BEAUTIFUL AND UNIQUE A-FRAME GAMBREL HOME IN OLD ROCKLEDGE, JUST STEPS FROM THE INDIAN RIVER!

Check out the VIRTUAL TOUR!

MUST SEE! Eclectic, Gambrel A-frame style house with natural cedar inside and out. Newer dimensional shingle roof with full wrap on South end. The interior boasts an inviting lodge styling with ridiculously high cathedral ceilings & exposed beams. Cedar plank adorns the walls and ceiling all the way up to the beams! First level master suite, under stairs pantry and storage, original hardwood cabinets in kitchen, 12'' granite tiled counter top and laminate wood floors in main area. Second floor loft overlooking living area with a retro style metal fireplace. Two second floor bedrooms with a full bath to share! This house is very unique and a great value! Peekaboo river views from front year and living room. Home is just two lots West of the Indian River! Motivated seller.

• Bedrooms: 3
• Bathrooms: 2
• Square Feet: 1728
• Acreage: 0.24
• Year Built: 1978
• Style: A-Frame Gambrel

Home prices up 12.2%, highest in nearly 7 years!

New statistics from the National Association or Realtors shows that home prices and values for that matter have risen to a 7 year high.  Prices are up 12.2%!  While this sounds like a bad thing for buyers, in actuality it's great news,  Why?  Because as I have been blogging for the last few months, this will inspire a lot of sellers who have been holding out.

There are tons of short sales and foreclosures, there's no doubt about that but the ratio of standard listings to these other sales types is expected to shift.  In the last few years, private owners have been holding out and waiting for the market to recover so they can list their homes for sale.  Of course, a fast nickel doesn't always beat a slow dime and good things come to those who wait.  In this case, those rewards will be a 12.2% higher take away.

It is evident in the volume of new standard listings that have been added in recent weeks.  We're also seeing a lot of chatter from sellers that have been on the fence about listing, they're asking questions and talking more seriously about listing right away.  We do expect and influx of new listings over the next few months and especially towards the beginning of 2014.  While we don't expect a completely flooded market to happen, there is a good chance that home prices and values will continue to rise.

Consumers are happy about what they're seeing but they don't have confidence that it will continue in such a drastic way.  Their gut feelings are probably correct to a degree.  This is because as prices rise, so does inventory and just as a lot of economic models will show, the market has a way of balancing itself out.  This also seems to be a microcosm of the country's economic health as well.  What this means is that we can all rest at least a little easier these days. 

Rising interest rates, not necessarily a bad thing?

As many REALTORS and consumers alike have seen interest rates fall to historic lows at the beginning of 2013, rates have climbed back up nearly an entire percentage point in the last 6 months.  While this is sure to have an impact on the housing market and loans, the impact could be positive.  Of course it's natural for consumers to be wary about buying a home when interest rates are on the rise but rates are still far more competitive than they were a few years ago.  

In a recent blog post 2013 National Association of Realtors President, Gary Thomas, gives us his forecast on what rising interest rates could mean for borrowers.  In a nutshell, it's simple economics- mortgage lenders are seeing less demand for refinancing so they have to increase the supply of loan origination to balance the decrease in revenue.  They still have to make money somehow.  How do they do this you ask? Well, it is quite elementary.  Lenders may ease some of the credit standards and excessive stringency to increase their loan origination.  With rising interest rates, banks will need to make sure that credit is available to the highest number of qualified buyers. 

With the possibility of banks lowering the strict standards for loan qualification, it is expected that there will be an influx of new buyers who would have otherwise been denied credit.  It is also my hope that this theory coupled with the paradigm shift to a seller's market will bring more inventory as well.  Available homes on the market have been drastically low since 2011, almost 50% of what was available in certain markets in 2010 and early 2011.  Now that homeowners know prices are going up, they will feel more comfortable bringing their homes to market and we will hopefully see more buyers qualified to purchase these newly listed homes. 

That said, here's a little tidbit of hope from Gary Thomas: "We’re hopeful—and it’s more than just a glimmer—that if the economy can recover as much as it has under tight credit conditions, it may do even better as credit steadily returns to normal."

MLS 672646

MLS 672646

Check out this super cute beach home in South Patrick Shores, just 2 blocks from the Ocean!

Okay so I wanted to post this a month and a half ago but part of me wanted to see how Spring was going to I could talk about this in retrospect.  You know what they say, hindsight is 20/20, well in this case it's true but it's something anyone in the industry is well aware of.  Lack of inventory! Not just Brevard County.  Not just Florida.  The problem is country-wide,  pun intended (Get it? now bankrupt countrywide home loans?).  In 2012 our local MLS website had an average of 2500 residential properties for sale in the entire county, that's not a lot.  That's about 50% of what was offered the previous year.  Today we are hovering just over 2700 units which is a welcome increase but we need to see more homes coming to market.

The beginning of 2013 brought the paradigm shift to a seller's market which is great, prices are on the rise but not so fast as to deter buyer's.  It was projected that the Spring selling season would see faster increases in price than inventory.  While this is true to a certain extent, it seems to be keeping pace somewhat.  The results of the price increase has created a fair amount of market demand.  This is most readily visible in the offer stage of a real estate transaction.  Multiple offer situations are present nearly every time I contract a property for clients.  It has proved difficult to explain to buyers why they need to pay more than asking price if they really love their potential new home.  I have to advise clients plainly and simply, "If you really love this home, you're going to have to come in strong."  It is what is is I suppose but it is creating a challenging and aggressive real estate market for sure. 

Amidst all of the hypothesis and worries out there that another housing bubble is forming, I think we are safer than these predictions may indicate.  The simple fact that the structure of mortgage pre-qualifications has changed so dramatically is helping to keep the problem under control.  On the other side of the coin, it is making it difficult for otherwise well qualified buyers to purchase the home the desire.  This is most notable with regard to the properties Quality and Condition.  For example, a home that has bare concrete floors without any floor treatments would most likely not pass through underwriting standards with most lenders.  This really is a shame because some of these properties are in great condition with the exception of missing floor treatments. 

I suppose at the very least, the steady increases in price and value will help sellers feel more comfortable bringing their properties to market.  This has already become somewhat obvious with slight increases in inventory but the bottom line is- we need to see more inventory. 

Existing-home sales rise in January

According to the National Association of Realtors^®, prices are steadily rising above the levels of the last two years.  Total sales also rose in every region except the West which has been impacted the most by lowered inventory.  Limited inventory has plagued the market across the board for some time now, especially in Brevard County.  Buyer traffic has picked up significantly while seller traffic holds steady.  Lawrence Yun, the NAR's chief economist stated that buyer traffic actually rose 40% since a year ago.  This increase has resulted in higher demand for inventory that is low.  The paradigm shift to a seller's market has begun.  When buyer's hear "seller's market" it is understandable that they are wary to begin there search but this is actually a good thing.  It not only means that seller's may be more inspired to list their homes for sale easing the deficient inventory but it also means that prices and property values are on the increase.  That is a good thing!  The market is anticipating a seasonal rise in inventory this spring but given the buyer traffic, it is projected to be insufficient thus creating more multiple offer situations which tend to drive purchase prices up.

*This historic A.J. Sherwood House photo was provided courtesy of:
Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic

Distressed homes sales-short sales and foreclosures- were actually on the decline slightly since the end of last year.  These types of transactions usually carry a discount off market value of on average around 20% for foreclosures and 12% for short sales.  While getting a "steal" isn't necessarily a bad thing, I for one am glad to see a decline in these properties.   A lot of times in foreclosures, the previous owner lets the home go into a state of disrepair and in some cases, intentionally destroys elements of the property as some sort of revenge against the bank.  This makes it very difficult for buyers who are financing their purchase to be in the game.  No lender is going to write a loan for a property in that's condition is that poor.  Not only that, and the same goes for short sales, the sellers are generally not going to make the necessary repairs to the property to get the transaction closed.  Who wants to wait three months or in some cases over a year for a short sale to close anyway?

Residential properties on average are selling four weeks sooner than last year and spending a lot less time on the market says NAR president Gary Thomas, broker/owner of Evergreen Realty in Villa Park,CA. In January,  31% of homes spent less than 30 days on the market!  First time home buyers accounted for 30% of all homes purchase in the same month.  These statistics should make buyers and sellers feel good what they're doing and the condition of the market.  I guess the only thing that concerns me to a degree is the limited inventory and whether or not it will create somewhat unrealistic price increases.  That could be especially concerning with some of the strict underwriting standards lenders have adopted since the 2008 collapse.  I guess time will only tell but I tend to think that these statistics will inspire more sellers to bring their houses to market.

The market is finally seeing steady increases!

There are so many ways the housing market and economy as a whole suffered from the housing bubble collapse and the mortgage/credit crisis.  You can't throw a stick in the economy without hitting someone who is to blame.  Mortgage lenders, underwriters, CEO's, the S&P among many others took part in the collapse.  From the bubble's creation to the sub prime mortgages and the S&P reportedly inflating the credit worthiness of borrowers who didn't otherwise qualify to increase their profits. The US Justice Department announced in recent weeks that they plan to sue the Standards & Poor for it's role in the crisis to the tune of $5 billion settlement.  That sounds like a lot but it's a drop in the bucket compared to the $190 billion in aid that the US Governments has given as part of the bail out.

From 2009-2012 the US allowed Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and unprecedented unlimited aid as part of the recovery. Fannie Mae is actually allowing walkaway to some borrowers known as a deed-in-lieu transaction that is supposed to bridge the gap between the property's value and the amount of the mortgage.
In short, this eliminates that sinking feeling millions of homeowners have faced with their property being worth far less than they owe.  There are some 7 million upside down homeowners in the US and that figure dropped from 11 million in 2011.  That figure is projected to fall to 4 million in the next two years.

With 2011 being considered the bottom of the market with historic drops in property values, 2012 began to see steady increases.  2013 is already looking up, mortgage rates are at record lows and property values are beginning to turn around.  While it's characteristically a buyer's market, these conditions are advantageous for Sellers too.  So they're not going to make a huge profit, the amount of inventory available in many markets is creating a demand for buyers who want to purchase homes that are a Standard Listing and not a short sale or foreclosure.  This gives sellers a leg up on the competition for buyers who don't want to wait out a short sale or buy a foreclosure,  Buyers know that there is usually a bit more room to negotiate on a standard listing.  If you're thinking about buying or selling, it's a great time to do so, contact me for more information on the process.  I can put you in touch with reputable mortgage lenders with many different programs for various credit, income and employment situations.  Contact me today!

Introducing Joe Ross Realtor on blogspot.com!  Aside from simply reading my blog posts and updates, my blog has a lot of functionality for my followers to take advantage of.

• From the links tab you can search our local MLS site to search every type of property available in Brevard county from Commercial Property to Vacant Land.  You can also check out LaRocque and Company Realtors, the brokerage that I work with, friends of Joe Ross Realtor and local businesses and professionals that we know and trust. 
• My page includes a live real time feed from the Florida Association of Realtors so you can keep up to date on Florida Real Estate.  The feed features news and events posted from the Florida Realtors® website, these articles are both insightful and entertaining.
• I also added a mortgage calculator to my blog.  The calculator gives you the option of a standard loan type or a mortgage.  It includes escrow amount options for taxes and insurance and PMI ratios form Private Mortgage Insurance.

• Connect with me on Facebook and other social networking apps and follow or subscribe to keep in touch with what's going on in the world of Real Estate on the Space Coast.  
• Fill out my custom questionnaire and request my services; let me know how I can help you.

I look forward to connecting with all of you, friends, family, clients and colleagues, stay tuned for more!