Exisiting home sales bottom still elusive

NAR released their March 2008 report and the picture is still not very pretty.

Resale homes continued to drop and now stand at 19.3 percent off of March 2007 numbers. In addition, the media resale home price continued it’s spiral and fell another 7.7 percent compared to the same month in 2007. The median price in 2007 was $217,400. and as of March 31, 2008 it now stands at $200,700.

According to NAR “Regionally, sales rose in the Northeast and West but fell in the Midwest and South.”

So how does the picture differ her in the Tampa Real Estate Market ?

Well according to recent report by the West Pasco Board of Realtors, the Pasco County market has actually had two very good months back to back that prove while the bottom is still elusive in most places it appears to be settling some in other areas. It does appear that their is still more room for prices to drop before the national average stabilizes though.

What is interesting in the Pasco County scenario is that a Florida Economist “Hank” Fishkind, had predicted that areas within the Tampa Bay would recover before others in the state. It may be a bit optimistic at this point to say he his right only more time will tell.

If you are a regular reader to this Blog, then you might recall this post back in February “Florida’s indifferent real estate market in Tampa…huh ? The significance of this post is the comments made by Mr. Fishkind, with specific reference to Pasco County Real Estate he said”

1. HOME SALES: Pasco and Hernando counties’ housing markets have hit bottom and are most likely to start the the turn around ?.this will be seen later in the year. Hillsborough County is close to the bottom, but Pinellas County has a few more months in this downturn before home sales and prices will stabilize.

You can down-load a copy of Dr. Hank Fishkinds Power Point report in PDF format entitled **Economic Outlook U.S. and Tampa Bay/Bay Area Real Estate Council.

** Be sure to check out pages 28 to 63 of the PDF for Tampa Counties (158 to 197 as listed on the lower right corner of the presentation).

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1 in 3 Home Owners with Negative Equity according to Zillow

Denial will stop you from selling your home

 

A new report from Zillow.com shows home values dropped nationwide by 3%. Chief Financial Officer Spencer Rascoff discusses which cities saw the largest declines.
Time for little cold water on the face for those that have obviously been asleep for oh..the last year. Hey times are tough, I don?t need to rehash all the media hype of the last several months however, todays news has continued with fact that Mortgage Applications volumes decreased this last week in large part because the interest rates started creeping back up again. The Wall Street Journal reported on Zillows market data from Monday, that outlines the Bubble Areas of California and Florida. Basically, they reported that prices are still falling and may continue to fall more.

So where does this leave the home owner that really wants to sell their home ? Well first off you have to be really motivated to sell. Yes it is difficult the house you are selling was to bank role your retirement plan and so you have a certain number that you feel you have to sell at. Sound familiar ? If this is you then you had better get your head out of the sand. Either take your home of the market and forgo that retirement plan for a year or two or reduce your house to what your realtor says it should sell at. And even then you need to be prepared to lower the price even more again.

That is if you want to really sell your home ? Now maybe you don?t have retirement in mind, but you wanted to profit from your sale. Who doesn?t ? However, if you have had your home for some time, you have a lot of room to work with. It is unfortunate that homes are over valued. And yes that means the very one you are trying to sell now.

You can read more of this article by the WSJ concerning your R.O.I. here:

As I am writing this, I am also reminded of an article I read in January?s issue of Realtor Magazine discussing this issue of Realtors trying to get Sellers to Get Real. They did cover both ends of the spectrum and covered unrealistic buyers expectations too. The larger issue that we face here in Florida is the fact that our homes are over valued. It is not personal, believe me, we bought into a new home at near the top of the market. If we had to sell today we would loose a lot, but that?s just what the market bares right now and being realistic is the only way to keep moving forward.

If you are a Realtor and have ?clients who won?t budge from unreasonable thinking,? then you may have to try an alternative approach to the one you are currently using. One of those items that I find no one has mentioned is the use of BLOGS. Yep, give them the web site address here or email them the link to this article. They can get mad as hell at me, but I have included the links to the statistics within this article.

I can?t say it any better than this ?When you have clients or prospects that are being unreasonable, it?s your job to help them revise their expectations based on the market reality.? I have to give credit where it?s due. This quote is from Kelle Sparta?s article that I mentioned above. (Kelly is the author of The Consultative Real Estate Agent).

In closing, it appears that the signs of denial for Sellers are still all over the map here in Florida and California. . Inman news covers it fairly well in their article entitled Denial: Didn?t we do this stage already ?

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How to stop foreclosure – 101

How to stop foreclosure – 101

According to a New Report published yesterday by Realty Trac US Foreclosure activity increased 75% in 2007 over 2006 figures.

Nevada hit # 1 with Florida #2 followed by Michigan to round out the top 3.

The states with the highest household foreclosure rate were

1. Nevada (3.38 percent)
2. Florida (2 percent)
3. Michigan (1.95 percent)
4. California (1.92 percent)
5. Colorado (1.92 percent)
6. Ohio (1.8 percent)
7. Georgia (1.57 percent)
8. Arizona (1.52 percent)
9. Illinois (1.25 percent)
10.Indiana (1.03 percent)The U.S. average was 1.03 percent.

Following fresh on the report release was an interesting piece from the Today Show Wednesday, entitled Foreclosure 101 -

This interview is with Barbara Corcoran a so called business baroness. She is listed as one of the most powerful brokers in the U.S. Barbara is legendary for being the most well-known name in New York real estate and for having personally sold only three apartments. She is a Real Estate contributor on the payroll of MSNBC, who produces the Today Show.

In this news segment they break down exactly how a foreclosure process works.

Some of the not so pretty points:

• Foreclosures up 75% in the last year
• 1 out of every 100 homes are in Foreclosures
• 40% of Las Vegas Homes are in Foreclosure
• Most People don?t return calls to the bank
• Foreclosure starts after missing 3 payments
• Filing Bankruptcy doubles the time you can stay in your house
• Takes 3?18 Months before you lose your home
• Bankruptcy stall foreclosure
• It takes 6 years to restore your credit after foreclosure
• Bank Loses Average of $59,000 for each foreclosure

How to Stop a Foreclosure:

• Short Sale
• Apply for FHA Loan
• Ask for a reduced Payment
• Return the Deed

The take away from this according to Barbara, ?People don?t realize they have more muscle than they think when they are in financial trouble?.

I invite you to comment on this after viewing the video.

What are your thoughts ?

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