Florida Real Estate News
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Florida real estate news

REAL ESTATE INVESTING

Despite the sluggish economy, investors this year are putting their money into funds that invest in real estate investment trusts (REITs), a turn-around of recent trends. A total of $1.23 billion flowed into domestic REIT funds in the first three months of the year, according to new research. Read the full story: HERE

BUYER'S REAL ESTATE MARKET

It can't be a slow market for sellers without it also being a dynamic market for buyers. Buyers have lots of homes to choose from, time to browse, and, typically, the advantage in negotiations. Read the full story: HERE.

MARKET WATCH: GAINESVILLE

In Gainesville, some positive signs have recently emerged about median home prices and existing home sales. "I think we're heading in the right direction," says Craig McCall, president-elect of the Gainesville Alachua County Association of Realtors. More buyers, McCall says, are beginning to look at properties, and agents are starting to receive more offers. Read the full story HERE:

FLORIDA: GOOD FOR BUSINESS

A new study by Pollina Corporate Real Estate ranks Florida high on its list of the most business-friendly states in the country. Florida ranked No. 2 in the firm's fifth annual rankings, judged on such factors as taxes, utility rates and economic incentives to persuade big companies to move in. Florida scored high for employment growth, low corporate income tax rates and the absence of a personal income tax. North Carolina ranked No. 1. Other states in the top 10 include Virginia, South Carolina, Wyoming, South Dakota, Georgia, Alabama, Utah and Kansas. Chicago-based Pollina specializes in helping companies relocate.

Source: Miami Herald (04/03/08)
© Copyright 2008 INFORMATION, INC. Bethesda, MD (301) 215-4688

STUDY SAYS: MILD HOUSING RECOVERY ON THE WAY

It looks like the housing market may have hit bottom, setting the stage for a mild housing recovery to begin prior to year-end 2008, according to a new study by SMR Research Corp. The market's recovery is likely to be gradual, with house prices merely firming up or increasing slightly, rather than returning to the strong growth seen from 2002 to mid-2006, the firm said. An SMR study was among the first to declare (in 2002) that a housing price bubble existed, defined as prices rising faster than consumer incomes. In a 2004 study, SMR forecast that a "perfect storm" in credit quality would cause an explosion in foreclosures within two years. SMR specializes in mortgage and home equity loan industry research. "Our prior forecasts were accurate but widely disbelieved when issued," says SMR President Stuart A. Feldstein. "We similarly expect a skeptical reaction now to a recovery forecast, which is not the common view. But the numbers are what they are." The new recovery forecast was published within SMR's annual spring study. "Homes are now affordable again," Feldstein says. "Consumer psychology is the biggest remaining hurdle to recovery."
© 2008 FLORIDA ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS


REAL ESTATE INVESTING

The subprime meltdown in the United States is creating great prospects for opportunistic investors and causing a lot of funds to be set up to scoop up properties on the cheap. Read the full story HERE.

GREAT TIME TO BUY

The Sunshine State took four of the top-10 metro slots on the Forbes.com 2008 list of "America's Cleanest Cities." According to the magazine, clean water and air result from assertive steps by Florida's cities as well as "the built-in advantage of weather patterns that blow out smog." Read the full story HERE

FREE Florida Real Estate Market-Watch Alert Service

Searching for the right home to fit your needs or a property for investing can be tedious and time-consuming. Our FREE Market-Watch Alert Service helps you keep watch on the real estate market in the same way that you would track opportunities in the stock market, with daily or weekly (your choice) email reports on changes in specific types of commercial, residential or business properties as they come on the market or when prices are reduced, based on your specific selection criteria. A licensed Florida Realtor® representative personally reviews the reports which you receive.

As a member of this free service, you will receive regular email notifications, on a daily or weekly basis, as you require, advising you of new listings or changes in current listings of properties in the database coverage area which match your specifications. You can change the specifications of your search reports or opt out of this free service at any time. (Data service area is indicted in GREEN).

CLICK HERE TO GET STARTED NOW!
If you have problems with the above link please Email

Reports generated from data provided by Mid Florida Regional Multiple Listing Service and believed to be accurate as of the time indicated in the report but no guarantee of accuracy is implied or expressed. Service is subject to availability of the data sources indicated.

Where's the "slump"?

For a long time buyers have been wanting lower interest rates. Now they're here. Buyers have been waiting for lower prices. Prices are dropping. Real estate agents always want more listings. So now, the listings are everywhere. Buyers wanted more choices. Inventory of available new and resale homes are at an all time high.

So where's the problem, where's the "slump"?

What is currently being refered to as a "slump" is really more like the half empty glass or the half full glass -- it depends on how you look at it, and often how you look at things depends on where you happen to be at the time. In the stock market they call it a "market correction". If you've got money in the bank and not too much debt, you might well be saying "What real estate slump?". When the market is up, you sell, when the market is down, that is the time to buy. When the market is showing signs of recovery, that's when to get going.

For generations, home values have risen by around 5% a year. Then of a sudden around 2005, buyers were willing to pay much more and prices bounded by double digits, some even doubled. Some sellers seem to have convinced themselves that kind of market condition was "normal", and that they should continue to expect double digit appreciation. Never mind that kind of market never was sustainable. There was a time when they were even insulted with offers of a mere 20% annual increase on their investment in a time when 5-10% in a lot of things is considered a good return.

Now, at last, reality has begun to sink in, and prices are becoming reasonable. What's that mean? That simply means that now is the time to buy.

Always remember that opportunity can wear many disguises.

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