Fed leaves interest rate alone

The Federal Reserve said Wednesday it sees signs the recession is easing and that the economic outlook has "improved modestly" since last month. Against that backdrop, Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke and his colleagues left a key interest rate at a record low of between zero and 0.25 percent, and decided against taking any new steps to shore up the economy. Aggressive action already taken - including a $1.2 trillion effort last month - should gradually help bolster economic activity, the Fed said. It did, however, leave the door open to future action if needed. Fed policymakers offered a less dour assessment of the economy than the one provided at its previous meeting in mid-March.

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Housing Analysts Predict the Bottom Is Near

The bottom of the housing decline is near, predicted analysts and home builders attending the National Association of Home Builders’ semiannual Construction Forecast Conference last week. Mark Zandi, chief economist of Moody’s Economy.com, facetiously picked a date when home prices would stop falling: Dec. 15, 2009. Other observers weren’t so precise, but they did generally agree that the federal government’s efforts to shore up the market would take effect by the end of 2009 or early in 2010. Analysts also predicted that consumers will spend less on remodeling. Eric Belsky, executive director at Harvard University’s Joint Center for Housing Studies, predicted that spending on remodeling would fall 12.3 percent by the end of this year compared to last. Analysts project that the credit crisis will loosen, although people with blemished credit records may continue to have trouble getting mortgage loans.

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Bills would raise Citizens Insurance rates by 5 to 20 percent

Homeowners covered by the state-run Citizens Insurance Corp. could see their rates rise by as much as 5 percent a year, under legislation approved 34-2 by the Senate on Tuesday. That's the best-case scenario for homeowners. The House bill, passed late Friday, would allow individual policy rates to rise by up to 20 percent a year. The House is expected to consider the Senate proposal today and accept a 10 percent increase. But if House members refuse to accept it, the bill could die altogether. In that case, the three-year freeze on Citizens' rates would expire, and Citizens is likely to seek rate hikes of as much as 40 to 55 percent.

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Case-Shiller: Tampa Bay home prices back to November 2003

Tampa Bay area home prices have taken a time machine back to November 2003, according to the latest S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Index. The well-regarded index of 20 major U.S. cities shows home values in February had retreated 39 percent since the July 2006 peak. Year over year, prices in Pinellas, Pasco, Hillsborough and Hernando counties have fallen 23 percent. Expect more devaluation as foreclosures steer the market.

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Record number of homes vacant

A record 19.1 million homes stood unoccupied in the first quarter, and the U.S. homeownership rate fell as the recession sapped demand for real estate. The number of vacant homes, including foreclosures, those for sale and vacation properties, rose from 18.6 million in 2008, the U.S. Census Bureau says in a report released Monday. The percentage of resident-owned households fell for a third quarter to 67.3 percent. The percentage of all U.S. homes empty and for sale fell to 2.7 percent in the first quarter. It hit an all-time high of 2.9 percent in the first and fourth quarters of 2008, the Census Bureau says. The inventory of homes on the market averaged 3.7 million in each of 2009's first three months, according to the National Association of Realtors. The monthly average was 4.2 million in 2008.

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Fight Inflation: Buy a Home

Some economic analysts say that the possibility that the economy will go into overdrive and inflation will skyrocket is a much more frightening possibility than the current recession. One inflation hedge nearly all of them point to is real estate. Owning it outright is the best scenario, but if that’s not possible, a low-rate, 30-year fixed mortgage is the next best thing. As inflation drives up salaries, mortgage payments will stay the same, analysts point out.

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Housing starts down, but land inventory growing around Tampa Bay

Residential construction could pick up as early as the first part of 2010, even as the Tampa Bay area suffers through the loss of more than 81,000 jobs over the past year. “When the new home market recovery begins, it will be reflected first in the quarterly starts numbers,” said Tony Polito, director of Metrostudy’s Tampa division, in a release. Housing starts have dropped 81 percent since the first quarter of 2006 while closings are down 69 percent in the Tampa Metropolitan Statistical Area, Polito said. However, in order for housing starts to rebound, there will be a need to create job growth and eliminate competition from foreclosures and difficulty with buyers qualifying for mortgages. “Continued contraction is expected through the end of the year,” Polito said. “These factors will persist throughout 2009.”

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Market bust is a boon for buyers

Overwhelmed with bad loans and foreclosed homes, lenders are slashing away at prices. That means big deals for buyers. The median sales price of existing homes in the Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater metro area fell 27 percent to $131,400 in February, according to the most recent data from the Florida Association of Realtors. The median sales price was $178,900 in the same month a year ago. Experts say that's because lenders are trying to get rid of homes they've taken in foreclosures and avoid taking more. Lenders are approving more short sales, in which they accept less than the mortgage amount owed and write off the rest. Prices are dropping so much that buyers are getting off the fence. Sales are up. There were 1,856 existing single-family homes sold in February. That's an increase of 23 percent from February 2008.

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Florida metro areas report March home sales gains

Maintaining a multimonth winning streak, 15 of 20 Florida metro areas reported gains in single-family home sales over the past year. The Tampa Bay area was no exception. Local sales rose 16 percent from March 2008 to March 2009, from 1,974 a year ago to 2,292 this year. The median sales price in Pinellas, Pasco, Hillsborough and Hernando counties declined 24 percent, falling from $178,300 to $135,800 year over year. Realtors attributed the sales rise to entry-level buyers scarfing up bargains. Sales of distressed properties — those in or heading toward foreclosure — accounted for one-third to one-half of transactions. Worried about perceptions of never-ending home price slides, the National Association of Realtors on Thursday labeled foreclosure sales "distortions" of the market. Realtors estimated that bank-owned homes sell for two-thirds the price of conventional sales.

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Builders see fraud associated with Chinese drywall

An advisory about scams related to property owners affected by problems with drywall imported from China was issued by Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum Thursday. Members of the building industry have reported fraudulent activity involving the defective drywall to the Attorney General’s Office including bogus tests to determine the presence of the product, and quick cure remedies that falsely claim to remove its corrosive properties, a release said. Consumers who wish to file a complaint about these scams may do so by calling the attorney general’s fraud hotline at (866) 966-7226) or by filing a complaint online at http://myfloridalegal.com.

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Nationwide Existing-Home Sales Slip In March

Existing-home sales eased in March but first-time buyers are responding to low mortgage interest rates and tax credits, according to the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS®. Existing-home sales – including single-family, townhomes, condominiums and co-ops – declined 3.0 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.57 million units in March from a downwardly revised level of 4.71 million in February, and were 7.1 percent lower than the 4.92 million-unit pace in March 2008.

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Pinellas Realtor Organization's CEO's Monthly Report

All the signs are there. It could be a year from now that we will all look back and say, “I sure wish I’d known that the first quarter in 2009 was signaling a change for the better in the housing market.” Not that we don’t still have challenges facing us, but as each month goes by, it is becoming clearer that we are in a slow recovery pattern. Here’s why we believe this to be the case.

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Latest Monthly Sales Statistics Showing January 2009 As The Bottom Of The Housing Market

The Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater MSA reported a total of 2,292 homes sold in March compared to 1,974 homes a year ago for a 16 percent increase. The existing home median sales price was $135,800; a year ago, it was $178,300 for a 24 percent decrease. The March median price is down 43% from the record high of $237,800 in August 2006 but up 4% from February 2009 and up 10% from January 2009. The second month of price increases is more proof than the bottom of the housing market decline has occurred in the Tampa Bay area. In the year-to-year comparison for the existing condo market, a total of 514 units sold in the MSA last month, up 17% from a year ago when 441 condos sold. The market’s existing condo median price was $99,800; a year ago, it was $148,600 for a 33 percent decrease.

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Water's Edge Condos May Be Auctioned Off Due To Developer's Bankruptcy

Water's Edge, a $100 million high-rise in downtown Clearwater, sits nearly empty. Only 10 of 153 units have sold (the average unit costs $750,000) a hefty drag on Clearwater's downtown market. It's too early to tell what will happen with the property. But Opus, the developer, intends to leave the condo market. "It'll be like every other property the bank takes over. They'll auction it off, sell it for what they can get, and get it off their books."

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Fixed-Rates Hover Just Above All Time Low in Freddie Mac Weekly Survey

The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) averaged 4.80 percent with an average 0.7 point for the week ending April 23, 2009, down from last week when it averaged 4.82 percent. Last year at this time, the 30-year FRM averaged 6.03 percent.

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More moved out of Florida than here from other states, census data show

For the first time since the 1940s, more people moved out of Florida last year than new residents moved in from other states as the economic slump halted years of explosive population growth in the Sunshine State. Florida reported a net loss of 9,286 domestic residents between July 2007 and July 2008, according to U.S. Census Bureau data released this month. But that loss was offset by a net gain of 77,427 new international residents, mainly Latin American immigrants. The loss of domestic residents who once flocked to the Sunshine State's condo towers and palm tree-lined neighborhoods also was offset by more births than deaths during the year, according to the census data.

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Condo developer Opus South files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy

Opus South, developer of St. Petersburg's luxury 400 Beach Drive condominium tower and nearby Parkshore Plaza along with Water's Edge in Clearwater, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, slammed by the real estate downturn. Opus is headquartered in Atlanta but maintains a Tampa office from which it made its mark in high-quality residential development. Mark Rauenhorst, chairman and chief executive of parent company Opus Corp., said the climate is as bad as it's been in the company's 56 years, but that Florida has been hit the hardest. The company vowed an "orderly wind down" of its portfolio, but didn't specify which projects would be sold off.

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U.S. existing home sales seen slipping in March

Existing home sales in the United States likely fell in March amid tight lending standards and concerns by purchasers on job security but a continued decline in prices may mute the drop and even point to sales stabilizing, economists said. Economists surveyed by Reuters expect sales of existing homes to have declined slightly to a 4.7 million annual rate in March from 4.72 million units in February. Sales of existing and new homes have fallen sharply along with prices, while rising defaults on subprime mortgages, made to borrowers with impaired credit, have forced banks to tighten lending requirements.

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Lennar Being Sued Over Chinese Drywall

Chinese drywall continues to be a headache for home builder Lennar Corp. Lennar said Monday that it had been sued in U.S. District Court in Florida in connection with imported drywall that smells bad and possibly releases dangerous gases. The suit was filed by an individual, Lorena Garcia. Lennar itself is suing two Chinese drywall manufacturers, claiming the drywall, which it bought and installed in 2005 and 2006, is defective and is causing electrical problems and foul odors in homes it built throughout Florida.

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Tampa Ranks No. 4 Most Likely Place For Further Home Price Declines

With incomes falling and loans remaining hard to get, the best bargains are probably yet to come in some of the nation’s largest housing markets, predicts Forbes Magazine. To figure out which housing markets still haven’t hit bottom, Forbes calculated the spending power, unemployment, credit availability and housing stock over the last 27 years in the country’s 50 largest metropolitan statistical areas. The projections determined how much each area’s home prices would have to change to bring that housing market into historical balance. Analysts said the employment rate is the great unknown. The more employment falls, the more likely home prices will follow. Here are the 10 cities where Forbes believes prices are likely to continue to fall the most:

1. Orlando
2. Miami
3. Jacksonville, Fla.
4. Tampa
5. Los Angeles
6. Phoenix
7. Las Vegas
8. Oakland, Calif.
9. San Diego
10. New York

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Unpaid real estate taxes skyrocket to $332 million

A record number of property tax bills remain unpaid across the Tampa Bay area this year, one more casualty of tough economic times. In April, 114,000 properties had overdue bills totaling $332.1 million in taxes in Pinellas, Hillsborough, Pasco and Hernando counties. Final warnings to property owners for unpaid real estate taxes spiked 10 percent this March on top of record high delinquencies in 2008. The unpaid taxes come in a year when declining property values and state-mandated tax relief measures lowered many bills.

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Florida Department of Health Investigates Chinese Sheetrock

How can you tell if a listing has Chinese drywall? It's a simple question without a simple answer. The Florida Department of Health has a Web site section devoted to the problem, however, and it updates information as it comes in. Since it helps to understand what kind of damage tainted Chinese drywall can cause, one section, "Case Definition with Pictures," includes photos of mirrors, pictures, pipes and other household items impacted by the drywall. The Web site also explains how the state plans to deal with the problem and includes details on how to file a complaint. For more info, visit the site by clicking here.

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Realtors show they care with down-payment help

Experts say low interest rates and falling housing prices have opened the door to homeownership for many prospective first-time buyers, and one local group aims to help such buyers over the threshold - from securing a mortgage to coming up with the cash to make a down payment on the home of their dreams. The Realtors Care Foundation, a nonprofit arm of the Greater Tampa Association of Realtors, was established in 2007 to provide educational and housing programs and services to Hillsborough County residents. The group recently launched a down-payment assistance program to help prospective first-time buyers who meet income limits established by the Department of Housing and Urban Development. To qualify for the program, first-time homebuyers or those who have not owned a home in the past three years must purchase a single-family house, condominium or town house. Applicants also must agree to remain current on property taxes and homeowner association fees, and certify that they will remain owners for a minimum of five years.

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Chinese drywall task force proposed by state senator

A state senator in South Florida is asking Gov. Charlie Crist to set up a statewide task force to address defective imported drywall in homes and create laws in a proposed emergency session this summer that can be taken to the Legislature. Sen. Dave Aronberg, D-Greenacres, said he’s sending a letter to Crist asking that a task force comprised of building industry members, scientists, health experts and consumers to get a handle on how big the drywall issue is in the state and what government may need to do to address it. The task force would focus on protecting consumers who have bought homes with defective drywall or are considering a home that may have the imported drywall installed, Aronberg said. However, much of the task force’s work also will address the need of the builders and domestic manufacturers of the drywall, as both could suffer as a result of the problem.

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Gov. Crist Celebrates Improving Market

Florida Gov. Charlie Crist met with 10 real estate professionals from all over the state this week to celebrate an upswing in the state’s real estate market. Here’s what they had to cheer about:

● Mortgage interest rates fell below 5 percent.
● Sales of existing homes have climbed for six consecutive months.
● Florida’s single-family home sales rose 20 percent and condominiums were up 25 percent in the 12 months ending in March, according to the Florida Association of REALTORS®.
● The $8,000 federal first-time homebuyer credit is drawing in new customers.

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Florida to test air quality in homes with Chinese drywall

Florida officials will soon begin air-quality tests in homes to determine whether fumes emitted from Chinese-made drywall can make people sick, the state Health Department said Friday. Agency spokesman Doc Kokol said the tests, which he hopes will begin in several weeks, are complex and have never been done before. An Associated Press review of shipping records found more than 540 million pounds of plasterboard was imported from China between 2004 and 2008 to meet U.S. demand during the national housing boom. Hundreds of people nationwide are now complaining that the material emits fumes that make them sick. They claim it also corrodes copper pipes, blackens jewelry and silverware and ruins air conditioners.

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Florida's unemployment rises but is lowest uptick in 15 months

After months of shedding jobs at a breakneck pace, Florida's economy took a break from its freefall in March with unemployment inching up just slightly to 9.7 percent from a revised 9.6 percent a month earlier. It marks the smallest monthly increase in Florida's jobless rate in 15 months. Few are predicting that Florida is poised for recovery or even bottoming out just yet. But along with the easing of credit and rising bank profits, the job numbers released Friday were a welcome sign of moderation in a recession highlighted by extreme losses, especially on the job front, with the state losing more than 400,000 jobs the past 12 months.

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Forbes Magazine Ranks Tampa 4th Worst In Recession Effects

Forbes magazines examined the overall economic conditions in the 50 largest U.S. metropolitan statistical areas to identify places where the cost of living and unemployment are highest and median income is lowest. It concludes that these cities are the places whose residents are feeling the worst effects of the recession. Observers say that in the most down-at-the-heels cities, residents have the feeling that there isn’t much good about anything. But Dean Baker, an economist and co-director for the Center for Economic and Policy Research based in Washington, D.C., says one result of the declining economy that’s good news in the long run for residents is lower home prices. “You’re going to see these prices stay down,” Baker says. Here are the 10 cities where the over all conditions look the worst:

1. Providence, R.I.
2. Los Angeles
3. Riverside, Calif.
4. Tampa
5. Buffalo, NY
6. Portland, Ore.
7. Orlando
8. Detroit
9. Miami
10. Louisville

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Tampa Bay area housing starts plunge 90 percent from peak

Bay area builders poured foundations for just 697 homes from January to March — a 90 percent plunge from the peak three years ago. Stingy mortgage lending and competition from foreclosure homes drove new home starts in the Tampa Bay area in first three months of 2009 to their lowest level ever recorded. Builders and construction jobs tumbled as housing starts for Pinellas, Hillsborough, Pasco and Hernando counties continued their fall from 6,043 in the same quarter of 2006. Even measured against starts in the first three months of 2008, the new numbers are dismal. Builders started 1,239 homes from Jan. 1 to March 31 a year ago. This year's tally was 44 percent below that. The credit crunch in October, bought on by recklessly exuberant lending during the housing boom, deprived not only home buyers but home builders of crucial loans as 2009 began.

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Most Mortage Rates Drop In Latest Weekly Survey

The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) averaged 4.82 percent with an average 0.6 point for the week ending April 16, 2009, down from last week when it averaged 4.87 percent. Last year at this time, the 30-year FRM averaged 5.88 percent.

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Number of foreclosures continues to climb in Bay area counties

Tampa Bay area home foreclosures rose 22 percent in the first quarter of the year to 11,238 filings, compared to 9,201 in the same period last year. Despite the year-over-year quarterly increase, foreclosures in the first three months in Hillsborough, Pinellas, Pasco and Hernando counties declined from the fourth quarter of 2008, according to RealtyTrac, an Irvine, Calif.-based firm that tracks foreclosures. Florida had the nation’s fourth highest first-quarter foreclosure rate, behind Nevada, Arizona and California. Florida’s total was the second highest in the nation with 119,220 foreclosures, up 36 percent from the same quarter in 2008. One in every 73 houses in Florida received a foreclosure filing, compared to one in 159 houses in the nation. In Hillsborough, that number was one in 68; it was one in 99 in Pinellas; one in 83 in Pasco; and one in 66 in Hernando.

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US foreclosures up 24 percent in 1st quarter

The number of American households threatened with losing their homes grew 24 percent in the first three months of this year and is poised to rise further as major lenders restart foreclosures after a temporary break, according to data released Thursday. In March, more than 340,000 properties were affected nationwide, up 17 percent from February and 46 percent from a year earlier. Ohio had 12,600 homes receiving foreclosure notices during the month, 12 percent more than during March 2008. Nearly 191,000 properties completed the foreclosure process and were repossessed by banks in the quarter. While the number was down 13 percent from the fourth quarter of last year, it is expected to rise through the summer and then possibly taper off. Nevada, Arizona, California and Florida had the nation's top foreclosure rates. In Nevada, one in every 27 homes received a foreclosure filing, while the number was one in every 54 in Arizona. Rounding out the top 10 were Illinois, Michigan, Georgia, Idaho, Utah and Oregon.

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Florida's home price gut check

Four Florida counties are among the worst-hit by price drops in the housing bust, according to a report released Tuesday by Integrated Asset Services, which tracks home valuations for banks, investors and hedge funds. Hernando and Pasco counties saw drops of 41.8 percent and 57.3 percent, respectively, since prices peaked in July 2006, the report states. Two other Florida counties were named among the 10 counties with the steepest drops. Charlotte and Lee counties had price drops of 52.4 percent and 56.7 percent, respectively. Florida has been hit much harder than most states, although prices are dropping nationwide. U.S. home prices have fallen 17.9 percent since the height of the real estate boom in '06, the report states.

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Realtors seeing gains in Hillsborough County home sales

Home sales were up in March across Hillsborough County as some real estate practitioners hope the housing slump is in the past. Some 1,400 homes were sold last month in Hillsborough, according to the Greater Tampa Association of Realtors, the best figures since June 2007. The sales were up 25 percent over February and 20 percent from the year before. The average sales price also is up from $160,145 in February to $168,071 in March, creating sales in Hillsborough of $235.3 million, compared to $179.4 million the month before. Nearly 17,000 homes still remain for sale, representing an inventory of just under a year. However, that’s the lowest inventory Hillsborough has seen since October 2006, and inventory was more than 17 months just a year ago.

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Gov. Charlie Crist calls Florida real estate a bargain

Where some folks see plunging home values, Gov. Charlie Crist smells a buying opportunity. He noted February's jump in Florida home sales at a Greater Tampa Chamber of Commerce forum Monday, then offered a prediction: You'll be kicking yourself in two or three years if you don't buy at today's prices. "When is the last time you recall Florida real estate being a bargain?" Crist said. "My friends up North are buying in (Miami Beach's) Singer Island and Treasure Island. Be hopeful."

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The Case for Buying a Home Right Now

The positive case for buying a home right now: The key factor: Interest rates. If you can borrow at 4.5% or 5% over 30 years, many purchases start to look appealing. Especially if we get a hefty dose of inflation down the line. If that happens, your monthly payments will be low and you'd get to repay the principal over time with devalued dollars. That's a double win. Inflation isn't guaranteed: The bond markets are only predicting about 1.4% inflation over the next 10 years, and BCA Research recently reminded clients that deflation, or falling prices, remains a danger. Unemployment is still rising and recent wages actually fell. Yet if you had to bet from here, you'd bet on inflation in due course. The government is running massive deficits and has the printing presses at full throttle. That's the classic recipe. And inflation is the debtors' friend -- which is why it is surely going to prove the politically expedient way out of this mess. Anyone purchasing hard assets like real estate, with a 5% fixed rate loan, ought to make good money if that happens.

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Chinese drywall poses potential risks

At the height of the U.S. housing boom, when building materials were in short supply, American construction companies used millions of pounds of Chinese-made drywall because it was abundant and cheap. Now that decision is haunting hundreds of homeowners and apartment dwellers who are concerned that the wallboard gives off fumes that can corrode copper pipes, blacken jewelry and silverware, and possibly sicken people. Shipping records reviewed by The Associated Press indicate that imports of potentially tainted Chinese building materials exceeded 500 million pounds during a four-year period of soaring home prices. The drywall may have been used in more than 100,000 homes, according to some estimates, including houses rebuilt after Hurricane Katrina.

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Housing Recovery? Not This Year, Experts Say

One in every nine homes in the United States is sitting vacant, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Economists predict that getting rid of this glut nationwide will take at least three years. Here’s the math: The number of housing units in the United States increased by 8.65 million from 2002 to 2007. During that period, the number of U.S. households rose by only 6.7 million. Subtract a half-million homes that will be torn down or lost to fire, and that leaves an excess of 1.3 million units, not including vacation homes. The country adds about 1.5 million households every year, but the recession and a slowdown in immigration is reducing that number. Additionally, Gen Xers, most of who are within the age range when people tend to have the most children, are relatively small in number and won’t create an enormous need for larger living space. Factor in the number of new homes being built—about 700,000 this year, according to Arthur C. Nelson, director of the University of Utah’s Metropolitan Research Center— and the bottom line is a multi-year recovery.

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Florida home values have dropped — your insurance premiums should, too

Property values have dropped by a third since the pricing peak in summer 2006. So why haven't homeowner's insurance premiums free-fallen by a corresponding amount? They have. But you're going to have to give up delusions of grandeur about your home's real value. The fact is, many of us are overinsured. We haven't factored in home valuation. The insurance increases we got socked with in 2006 had manifold causes: hurricane damage, future storm risk, giant insurers leaving the market, home price escalation, frivolous sinkhole lawsuits. While we've still got a hurricane bull's-eye on our backsides, despite three years of relative calm in the Caribbean, there's plenty of give on home prices.

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Long Term Mortgage Rates Rise Slightly From Last Week's Record Low

The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) averaged 4.87 percent with an average 0.7 point for the week ending April 9, 2009, up from last week when it averaged 4.78 percent. Last year at this time, the 30-year FRM averaged 5.88 percent.

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AAA debuts property insurance

Auto Club Insurance Co. of Florida is promoting a new homeowners insurance policy as other large companies — most recently State Farm — are leaving the state. The company, which offers combined homeowners and auto insurance, has already signed about 5,000 customers, said Jim Santo, the company’s chief underwriting officer. The insurance company was formed by three AAA organizations that represent 18.5 million automobile club members. The company writes its own policies and relies on the state hurricane catastrophe fund and private reinsurers to provide a financial backup if a severe storm causes damage that exceeds the company’s reserve capacity. Policies are available to homeowners with good driving records, though Santo said there are some hurricane-prone areas of Florida where policies aren’t available.

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Good Credit Scores No Longer Enough For Loans

People with above-average credit may have trouble getting loans. Even people who had what was once considered a fairly solid credit score – more than 700 – will face extra fees if they are attempting to get a mortgage backed by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac, said Kenneth Harney, executive director of the National Real Estate Development Center. For example, Harney said, a buyer with a 699 FICO score who has a downpayment of about 25 percent at closing will pay a 1.5 percent delivery fee under new guidelines that became effective Wednesday. The lower the score, the greater the fees and the larger downpayment lenders are requiring. The alternative, of course, is for hopeful homebuyers to get loans backed by the Federal Housing Administration, but those typically require paying for mortgage insurance and come with higher interest rates.

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IRS Rules Regarding Short Sales

In the not-so-distant past, a short sale meant the lender forgave part of the home seller's debt, but the home seller - many times to his or her surprise - had to pay federal taxes on the forgiven amount because the IRS treated it like income. Under new tax rules, however, the lender sends a 1099-C, Cancellation of Debt, to the home seller in most cases. The forgiven debt does not have to be included in taxable income, and it gets reported instead on Form 982. To be eligible for debt cancellation, the mortgage must have been a primary one on a principal residence; the cancellation occurred between 2007 and 2012; and the mortgage's principal balance must be less than $2 million ($1 million if filing separately). As with any tax matter, home sellers should keep all paperwork to back up their claim in case it's questioned. It's also a good idea to consult a tax attorney on any tax issue. For more information, go to www.irs.gov.

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Florida governor makes federal case out of ‘Chinese drywall’

Gov. Charlie Crist is seeking federal help in dealing with the growing concerns over certain drywall used in homes throughout Florida, calling on both the Environmental Protection Agency and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to step in. In a letter sent Friday to both the EPA and the CDC, Crist is asking both agencies to dispatch an environmental response team as well as industrial hygienists from the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry to help inspect homes and evaluate possible health hazards from the reported corrosive gasses being emitted from “Chinese drywall,” the moniker given to the defective drywall that is believed to have been imported from Asia during the housing boom.

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Florida legislators consider gradual property insurance hikes as Citizens cap nears end

With the 2009 hurricane season fast approaching and the legislative session more than halfway over, lawmakers consumed in recent weeks by Florida's budget woes are turning their attention to the state's troubled property insurance market. For residential property owners, that could mean paying premiums of between 10 and 20 percent more each year — but only if legislators can come to an agreement before the session ends in May. A Senate proposal this week stalled in its first committee amid concerns about raising homeowners' insurance costs during economic hard times.

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Chinese Sheetrock May Be Declared A State Of Emergency

A South Florida congressman is asking Gov. Charlie Crist to declare a state of emergency over problems attributed to tainted Chinese drywall. Boca Raton Democrat Robert Wexler wrote Crist a letter Thursday. The congressman says the health and safety risks associated with the drywall are similar to the impact of a hurricane or other natural disaster, and declaring a state of emergency would enable Florida residents to apply for federal funding to replace the drywall. Crist spokeswoman Erin Isaacs told the South Florida Sun Sentinel that Crist was reviewing Wexler's letter. An estimated 30,000 Florida homes could contain sulfur-emitting Chinese drywall that reeks of rotten eggs, destroys residential wiring and appliances and could cause health problems.

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Forecast: Tampa Bay area home prices to drop further

PMI Group, the company that insures mortgages, foresees two further years of home price decline in the Tampa Bay area. The region was rated the sixth riskiest for home devaluation among the nation's 50 largest metro areas and 16th riskiest on a larger list of 381 metro areas. Florida owned 15 of the top 20 spots. To reach its conclusions, PMI hashed over foreclosure, unemployment, and other data from the fourth quarter of 2008. As of the end of 2008, PMI rated our chances of price declines two years into the future at 99.7 percent. PMI's forecast allows for price fluctuations. Theoretically, prices could drop the next year, rise modestly a year after that, yet still be down cumulatively through the end of 2010.

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A New Record Low HIt This Week By Mortgage Rates

The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) averaged 4.78 percent with an average 0.7 point for the week ending April 2, 2009, down from last week when it averaged 4.85 percent. Last year at this time, the 30-year FRM averaged 5.88 percent. The 30-year FRM has not been lower in the life of Freddie Mac’s weekly survey, which dates back to 1971 for the 30-year FRM.

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Report: Tampa's Home Prices Staying Low

The city has a 99.7 percent chance of seeing lower home prices through 2010 as more people lose jobs and decide not to buy homes, according to a report released Wednesday by Walnut Creek, Calif.-based PMI Mortgage Insurance Co. Meanwhile, unrelated to the report, Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum said the state's housing crisis is a breeding ground for mortgage fraud. State agencies, he said, must do a better job working together to investigate and prosecute fraud. The PMI report showed that Tampa is among the top 10 cities with the highest probability of lower prices in 2010. Four other Florida cities - Miami, Fort Lauderdale, Orlando and Jacksonville - made the list. All 10 cities have a 99 percent chance of falling home sales. Others cities in the top 10 are Los Angeles, Riverside and Santa Ana in California; Las Vegas; and Phoenix.

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Pending home sales increase in Florida region in February

Pending homes sales, a statistic used by Realtors to estimate the strength of home closings down the road, stayed pretty much flat in February in the South, a region that includes Florida. Pending sales in February declined year-to year by a statistically insignificant 0.1 percent in the South. From January to February pending sales increased 4.4 percent in the region. Lawrence Yun, economist with the National Association of Realtors, said the housing market is under performing. A sale is considered pending when the contract has been signed. Closing usually follows in one or two months.

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Senators call for Chinese sheetrock recall

Two U.S. senators are calling for a recall of high-sulfur Chinese drywall that is believed to be causing metal corrosion and an odor of rotten eggs in thousands of homes in the Southeast. Sens. Bill Nelson of Florida and Mary Landrieu of Louisiana, both Democrats, said in a press release Monday that they filed new legislation aimed at initiating a recall and imposing an immediate ban on “tainted building products from China.” The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission is in Florida, inspecting homes to determine what action may be needed. The agency would have the authority to mount a recall. The legislation filed by Nelson and Landrieu includes a resolution pressing the commission for a recall on Chinese-made drywall, based in part on findings by a Florida homebuilder and state officials who have confirmed the presence of sulfide gases in homes built with the drywall.

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Vacation and second home purchases fall

In another housing report that reflects dimly on Florida real estate, the National Association of Realtors survey said vacation and second home purchases continue to wane. Buyers of vacation homes made up 9 percent of sales in 2008, down from 12 percent in 2007. The hard numbers were 740,000 sales in 2007 versus 512,000 last year. No Florida breakdown was available, but Realtors said the survey counted only purchases by U.S. residents, a method that tends to shortchange the Sunshine State. "We do know there are a good deal of foreign buyers in Florida. That's not captured in this survey," Realtors spokesman Walt Molony said.

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