COMPETIVE PRICING KEY TO SALES

Getting a listing is good but only if it sells. Many Realtors face a daunting task today: How do you tell a seller that he should have a lower asking price – something less than the amount his neighbor got when his similar-sized home sold in 2006? Richard Coren, a Pembroke Pines seller, listed his home for $420,000 in November and it just sat there. Finally, he knocked $40,000 off the price based on advice from his Realtor, Cyndy Wald with the Keyes Co.’s Weston office. Wald says she told Coren that his $420,000 asking price was “yesterday’s news,” advice she gives all her clients. “We’re still in this correction phase,” Wald says. “They have to price it very competitively.” David Dabby, a Realtor in Coral Gables, notes that the relatively strong economy and still-affordable interest rates keep prices from falling even further – at least for now. Should either of those conditions change, however, a seller unwilling to accept a drop in asking price today could be forced to swallow an even greater loss tomorrow.
Source
Florida Association of REALTORS

May 25th New Home Sales Surge in April

Daily Real Estate News May 25, 2007 New Home Sales Surge in April
Sales of new single-family homes jumped 16.2 percent in April, the largest increase in 14 years, but the median price fell 11.1 percent, marking the largest one-month decline on record, according to the Commerce Department.Analysts regarded the mixed signals cautiously, saying that troubles in the subprime market could further crimp demand in coming months.''What you're seeing is the blue-light special,'' says Pat McPherron, an economist with Moody's Economy.com. ''The only way this market is going to move is by price cutting.''The strength in new-home sales was led by a 27.8 percent increase in the South. Sales were also up in the West by 8.5 percent and in the Northeast by 3.8 percent. In the Midwest, sales fell 4 percent. Meanwhile, April's median new-home price of $229,100 made the record books as the largest-ever month-over-month decline, as well as the biggest year-over-year drop (10.9 percent) since 1970.
Source: The New York Times (05/25/07)

2007 Home Sale Prediction

NAR: Soft Landing for Home Sales The NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® still expects more than 6 million existing-home sales in 2007, but stricter lending standards and a decline in subprime mortgage origination have contributed to somewhat lowered expectations compared with earlier forecasts, according to the latest projections from NAR.Lawrence Yun, NAR senior economist, says one benefit for the market is the disappearance of speculative behavior, which contributed to abnormal price growth. “Home buyers today are purchasing for the long term, generally with a realistic expectation of modest gains over time,” Yun says. “Housing first and foremost is shelter.

Second, it’s a long-term investment that slowly builds the greatest amount of wealth for most families. It’s good that we’re getting beyond the tendency of some buyers to view housing as a temporary asset to accumulate short-term wealth, which is not to be expected in a normal market.”Housing ProjectionsNAR expects the following in home sales this year:
Existing-home sales are likely to total 6.29 million this year and 6.49 million in 2008, compared with 6.48 million last year.

New-home sales are projected at 864,000 in 2007 and 936,000 next year, lower than the 1.05 million in 2006.
Housing starts should total 1.46 million units this year and 1.52 million in 2008, down from 1.80 million last year.“If it weren’t for a favorable economic backdrop, housing would probably have a hard landing,” Yun says. “As it is, we see this as a soft landing with home sales rising gradually in the second half of the year and prices recovering a bit later.” The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage should rise slowly to 6.5 percent by the fourth quarter, NAR predicts. Last week, Freddie Mac reported the 30-year rate was 6.16 percent. The national median existing-home price is forecast to slip 1 percent to $219,800 this year, and then rise 1.4 percent in 2008. The median new-home price is expected to be essentially unchanged at $246,400 in 2007, and then rise 2.2 percent next year.The unemployment rate will probably average 4.6 percent this year, unchanged from 2006. Inflation, as measured by the Consumer Price Index, is estimated to decline to 2.5 percent in 2007, down from 3.2 percent last year. Growth in the U.S. gross domestic product is projected at 2.1 percent in 2007, lower than the 3.3 percent growth last year. Inflation-adjusted disposable personal income should rise 2.6 percent in 2007, the same as last year.—

REALTOR® Magazine Online

First Quarter Sales 2007

NAPLES AREA BOARD OF REALTORS®REPORTS FIRST QUARTER TRANSACTIONS NAPLES

The Naples Area Board of Realtors® has released first quarter 2007 statistics for home listings and sales in Naples, utilizing the Board’s local reporting format.
In this report, only sales of homes within the Naples geographic area are being shown - specifically all areas in Collier County excluding Marco Island and other outlying areas - to reflect an accurate and relevant portrait of the local real estate market.
A summary of the statistics is presented in graph format, along with the following analysis.
New listings as of March 31, 2007, were 5,885 as compared to the record 6,851 reported in the first quarter of 2006, marking a drop of 14 percent.
Pending sales during the first quarter of 2007 were reported at 1,491, a slight decrease of 4.5 percent from the first quarter of 2006.
There were 939 closed sales reported at the end of the first quarter of 2007, a drop of 25 percent from the first quarter of 2006 which reported 1,250 closed sales.
The median sales price of homes sold during the first quarter of 2007 was $399,512. The median refers to the middle value in a set of statistical values that are arranged in ascending or descending order, in this case prices at which homes were actually sold.
It should be noted that in any given period the median can vary greatly if there is an anomaly, a single sale that is significantly higher or lower than other properties in the area.
With Naples Area Board of Realtors® members reporting continuing increases in showings to qualified buyers and pending sales indicating improved activity, the expectation is that the market will maintain an upward push.
Median pricing is again showing a rise, with an overall upward trend line over the long term. Median prices have not yet reached the level experienced during the record sales in early 2005 and first quarter 2006, but the value of the Naples location remains a strong draw for luxury second-home buyers and investors on the national and international level.
Inventory: As of April 1, 2007, there were 12, 123 active listings on the market. With 4,183 homes sold in the previous 12 months, it is calculated that the current inventory represents a 35 month supply.
The calculation of months’ supply is derived by dividing the total number of listings at the beginning of the month (Supply) by the number of sales which closed over the past 12 months (Demand). This way we normalize the data by utilizing the prior rolling 12 months closing statistics (Demand). This methodology illustrates a more realistic trend which takes into account market seasonality. After we calculate the years supply, we then multiply the years supply times 12 to get the months supply. This is the current method used by Hanley Wood Market Intelligence.

NEW CREDIT SCORE BASED ON RENT

Utility PaymentsFair Isaac has launched the FICO Expansion Score to help prospective borrowers with minimal credit histories obtain loans and credit scores. The Expansion score gauges a borrower's creditworthiness using timely utilities and rent payments and clean checking accounts, among other factors. While car dealers and credit-card companies have already embraced the new scoring model, mortgage lenders are unlikely to do so unless Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac purchase the resulting loans.

Kiplinger's Personal Finance, Joan Goldwasser (03/07)

Year To Date Sales Numbers

Well I think the housing bubble has repaired itself as you can see by the report above Naples housing sales are on the increase, maybe the properties are selling at more realistic prices at least we are showing some kind of recovery.

Stats provided by Nabor

Daily Real Estate News March 28th, 2007

Mortgage Demand Up Almost 17 Percent Year Over Year

Demand for mortgages fell slightly last week compared to the previous one with the Market Composite Index decreasing 0.2 percent from 672.1. But on an unadjusted basis compared with the same week one year ago, applications were up 16.6 percent.The refinance share of mortgage activity decreased to 45.1 percent of total applications from 45.3 percent the previous week.The average interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages decreased to 6.04 percent from 6.06 percent.The average interest rate for 15-year fixed-rate mortgages decreased to 5.77 from 5.79 percent.The average contract interest rate for one-year ARMs decreased to 5.84 from 5.88 percent.

—REALTOR® Magazine Online

FORECLOSURES LIKELY TO SET RECORD IN 2007

Foreclosures slipped 4 percent in February from the month earlier, but were 12 percent higher than the same time in 2006."Based on our numbers for the first two months of 2007, foreclosure activity is running at a rate that would project to a 33 percent increase over 2006," said James J. Saccacio, chief executive officer of RealtyTrac.States with the highest foreclosure rates in February were Nevada, Colorado and Florida. Nevada had one foreclosure filing for every 278 households. Colorado reported one foreclosure for every 345 households, and Florida had one foreclosure filing for every 382 households. Nationwide, there was one foreclosure for every 884 households.

SOURCE­– REALTOR® Magazine Online

SUBPRIME FALLOUT

Home Owners vs. Banks Financially-strapped and bankrupt home owners are pointing the finger at banks and mortgage brokers for selling them on the idea of subprime mortgages. Doug Duncan, chief economist for the Mortgage Bankers Association in Washington, D.C., acknowledges that in some cases aggressive lenders obscured facts and made loans that borrowers couldn't afford. But he, like other lenders, says it was the responsibility of borrowers to read and understand what they signed.About 50 percent of the subprime mortgages were "stated income loans," with no verification of borrowers' incomes, says Paul Leonard, director of the California office of the Center for Responsible Lending.Last year, the Mortgage Asset Research Institute sampled 100 such loan applications and reported that 90 percent listed significantly higher incomes for borrowers than they had reported on their tax returns."Borrowers need to protect themselves and need to read what they're signing,” says Nick Larson, an assistant vice president at the Mortgage Asset Research Institute. “At the end of the day, bottom line, you can't stress this enough: The person who is signing the papers is committing themselves financially.


”Source: Associated Press, Alex Veiga (03/25/07)

Real Estate is looking up

UF: Residential Development May Have Bottomed Out

Survey of Emerging Market Conditions, Q1 2007 FindingsExecutive Summary & ConclusionsThe most important finding from the January round of our Survey of Emerging Market Conditions is that residential development may have bottomed out. Given the scale of the residential development market, this would be good news for all real estate markets and for Florida in general. Meanwhile, most other real estate markets are stable, if not improving, giving a sense that almost all is nearly well in the land. An exception may be condominium markets and apartments for condo conversion that continue to struggle, though they, too, are perceived to be improved.
In brief, leading observations include the following:- Residential absorption rates are expected to stabilize for both single family development and condo development.- Residential prices are expected to lag inflation, but fewer respondents look for actual declines than previously did.- Investment in single family residential development is no longer regarded as clearly a poor prospect, though condo development, while improving, has further to go.- All types of rental property except hospitality are viewed more favorably as investment opportunities than they were in the previous survey, and generally are viewed as positive opportunities.- The outlook for respondents' own business, which has declined steadily in the last year, remained stable relative to the previous quarter.
For more detail visit their website:http://www.cba.ufl.edu/fire/realestate/cres/findings.asp

South East Naples Real Estate Report

Welcome to my report these numbers are provided by the Sunshine Mls

NA 17 north of Davis Blvd

Homes on market 1123.

Avg List pric $363,937.

#of sales 422.

Sales price to list price 96%

NA 18 north of Rattlesnake Hammock south of Davis Blvd.

Homes on the market 925.

Avg List price$361,520.

# of sales305.

Sales price to list price 94%

NA19 south of Rattlesnake north of 41 east of 951.

Homes on the market 719.

Avg list price $505,783.

#of sales 155.

Sales price to list price 92%.

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Bernie East 239.248.1966

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