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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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

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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.

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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.

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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."

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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