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!