Tag Archives: Florida

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Current Florida Real Estate Issues

The US housing market is up and down.  It’s good for some people; bad for others.  Looking at the fact that there are properties on the market which have lost around 50% of their value, this should make it a great time to buy a home.  But that’s just the theory.  It seems the reality is somewhat different.

Other Economic Factors

While it’s true that house prices in distressed areas are selling at pretty much an all-time low, if one has  no money, there is no money  no matter how cheap they are!  In other words, with high unemployment, it doesn’t matter how low property prices are plummeting, there is no capital with which to make a purchase. 

On average, a 30-year mortgage has now dropped to less than 4 percent.  But with people worried about whether or not they are going to remain in gainful employment and thus banks becoming less willing to lend money to these individuals, it becomes way harder to purchase property.  Potential buyers now have to really be put through the ringer as they are requested to produce comprehensive tax returns and income verification.

Where Florida Fits In

Unfortunately Florida is pretty typical of what is going on now vis-à-vis the challenging real estate market. People simply cannot buy homes with no jobs or if they sense severe job insecurity.  The four largest cities in Florida are at this point this right now.  Thus it seems there is quite a way to go before the Florida housing downturn encounters a real recovery.  Potential buyers – or those who should be potential buyers – are sticking to what they know and not taking any risk.  They want to make sure they have a steady income before thinking about taking out a huge loan for a house that could ultimately result in a foreclosure.

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According to a report from Zillow, in the third quarter of 2011, those selling their homes in Palm Beach County lost money on almost 46 percent of occasions.  This was an increase of 3.4 from the second quarter.  As well, in September, national figures were 34 percent of homes selling for a less which is three percent more than for the same time frame last year.

And it looks like there is more bad news along the way.  According to one economist at Zillow, home prices are meant to plummet a further three to five percent before hitting rock bottom nationwide.  The economy isn’t doing great with unemployment, negative equity and more. With such features plaguing the economy, is going to be a long time until the housing market stabilizes.

Florida Homeowners

Close to 50 percent of homeowners in Broward, Miami-Dade and Palm Beach owed more on their mortgages than the worth of their homes during the third quarter.  This figure has slightly increased since the second quarter.  It also looks like next year, the values on South Florida homes will be hitting bottom.  At that point, banks will have to start unloading all these homes.  The one silver lining on the cloud according to the Zillow report is that there has been a reduction in pace of home-values.

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New homes are to be built in the Lely Resort, which is located in Naples, Florida.  The company engaged in the building work is Stock Construction.  The residential units will comprise five floors plans which are named: Santa Ana, Santa Clarita, San Clemente, San Pablo and San Pablo B.  In each of them, there will be maximum natural light capacity as additional windows will be fitted.

Santa Ana

This property will comprise three bedrooms, two-and-a-half bathrooms, living and dining areas, and a garage for two vehicles.  This will span 1733 sq. feet.

Santa Clarita

The building will be a town home with two floors, covering 1989 sq. feet, which will have two/three bedrooms, a half-bath, a side-loaded entrance, covered porch from the kitchen and a Juliette balcony off the guest suite.  Attached to the unit will be a garage suitable for two vehicles and two closets for storage.

San Clemente

Two bedrooms, two bathrooms, two lake-facing lanais, garage for two cars, large living area and altogether measure 1404 sq. feet.

San Pablo

This will span 1774 sq. feet and be on the second level.  It will comprise: three bedrooms, two bathrooms, a fancy kitchen, large front porch, a garage with the capacity for two vehicles.  San Pablo B will be the same.

All five new designs call for installation of more windows which leads to optimum natural light penetration.

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It wouldn’t seem like Florida would be doing well in real estate right now, given the fact that as a state, Miami has been taking somewhat of a battering recently.  But apparently that’s exactly what has been happening.  Just taking a look at the statistics for the sale of various properties in the region, according to the Miami Realtors Association, it seems like right now Florida might just be setting a record.

Every Cloud…

This fact however, has probably stemmed from bad news however, in the Florida housing market.  What’s been happening is that there have been many discount priced foreclosures as well as short sales.  Still, the facts are the facts and there has been an increase in condominium sales by 58 percent as pointed out by Housing Predictor. Further, from its peak in August 2008, there has been a reduction of over 65 percent in the amount of residential properties available in Miami-Dade County.  Close to 60 percent of residential sales – such as bank-owned REOs and short sales – experienced “distress” last month.  This figure was almost 70 percent in September of last year.