a year," he says. "They need to live somewhere. That means more roofs."

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Home values seen losing over $2 trillion during 2008

Homes in the United States have lost trillions of dollars in value during 2008, with nearly 11.7 million American households now owing more on their mortgage than their homes are worth, real estate website Zillow.com said on Monday. U.S. homes are set to lose well over $2 trillion in value during 2008, according to an analysis of recent Zillow Real Estate Market Reports. Home values declined 8.4 percent year-over-year during the first three quarters of this year, compared to the same period in 2007, the reports showed. U.S. home values lost $1.9 trillion from the first of the year through the end of the third quarter, and will probably fall further in the fourth quarter. One in seven of all homeowners, or 14.3 percent, were "underwater" by the end of the third quarter, the reports showed.

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30-Year Rates at Lowest in 4 Years

Freddie Mac reports a decline in the 30-year fixed mortgage rate to 5.47 percent during the week ended Dec. 11 from 5.53 percent last week and 6.11 percent a year ago. Some lenders are locking in even lower rates as they build on momentum started when the Federal Reserve announced plans last month to purchase a substantial number of mortgage-backed securities. HSH Associates and Inside Mortgage Finance are reporting interest on 30-year fixed loans at 5.33 percent and 5.09 percent, respectively. Freddie Mac chief economist Frank Nothaft says mortgage rates also were driven downward by the recession and rising unemployment.

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Glencairn Cottages Opens In Dunedin As Area's First Green Development

Glencairn Cottages has won two Aurora Awards by the Southeast Building Conference, which honors professional builders and designers in a 12-state region. And the Florida Green Building Coalition certified the development as Pinellas and Hillsborough county's first green development. The single-family homes come in three styles ranging from 1,476 to 1,988 square feet with prices starting around $320,000. All are three bedrooms, 2 1/2 baths. They come with appliances designed to sip power rather than guzzle it. A tankless water heater, hurricane-impact windows and roofing created to reflect radiant heat are other standard features.

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Judge rejects State Farm rate hike

A Tallahassee judge has rejected State Farm's bid for a 47 percent hike in property insurance rates, raising the specter that Florida's biggest private insurer could drop a significant number of policies statewide. State Farm's original request was turned down by Florida Insurance Commissioner Kevin McCarty. In an appeal, the insurer said it could have justified a 67 percent increase because costs have spiked. State Farm said it is collecting less in premiums because of big discounts given to customers who strengthen their homes against hurricanes. Administrative Law Judge Daniel Manry rejected those arguments, writing that State Farm Florida did not prove that its rate filing "is not excessive, inadequate, or unfairly discriminatory."

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State Farm Seeks 67% Rise In Homeowner Rates

State Farm Insurance is asking regulators for permission to raise homeowner rates an average of 67 percent statewide, up from its original request of 47 percent. The original request was rejected in August by Insurance Commissioner Kevin McCarty. The new request comes amid State Farm's appeal before Administrative Law Judge Daniel Manry, who is expected to issue a ruling this month. State Farm, Florida's largest private insurer, has nearly 100,000 homeowner policies in Hillsborough and Pinellas counties.

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Bay area foreclosure filings drop 10 percent

Tampa Bay area property owners saw 10 percent fewer foreclosure filings in November compared with a month earlier. The firm RealtyTrac reported 6,783 new foreclosure cases in the Tampa Bay area in November, down from 7,553 in October. Filings were down in Pinellas, Pasco and Hillsborough counties, but up in Hernando County. RealtyTrac said national foreclosure activity was the lowest since June but cautioned that more homeowners are falling behind on monthly mortgage payments, often a prelude to foreclosure. Based on lackluster home sales and a large inventory of properties for sale in and around Tampa, economists suggest it's too early to say foreclosures have peaked here.

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Employment Reports Lead To Lower Mortgage Rates

The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) averaged 5.47 percent with an average 0.7 point for the week ending December 11, 2008, down from last week when it averaged 5.53 percent. Last year at this time, the 30-year FRM averaged 6.11 percent. The 30-year FRM has not been lower since March 25, 2004, when it averaged 5.40 percent.

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Mortgage Rates May Dip Below 4%

Government efforts to provide easier credit to consumers and help housing finance companies could push mortgage rates "well below 4 percent," a federal regulator said Wednesday. Rates fell sharply after the Federal Reserve announced plans Nov. 25 to buy up to $600 billion of mortgage-related securities and other debt issued by Fannie, Freddie and the Federal Home Loan Banks. Days after the announcement, the national average rate on a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage dropped .28 percent, to 5.5 percent, according to financial publisher HSH Associates. Neel Kashkari, who heads the Treasury office overseeing the $700 billion bailout of the financial system, told a congressional panel last week that the agency was reviewing a proposal to push mortgage rates down to 4.5 percent.

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Hillsborough home sales inch up as prices plunge

Despite the much-ballyhooed financial collapse this fall, Hillsborough County home sales limped along just fine in November. They rose 6 percent, to 1,036 from 977 in November 2007. The same can't be said of average home prices, which fell with a thud the past year. The year-to-year drop was 27 percent, from $250,282 to $182,313. Distressed properties, provided they were priced low enough, drove the sales rise. More than 300 of the 1,036 sales — 30 percent — were all-cash deals. The sales figures, released Wednesday by the Greater Tampa Association of Realtors, also take in parts of east-central Pasco County.

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Foreclosure Rate May Affect Home Values, Taxes

The rapid rate of foreclosures in Florida is starting to change the way county property appraisers do business, and the result could mean a change in home values and property tax bills next year. The long-held wisdom of county appraisers was to ignore foreclosures when setting property values, but that's about to change, said Rob Turner, Hillsborough County property appraiser.

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Pending home sales dip less than expected

Despite catastrophic news on the financial front in October, pending U.S. home sales fell only slightly. The National Association of Realtors pending sales index dropped 0.7 percent in October from September, a better performance than economists expected. Florida and Tampa Bay area home sales have ticked up in recent months, propelled by deeply discounted sales of foreclosure and distressed properties. Home sales are considered pending when the seller has accepted an offer but the deal has yet to close. A completed sale usually takes one or two months. While conditions are uneven around the country, the Realtors association said pending sales also rose in areas like California, Providence, R.I., Lansing, Mich., and Las Vegas.

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Florida No. 1 In Sub Prime Mortgage Foreclosures

Florida topped the nation in subprime adjustable rate mortgage — known as an ARM — loan foreclosures with 38,030, up from 35,978 in the second quarter. The state also had the highest prime fixed-rate mortgage foreclosure starts with 17,638, up from 17,223 in the second quarter, and the most subprime fixed-rate foreclosure starts with 10,191, up from 8,973 a quarter earlier.

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Low Prices, Low Rates Mean Opportunity

Housing prices have fallen dramatically all over the country and rates on 30-year fixed-rate mortgages are already close to 5.5 percent. Experts say it's possible, with government encouragement, that rates will fall as low as 4.5 percent. Now is the time to step up. Here are some things to consider:

* Prices have always softened in the winter. As temperatures fall, bargain hunters will have bigger then usual opportunities.
* New homes likely to become scarce. Ian Shepherdson, chief United States economist for the research firm High Frequency Economics, said he believes that a steep drop-off in inventory of new homes is coming soon, thanks to a rapid decrease in home builder activity.
* Location. Location. Location. Buying the best-priced house in a really good neighborhood is still smart.
* Will values go up? You may have to live in a house for 10 years, but over time, buyers will almost certainly make money.

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Trump condo buyers sue over deposit funds

Trump Tower Tampa is mired in bankruptcy court, but that's not stopping 109 condo buyers from suing over $11.9-million they claim was partly misspent trying to raise the skyscraper at Ashley Drive and Brorein Street. The complaint is based on the 20 percent deposits demanded of buyers by developer SimDag LLC. Developers have returned about half the money but said they spent the other half on construction as the law allows. In a class-action lawsuit filed Friday, lead plaintiffs Wes and Diane McLeod said developers spent some of the money improperly on salaries, commissions, advertising and other expenses. The suit names SimDag principals Frank Dagostino, Robert Lyons and Patrick Sheppard, as well as escrow agent MacFarlane Ferguson & McMullen. Trump Tower never got a loan to start vertical construction, and filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in June.

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Homeowners who modified loans are in trouble again

More than half of all homeowners who had their loans modified to make the payments more affordable in the first half of the year are already in default again, banking regulators said Monday. The new data raise questions about whether government money may be better spent on creating jobs, rather than averting foreclosures, said John Reich, director of the federal Office of Thrift Supervision office at a housing industry forum sponsored by his agency.

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Taxpayers: Furious over homeowner bailouts

Ask most Americans whether they're in favor of spending taxpayer dollars to help delinquent mortgage borrowers and you're likely to get an emphatic "No!" But the government didn't ask its citizens before it committed hundreds of billions of taxpayer dollars to guarantee loans through various foreclosure prevention initiatives such as FHASecure and Hope for Homeowners, which let troubled borrowers refinance expensive mortgages into more affordable loans. Nor did it take a vote before it agreed to fund the new streamlined mortgage modification programs for loans backed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. And now there is the possibility that some of the hundreds of billions of dollars allocated for the Treasury's Troubled Assets Relief Program will go towards bailing out borrowers.

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10% Of Mortgages Are Behind, Report Says

A record one in 10 American homeowners with a mortgage were either at least a month behind on their payments or in foreclosure at the end of September as the source of housing market pressure shifted to the crumbling U.S. economy. The Mortgage Bankers Association said Friday the percentage of loans at least a month overdue or in foreclosure was up from 9.2 percent in the April-June quarter, and up from 7.3 percent a year earlier.

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Long Term Mortgage Rates Plummet

The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) averaged 5.53 percent with an average 0.7 point for the week ending December 3, 2008, down from last week when it averaged 5.97 percent. Last year at this time, the 30-year FRM averaged 5.96 percent. The 30-year FRM has not been lower since January 24, 2008, when it was 5.48 percent.

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160 Acre Water Front Site In South Tampa Sells For 2 Million, Down From 125 Million In 2005

The South Tampa property where more than 1,200 luxury homes were planned was sold at a bankruptcy auction Wednesday for just over $2 million. LaSalle Bank and its new owner Bank of America (NYSE: BAC) won back the former Georgetown Apartments property off South West Shore Boulevard it had originally loaned $125 million, or $772,000 an acre, for in 2005.

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Economists Ponder Future of Home Prices

Economists surveyed by The Wall Street Journal say that home prices won’t hit bottom until the second half of 2009 at the earliest and some say the downward trend will continue until 2011 or 2012. After that they may rise again, but not nearly as fast as they have in the last decade. Instead they will rise just a little faster than inflation and stay in line with increases in household income. William Wheaton, a professor of economics and real estate at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, says he expects house prices to increase at a rate roughly 1-percentage point higher than inflation over the long term. Celia Chen, director of housing economics at Moody’s Economy.com is more optimistic, expecting home values to rise an average of 4 percent per year over the next couple of decades.

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Treasury mulls plan to lower mortgage rates to 4.5%

Lobbyists are pushing the Treasury Department to consider a plan to purchase mortgage-backed securities in the hopes of driving mortgage rates to as low as 4.5%, an industry source said. Similar to an effort unveiled last week by the Federal Reserve, the proposal calls for Treasury to buy securities backed by 30-year fixed-rate mortgages from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Details on the plan remain sketchy, but an announcement could come as early as next week, the source said. The increased demand for mortgage-backed securities would prompt mortgage rates to drop. That, in turn, would enable homeowners to refinance into lower-cost loans and make it cheaper for potential homebuyers to get into the market.

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Florida Tops List In Mortgage Fraud

A national report released Tuesday said Florida leads the nation in mortgage fraud. As was the case for the first quarter of 2008, Florida tops the list with the most reported loans with misrepresentation in the second quarter. Twenty-one percent of reports for loans originated during this time period were for properties in Florida. California ranks second, with 15 percent of loans reported; and Illinois rounds out the top three with 12 percent of all loans reported. Within the state of Florida, the Miami Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) and the Tampa MSA rank first and second, respectively. The top types of mortgage fraud reported for the Miami MSA are: incorrect assets listed on the mortgage application; incorrect income listed on the application; and fabricated or fictitious bank statements provided in the loan file. The most common types of misrepresentation for the Tampa area are associated with the appraisal: flip sales within a 12-month period, and inflated values of over 30 percent on the appraisal. According to this data, professionals involved in fraudulent transactions in the Miami MSA have honed in on the borrower’s financial history and stability, while those in Tampa were more focused on misrepresented property data.

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Tampa Number 1 City In Florida For Relocating Singles

Boston claimed the top national spot, followed by Nassau/Suffolk, N.Y.; New Haven, Conn.; New York; and Edison, N.J. San Francisco was the highest-rated California community, at No. 8, and Tampa-St. Petersburg ranked No. 11, the highest-ranked Florida city. In addition to Orlando and Tampa, three other Florida metro areas were rated among the top 50: Jacksonville at No. 22, Fort Lauderdale at No. 24 and Miami at No. 26. The survey focused on criteria most relevant to singles: cost of living, rents and availability of apartments, demographic diversity, educational costs and job growth.

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