How much is my House Worth?

ORLANDO, Fla. – July 9, 2009 – One of the biggest mysteries in the region’s tumultuous housing market these days is: How much is that house worth?

Appraisers, real-estate agents, buyers and sellers across Central Florida are in a quandary about whether to include bargain-basement sales in the price mix when determining the value of a nearby, comparable home.

“It’s really causing havoc in the market right now,” said Les Simmonds, president of the Orlando Regional Realtor Association. “Hopefully it will turn around as we go through inventory of foreclosures and other distress sales. But I want to emphasize that could take some time.”

The confusion over local home values in a changing market is compounded when it takes weeks – or even months – for actual sale prices to reach government and commercial Web sites. One nationwide Internet sales site is taking on that problem by rolling out next-day closing prices, with the hope that it will draw potential customers by helping take some of the guesswork out of determining the worth of nearby properties.

Realtor.com has started posting sale prices the day after the transactions close in 22 U.S. markets – including the Daytona Beach area, parts of Brevard, the Miami area and Northeast Florida.

“If you’re trying to track trends in your neighborhood, you can find out what homes sold for in 24 hours. You don’t have to wait 60 to 90 days,” said Julie Reynolds, a spokeswoman for the Web site, which serves as a national, consumer version of local Realtors’ well-known Multiple Listing Service. “With the rapidly changing market trends, especially in Florida, it’s an art to establish the right list price or the right bid.”

Current sales information also can affect homeowners who are considering whether to sell or refinance their property, she said. The sales information is available in the “Find Home Values” feature on Realtor.com’s home page.

Leah Selig, executive director of the Space Coast Association of Realtors, said her group voted to disclose its members’ sales-price information to the public on a next-day basis to give the Realtors’ Web site an advantage over competitors such as Zillow.com, which provides property listings and estimated home values for houses throughout the country.

“Some of these public sites are publishing data that is not always current or accurate,” Selig said. “And you’ve got consumers out there relying on that information when it’s really months old.”

Zillow posts sale prices within about three weeks of closings in most markets.

So far, the Orlando Realtor association, with members throughout the region, hasn’t embraced next-day reporting of sale prices. The group voted against the idea about a year ago, noting that the information typically becomes available on government Web sites within a few weeks of a closing, Simmonds said.

But he added that the Orlando group is likely to review its earlier position, perhaps as soon as next week.

Though quicker reporting of sale prices can give the public more-accurate snapshots of the home market as a moving target, it won’t untangle confusion over whether foreclosures and short sales should affect the value of other homes.

Orlando real-estate analysts have tried to keep such “distress sales” from sullying the rest of the housing pool by separating the two in monthly price reports. On the other hand, Orange County Property Appraiser Bill Donegan often includes foreclosures when his staff computes home values in particular neighborhoods.

The state Department of Revenue has advised county property appraisers that they are allowed to, but don’t have to, use foreclosure sales when determining the value of nearby properties. Donegan said his staff is factoring foreclosures into property values in areas that contain numerous bank-sold houses.

“It’s got to be more than one, or even five, foreclosures spread out among 3,000 houses,” Donegan said. He said his appraisers are “being awfully cautious, based on what they did before [the housing bubble deflated]. They’d rather be low than high.”

The Orlando Regional Realtor Association has taken to distinguishing between the prices paid for foreclosure properties and those paid for homes sold through conventional methods. In May, for instance, the median price paid for all distress sales was $140,000, compared with the $165,000 median for “normal” sales, the association said.

Simmonds said he thinks it’s important to categorize the two types of sales because people need to understand why prices overall have continued to drop, even as monthly sales volume has been improving compared with a year ago.

Copyright © 2009 The Orlando Sentinel, Fla., Mary Shanklin. Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.

More Information on $8000 Tax Credit for First Time Home Buyers

Here is some additional information from the Florida Association of Realtors regarding the $8000 tax credit for First Time Home Buyers. A little lengthy, but very informative if you are a candidate for the credit!

Short Sale Closes!!!

Whew...my son closed on his home in Plant City today. He got a great deal on a short sale property, and is very thankful the process is over. We've all heard of horror stories and delays in closing a short sale. In retrospect, this one went pretty fast, but the delays and mis-communications were as advertised!!!! I believe it is only through perserverance and an insistance on communicating the details of agreed upon terms continually that this deal went through. It's unfortunate that the purchaser has to be the one driving the process, but in reality they are the ones with the most at stake.

Chinese Wallboard becoming a Big Issue in Florida

In the recent housing boom, construction was going crazy. Following Katrina, building materials were in short suppply....builders turned to materials which were available, and affordable. One of these materials was wallboard which was made in China. As time has past, it appears this material poses a major health hazard for homeowners. Being in a warm, humid climate, impacts of this material are magnified in Florida. This certainly something homeowners need to be aware of.....here is an article which explores this issue in some detail..

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090411/ap_on_bi_ge/chinese_drywall

With Mortgages at Historic Lows, Now is a great time to Refinance

With mortgage rates at historic lows, homeowners eager to lower their payments are rushing to refinance in numbers reminiscent of this decade's real-estate boom.

The Mortgage Bankers Association said Wednesday that mortgage-refinance applications rose to almost triple their level a year ago. The average contract interest rate for 30-year, fixed-rate mortgages stood at 4.73%, down from more than 6% a year earlier. About 80% of all mortgage applications are for refinancing.

Prior to refinancing your current mortgage, be sure to consider additional factors as well, such as how long you intend to be in your current home. If you are thinking of a move within five years, you may not save enough in payments to pay for the closing costs. If, on the other hand you are going to be in your existing home for a longer term, refinancing may be just the right thing to do!!!

30 year Mortgages at a record low!!!

The average rate on 30-year fixed-rate home mortgages hit a record low this week, after the Federal Reserve announced it would purchase Treasury securities over the next six months, Freddie Mac's chief economist said on Thursday.

The 30-year mortgage averaged 4.85% in the week ended March 26, the lowest point since Freddie Mac's weekly survey began in 1971. Last week, the mortgage averaged 4.98%; the mortgage averaged 5.85% a year ago.

Fifteen-year fixed-rate mortgages and five-year adjustable-rate mortgages also hit record lows. The 15-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 4.58% and hasn't been lower since 1991, when the survey began tracking the mortgage. The 15-year mortgage averaged 4.61% last week and 5.34% a year ago.

With home values at current lows, the low interest rates make it an excellent time to be in a buying position!

Home Sales up Nationally...What About Gainesville?

Nationally, home sales were up 4.7 % as reported in the attached video.

http://online.wsj.com/video/higher-prices-may-follow-home-sales/EA999434-627A-4097-8452-2BBBD357BF72.html



But what about Gainesville? MLS statistics indicate we're not quite following the national trends. In fact home sales in Gainesville were down 13% in January and February from the same time period last year.



We see the same active interest from first time homebuyers, looking to take advantage of the $8000 tax credit. The credit, coupled with lower home prices and very favorable interest rates, make it an excellent time for a first time home buyer!!!