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May

1

Q1 2008 Mortgage Statistics for Florida and Tampa Bay

Filed Under Economy, Finance, Mortgage | 3 Comments

050108 The results are in for the first quarter and it is not a pretty picture on the foreclosure front here in Florida or for that matter the Tampa Real Estate Market.

Two reports this week that are interesting depending on how you can decipher the content ? The first report is by Trans Union. They put together a trended analysis report that reviews 2007 fourth quarter data to compile their latest statistics and then forecast for 2008. They are reporting that Florida delinquent mortgages have increased by 34 %.

The top three areas showing the largest growth in delinquency from previous quarters are Florida at (34 percent), California (33 percent) and Arizona (32 percent).

“The market continues to see the effect of the mortgage crisis in the steeply increasing mortgage delinquency rates among borrowers across the country,” said Keith Carson, a senior consultant in Trans Union’s financial services group.

The national 60-day mortgage borrower delinquency rate is expected to continue to rise throughout 2008 from a value of nearly 3.0 percent in the 4th quarter of 2007 to 4.0 percent or greater by year end.

On another note: Realty Trac released their quarterly report on the U.S. Foreclosure Market which states that “Foreclosure activity has increased by 23 % in the first quarter of 2008.” They are reporting that Nevada, California, Arizona posted the top state foreclosure rates.

“Foreclosure filings were reported on 87,893 Florida properties during the first quarter, the second highest state total and giving Florida the nation’s fourth highest foreclosure rate — one in every 97 households received a foreclosure filing during the quarter. Foreclosure activity in the state was up 17 percent from the previous quarter and up 178 percent from the first quarter of 2007.”

“The highest ranked Florida metro area was Fort Lauderdale, which ranked No. 8 with one in every 73 households receiving a foreclosure filing during the quarter. Other Florida metro areas in the top 20 included Orlando at No. 13, Miami at No. 14 and Sarasota-Bradenton-Venice at No. 15. The foreclosure rate in Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater ranked No. 21.”

So this actually shows that the Tampa and St. Petersburg Real Estate areas are faring a bit better on the over all State level.

While the numbers on a whole do not look too promising, this is still a positive note for the Tampa Bay Area Housing Markets, and once again affirms the prediction by our States Economist that Tampa Real Estate markets will recover first starting with Pasco County.

If you want to find out specific information on Foreclosure statistics in your area and or find out which homes are in foreclosure or are on the auction list, you can go to RealtyTracs home page, click on the interactive map. For example click on the US Map, in the Florida area, this will then pull up a State Map where you can enter in a specific county. For example Pasco County and then click on search.

You will then be presented with the break down of total number of homes in pre-foreclosure, auction, bank owned etc. You can gain some pretty good information for free however, to see specifics on taxes etc you have to have a paid membership. The site looks complex but is fairly easy to navigate. Check back tomorrow and I will post a quick video over-view to walk you through the process.

Florida’s indifferent real estate market in Tampa…huh ?

Exisiting home sales bottom still elusive

Buy your home in Florida NOW

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Apr

22

Exisiting home sales bottom still elusive

Filed Under Economy, Finance, First Time Home Buyers | 3 Comments

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).

Buy your home in Florida NOW

1 in 3 Home Owners with Negative Equity according to Zillow

Apr

9

Earn Money Trashing your Home

Filed Under Economy, Finance | 7 Comments

I could not believe this latest information on the Foreclosure front. Just when you thought things were as unreal as they could be with the entire mortgage market meltdown, the amount of home owners that have walked away from their homes due to falling values and now add to this Trashing your Home for money ?

You heard me correct, check out this video segment. It appears that many homeowners angry with their banks refusal to work with them have been taking out their frustrations on the bank and the lenders by totally trashing their homes as they-vacate them. It has been so bad that many banks are now paying top dollar to the former owners to leave the property with a guarantee not to tamper with the home.

I believe that this footage is from the West Coast.

Has any one in the Tampa Real Estate Market observed this ?

What about Florida as a whole ?

Please comment if you have heard about this, or know anyone that has ?

How to stop foreclosure - 101

1 in 3 Home Owners with Negative Equity according to Zillow

Mar

18

Home Equity Credit - is it crunch time?

Filed Under Economy, Finance, Mortgage | 4 Comments

Equitydrip

It?s no wonder that home buyers sit on the fence and wonder when the right time to buy will arrive? Since the the mass confusion in the markets continues and the various media outlets can?t seem to come together on what?s really up anymore.

Heres a perfect example of Florida Real Estate as compared to other states :

In this weekends local St. Pete Times Finance section, I read an article that discussed the facts, that some home owners were finding out that the falling values of their homes were effecting previously issued home equity lines of credit. This column-article by Helen Huntly lists several local citizens as point of reference.

What?s interesting in this story, is that one of the individuals used as a source doesn?t come clean and tell the Times that their are?umm?issues with that owned property, that would make anyone understand why the bank said NO.

St. Pete times should vet comments or sources a little bit more prior to printing articles using outside sources.

Ok even so ?..this seems plausible given the current economic climate we are in. But then today I read an online article on the Wall Street Journal touting how a Home Equity line of Credit could be your safety net ?

The last line in that article is kind of interesting to say the least ?And you won’t be penalized if you never tap your home-equity credit line.?

So what?s your experience, is this happening as much as the Times says it is here in the Greater Tampa Bay?

What about the WSJ article?good idea or bad ?

1 in 3 Home Owners with Negative Equity according to Zillow

How to stop foreclosure - 101

Mar

10

DOT HOMES submits to US Real Estate BROKERS - dont worry - be happy !!

Filed Under Economy, Finance, Marketing, Real Estate, Technology | 2 Comments

Earlier today I received the following from DOT HOMES:

New pingback on your post #117 “MLS Data compliance and NAR vs. DOJ “

Website: BYTEPLAY ? Blog Archive ? For US listing brokers (IP: 195.62.28.205 , www.ec1m.net)

URI : http://www.byteplay.com/blog/archives/57

Excerpt:

[...] [...] some of the ensuing controversy (Lenderama, CBS5.com, InmanNews, GreaterTampaBayRealEstate), I?m going to attempt here a crude recap of my conversation with Kevin. If you?ve any [...] [...]

This is related to an earlier post I made regarding the DOJ’s lawsuit against Realtor.com and the issue over MLS (Multiple Listing Service). It appears that the presence of this new venture on the scene in the Real Estate Search community, had ruffled some feathers of a few of the Top Real Estate Brokers (BLOGGERS). Some suggested that what Dot Homes was doing may not be entirely legitimate or in compliance with MLS regulations.Seems that this answer is right on the money: After you have clicked on the link above you will also see my reply:

“I think this is an excellent review of Dot Homes capabilities as well as highlighting the short sidedness of many Brokers in the Real Estate industry today. I don?t think you can explain it any clearer than this. This is a tool that Brokers should welcome with open arms?especially given the current economic climate.
Also, keep in mind that there are well over 150 MLS associations in the U.S. alone, that all have their own version of what constitutes compliance. This entire MLS issue is so overblown and in many opinions has been the major issue that has suppressed innovation and competition in our industry. Why else is the US DOJ going after Realtor.Com with such vigor? Could it be that they represent monopolistic tendencies when it comes to the MLS ? Going forward, I think this kind of makes Kevin?s entire comment on the MLS issue kind of baseless. ”