Sunday, January 13, 2013

Florida Housing Market Improves During Last Months of 2012

This is encouraging news about an upsurge in home sales.

Summer Greene, 2012 Florida Realtors President, states that Florida’s real estate market has retrieved it’s ‘sizzle’. Credit for the hot market is due to things like the shortage of for-sale homes.

The regional manager for Fort Lauderdale’s Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate Florida 1st, Greene is in a position to observe market trends. More jobs and a better economy are bolstering consumer confidence for 2013. Mortgage rates are expected to remain low.

The Chief Economist for Florida Realtors, Dr. Jon Tuccillo, endorsed the optimistic outlook. Growth in home prices is the result of a solid recovery in real estate in Tampa Bay and other parts of Florida. Average prices have soared, resulting in actual marketplace appreciation that impacts median prices, which usually would be less as investors take on the lower end of the market inventory.

Freddie Mac reports the average interest rate dropped from 3.99 percent in November 2011 to 3.35 percent for November 2012 on a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage. The overall savings that result led to an increase in Florida’s housing market pending and closed sales, as well as average and median prices. Florida Realtors reports a noticeable reduction in the inventory of condos and homes for sale during the final months of 2012.

According to industry analysts, a balanced market between sellers and buyers features a 5.5 month supply. November 2012 inventory statistics for Florida single-family homes showed a supply for 5.1 months. Townhome and condo properties also reported a lower amount, with a 5.3 month’s supply.

Statewide sales of townhomes and condos are up 18.3 percent from November 2011. November 2012 registered the monthly sale of 8,079 units across Florida. Pending sales, which are signed contracts that have not been closed or completed, have increased 30 percent when compared to townhome-condos statistics for November 2011. Although lower than the national condo media price reported by the National Association of Realtors (NAR) for October 2012, the $112,000 Florida townhome-condo median reflects a 23.1 increase from last year.

Single-family existing homes statewide have a median sales price of $150,000. That represents an increase of 11.2 percent in the year from November 2011. The in same amount of time, pending sales show a 45.8 percent increase. Median prices across the nation include California ($341,370), New York ($209,000) and Massachusetts ($287,000). As of October 2012, the national median sales price raised 10.9 percent to $178,700.

Date from 10k Research and Marketing as well as Florida Realtors Industry Data and Analysis, showed 17,072 existing single-family homes sales closed statewide in November. That is an increase of almost 25 percent in just one year. Once the sales contract was written, closing generally took between 30 and 90 days.

Median prices reflect the midpoint. Half of the sold homes are less than that amount, while the remaining half represents a higher sale price. Factors affecting the median price in Florida and nationwide include discounted prices for distressed properties and foreclosure sales. Those prices are typically less than that of a well-kept, traditional homes.

Source: Tampa2enjoy.com/blog

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