Recovering, Sight-Unseen And Vacant
Space Coast Daily reports from Florida. “August was a hot month for real estate sales in Brevard County. ‘Multiple offers have now become common,’ says RE/MAX Hall of Fame Realtor Jennifer McCoy with RE/MAX Elite. ‘Some of our out-of-town buyers have placed accepted offers on properties without actually seeing the property in person.’”
The News Press. “Experts say Southwest Florida’s real estate market is recovering — but at least 1 of 3 three area houses remain vacant, according to census data released this month. Southwest Florida led the state last year in its percentage of vacant houses. Collier County had 38 percent vacant — the second-highest in the state. Lee was third with 34 percent. Monroe was first with 45 percent.”
“Pete Gerold, co-coordinator of volunteer group Take Pride in the Cape, said the group has cleaned almost 1,100 homes since 2009. ‘You have all these really nice houses,’ Gerold said, ‘and you have one or two where grass is 3 feet high and bushes are up above the roof. Something needed to be done with it. It really just pulls down values.’”
“Denny Grimes, president of Denny Grimes & Co. at Royal Shell Real Estate, questioned the numbers. It’s obvious there’s fewer vacant homes along Southwest Florida streets, he said. Neighborhoods such as Lehigh Acres and Cape Coral — which had clusters of vacant houses — are now the area’s hottest markets. ‘They sell before the ‘for sale’ sign paint dries,’ Grimes said.”
The Sun Sentinel. “Distressed home sales increased sharply across South Florida in August, a result of more foreclosures working their way through the court system, a new report shows. Four in 10 Broward County sales last month involved homes in some stage of repossession, according to RealtyTrac. Foreclosure-related homes accounted for only 21 percent of Broward sales in August 2012. In Palm Beach County, 36 percent of August sales involved distressed homes, up from 20 percent a year earlier.”
“Those homes still sold for about a third less than properties not in the foreclosure process, according to RealtyTrac. ‘As quickly as the homes are put onto the market, they’re gobbled up,’ said David Dweck, founder of the Boca Real Estate Investment Club. ‘Banks have gotten smarter and raised their prices accordingly.’”
The Tampa Tribune. “With new flood insurance rates taking effect next week, some local homeowners are finding their older homes might be more trouble than they’re worth. Housing industry experts say some homeowners will be forced to sell their homes, either because they can’t afford the new premiums or because it won’t make sense to pay sky-high premiums on low-priced houses.”
“Bill McKenna feels he’ll be trapped in his modest 2-bedroom home near MacDill Air Force Base. He’s paying $642 a year in flood insurance premiums today, but because of the complex rules of the Biggert-Waters Flood Insurance Reform Act of 2012, any new buyer would see his or her premiums skyrocket to more than $7,000 a year. Not surprisingly, the people who were going to buy his home recently backed out after hearing of the new insurance premiums.”
“At the moment, he’s renting out the house while he lives in a separate home in FishHawk Ranch. But that may have to change, he said. He’s not sure how he’ll sell the MacDill-area home because any new owner would face sky-high premiums and would balk at the insurance cost. But, he won’t be able to rent out the home, either. While primary residences with policies that predate the new law will continue to enjoy rate subsidies, rental properties and second homes will see big rate increases, he said.”
“‘I feel like I’m getting stuck with this house, and I don’t know what to do about it,’ McKenna said.”
The Orlando Sentinel. “Florida homeowners with ‘underwater’ mortgages may now qualify to have as much as $50,000 chopped from their loan balance under a new program announced Friday by the state. Some Floridians complain that the program will reward people who made little or no down payment when they purchased their home and are now underwater as a result. Seminole County resident Tina Harden said the principal-forgiveness program does nothing for people like herself. She made such a substantial down payment on her home in 2008 that her mortgage is not underwater. But the house is listed for sale, and she will lose money on it if it sells.”
“‘I don’t think the program should have anything to do with what you owe on the house,’ she said. ‘If you put down a big chunk of money and you’re neighbor didn’t, why should he get the break?’”
First Coast News. “Life is good for John and Sharon Fisher, but they would be first to tell you that it would be better if they had a break on their mortgage. The Fishers are retired, on a fixed income, and they say sometimes the $1,200 a month payment becomes a struggle. ‘We have a very high interest rate,’ said Fisher, ‘but we’ve never missed a payment, we’ve never been late. We love our home. We can’t sell it and we don’t want to sell it.’”
“The Fishers are hoping the state’s newest program will help; they’ve applied to the Florida’s Principal Reduction Program. ‘We’ve lost almost $100,000 in the place,’ he said.”
“‘I feel like I’m getting stuck with this house, and I don’t know what to do about it,’ McKenna said.”
You along with millions of other suckers…… all of whom paid a massively inflated price for what is always a depreciating asset and a loss. And those losses are magnified tremendously by financing.
Got cash?
Cash IS king!
Entities who can borrow at ZIRP always will have cash. That’s not us.
Entities who borrow cash at any rate fall into delinquency and default.
And their brothers “stupid”, “broke” and “desperate” move in with them.
“August was a hot month for real estate sales in Brevard County. ‘Multiple offers have now become common,’ says RE/MAX Hall of Fame Realtor Jennifer McCoy with RE/MAX Elite. ‘Some of our out-of-town buyers have placed accepted offers on properties without actually seeing the property in person.’”
Bawn and bred in Brevard County…
Has there ever in history been another real estate recovery that so quickly sprang from foreclosure crisis to shortage-driven bid wars and sight-unseen purchases in all corners of the U.S.?
I believe it is typical, but don’t mistake it for a recovery. It is a bounce after the first leg down, a sucker’s rally. The “recovery” cannot take shape until after the falling is over. The falling will not be over until all the suckers have been processed and houses are easily affordable on an average income, investors have totally lost interest and no one thinks the price is going to go up.
Has there ever in history been another real estate recovery that so quickly sprang from foreclosure crisis to shortage-driven bid wars and sight-unseen purchases in all corners of the U.S.?
It isn’t happening in my little burg,
I am hearing more and more on a daily basis everyday people talking about how the “housing recovery” is fake, and that there is no such thing. I was talking to a contractor yesterday and he said as much. Deep down, I don’t think any of the builders believe it. They know how much shadow inventory exists.
In the next block, there are two examples of shadow inventory. One’s been vacant for at least a decade. The other was walked away from in 2011.
I used to think that the recent orgy of McMansion building in my neighborhood was a sign that all caution had been thrown to the winds. But an alternative explanation is that the builders are rushing to get every dollar possible because they know the clock is ticking.
the bama booty bump of spring 2010 was sorta big- low end house moved -for about 4 months
“The Fishers are hoping the state’s newest program will help; they’ve applied to the Florida’s Principal Reduction Program. ‘We’ve lost almost $100,000 in the place,’ he said.”
Would Florida’s Principal Reduction Program some how bring that lost $100,000 back?
How?!
They help you find it!
“The Fishers are hoping the states newest program will help.”
Keepin’ that hope alive.
Keep ‘em hoping and you’ll keep ‘em stayin’ and you will keep ‘em payin’.
Not one dollar shall be allowed to escape.
Yet they “love” the house! This house has beaten them severely over a long period of time and yet they would never leave it.
It’s an illness.
“It’s an illness.”
That point leaps off the page. Anyone who doesn’t see it is either just like them or stupid.
A mental illness…
I can here them now…. “Gimme the cash big daddy ben! Gimme the cash!… We’ll do anything because we’re broke dick and flat broke junkies!”
I love… lamp. I love lamp!!
…..battered home l/owner syndrome?
‘yet they would never leave it’
can’t get the dang wheelchair around the sinkhole
‘Life is good for John and Sharon Fisher, but they would be first to tell you that it would be better’
Life would be better for me too, if you handed me $50,000 for nothing.
I guess the Gov’mint can just keep giving away printed dollars because they never intend to pay it back - just like it’s citizens.
‘Luxury builder Toll Brothers’ plan for 122 acres in Boca Raton includes a gated community of million-dollar-plus homes with mahogany front doors and big back yards. The 223 homes in Royal Palm Polo will range from $1.2 million to $2 million, said Jim McDade, regional president for Toll. Sales are expected to begin in the spring.’
‘The homes will have four-to-seven bedrooms and feature three- or four-car garages. All the lots will be 90 feet wide by 140 feet deep, McDade said. “That’s extremely big for Boca Raton,” he said. “Nowadays, people want their back yards to be more like a resort, and this gives them room to do that.”
‘Construction is booming again in Palm Beach County. New home listings are at a five year high, and in some parts of of our area there’s a new residential or commercial construction project in every direction.’
‘CBS 12 News is hearing from realtors that the multi-million dollar Palm Beach Outlets development is driving up home home prices and demand in the already established communities nearby. But we found that developers in northern Palm Beach County are scrambling to get new homes built to cash in on the hot demand.’
‘According to the Realtors Association of the Palm Beaches, the county’s median price for existing homes is $250,000. Good luck finding that in some of the new construction happening here. You’ll spend “from the 900s” on a new home in the new Preserve neighborhood, and you’ll be spending even more for a waterfront home on the Intracoastal in Frenchman’s Harbor.’
‘Some of the green space is disappearing, but residents know more homeowners moving in equals more money moving through the local economy. One resident said, “We always like to have the tax income from all of this.”
‘Last week, the Greater Fort Lauderdale Realtors said the median price in August for existing homes in Broward County was $270,500, a 26 percent increase from a year ago. In Palm Beach County, the median last month was $250,000, up 16 percent from a year earlier, according to the Realtors Association of the Palm Beaches.’
‘A shortage of homes for sale has helped drive South Florida prices higher over the past year.’
‘Judy Trudel, a real estate agent who sells in both counties, said recent price increases have prompted lenders to counter short sale offers at higher than appraised values. In short sales, homes are sold for less than what the sellers owe on the property, if the lender agrees to accept the shortfall.’
‘In recent years, banks were more likely to agree to short sale offers if they were anywhere close to market value, Trudel said. Now, some of her clients are leery of even bidding on short sales. “It’s still a very frustrating market,” she said.’
‘Judy Trudel, a real estate agent who sells in both counties, said recent price increases have prompted lenders to counter short sale offers at higher than appraised values. In short sales, homes are sold for less than what the sellers owe on the property, if the lender agrees to accept the shortfall.’
‘In recent years, banks were more likely to agree to short sale offers if they were anywhere close to market value, Trudel said. Now, some of her clients are leery of even bidding on short sales. “It’s still a very frustrating market,” she said.’
Read this quote….
Then look through the lens of supply/demand and the knowledge there are tens of millions of excess empty houses and new construction added every day, read it again.
Now what do you see 12 months out? 24 months out? 36 months out?
HA
While I agree w/ your macro view, not all areas have land available, the job corridor, schools, short commute times, etc…, are in demand, and the longevity of homeownership is long term. There are so many variables, even with new supply and “shadow inventory” lurking, prices will hold up. Our area is one. The only new construction is townhomes or $1M+ homes by Tool Bros. Falling prices back to 1987 ain’t happening where I live.
We lived through the S&L bubble, and although this one is much worse, we’ve seen a fair market correction. Nothing to BK over. But then again, we don’t live beyond our means. That psychographics doesn’t fit us.
Keep telling yourself that Donkey.
But you’re right on one thing. Prices won’t be rolling back to 1987 levels because that’s not a stop on the way to 1983 prices.
You were ripped off by $200k. Get over it and get on with your life.
HA
You’re a sad human being. Calling people names and using the HBB as a platform for rude unjust rebuttals is childlike. You haven’t studied all areas and the ebb and flow of the micro markets.
Army No Va - HA is a sick puppy. Excuse his rudeness. Your eloquent post was spot on.
Donkey,
You’re a corrupt human being. Lying to people and using the HBB as a platform to excuse grossly inflated housing prices. You haven’t been honest about anything.
See how that works Donkey?
Now here’s a couple questions you’ve been avoiding.
Are realtors liars?
Is Leslie Appleton Young a liar?
Are Dr’s liars, insurance agents, etc. All walks of life in a capitalist country push for the sale.
I said many times RE agents, banks, didn’t break consumer arms to sign on the dotted line my friend.
If you are a grown-up, you have a responsibility to yourself or family to find the facts, read the contract, otherwise you pay for your laziness and greed?
Answer the question Donkey.
He does not understand the concepts of quality and location differentiation. He might be right for much of the country. But anyone who thinks that Rye will fall to the same level that Port Chester Ny will fall to is delusional!
And you’re another Donkey who overpays for everything because you don’t know anything. That’s going to be a hard truth for you to eat but you’re going to eat it like everyone else.
$60 / sf and 5000 lots that you are peddling at the quality level you offer certainly qualify as over paying !
Oh wait. I get it . You live in port chester and are a rye ny wanna be. So you need to try to equate these places in hopes of influencing the collapse. Same game as the realalliars but in reverse!
nothing…… completely clueless donkey.
“Rye will fall…”
There is a tidal wave coming. An extra course of cinder block will not make a difference.
“That psychographics…”
Now I think you are making up words.
I am sure that you are making up that your particular house cannot fall in price because it is in a special location. If your location was so special, why did it participate in the 2006 step down that you call a fair correction? If there is no land for building, how are Toll Bros building McMansions? You think the country will see a 60% further correction but your little burgh will rise above that. Ha!
Blue
Sure area homes prices will fall some. and that’s ok. But to say you can predict the future bottom is ridiculous.
Toll Bros started building Happy Camp in Moorpark years ago. It’s a really high end PUD. PUDS around here have a 10 year plan, especially the pricey ones. The land was purchased by Toll 18+ years ago, I’ve been told at a BIA Meeting. Shopping Center Developers (my employers) keep a handle on residential. I am not in residential. Not my flavor.
And this my dear, Blue:
Psychographics is the study of personality, values, attitudes, interests, and lifestyles.[1] Because this area of research focuses on interests, activities, and opinions, psychographic factors are also called IAO variables. Psychographic studies of individuals or communities can be valuable in the fields of marketing,[2] demographics, opinion research,…
I would have thought you’d look up the word, than react like that. Your oversight, and forgiven.
HA
You need a shrink. I through with you.
That’s what you said last time Donkey.
This blog has come down in the quality of posters. Civility and agree to disagree are basic skills. I miss 1st class acts like OlyGal, muggy, Texas Chick, eastcoaster, ca renter, etc… I’ve chimed in since 2005 as “awaiting wipe**t” and it never happened.
Here’s a bulletin for ya Donkey. Gone are the days of dominating the #1 housing blog on the planet. Fetch yourself another location to corrupt. But before you do that, answer the questions.
Are realtors liars?
Is Leslie Appleton Young a liar?
‘awaiting wipe**t” and it never happened’
I beg to differ about that.
Proposed weekend topic:
Was there a U.S. housing market wipeout or wasn’t there?
Exhibit A: Detroit.
“‘Luxury builder Toll Brothers’ plan for 122 acres in Boca Raton includes a gated community of million-dollar-plus homes with mahogany front doors and big back yards. The 223 homes in Royal Palm Polo will range from $1.2 million to $2 million, said Jim McDade, regional president for Toll. Sales are expected to begin in the spring.’”
And with the return of sub-prime lending, even the most pedestrian of incomes will be able to “afford” one of these fine million dollar gems!
Let’s roll!!!
“Realtors said the median price in August for existing homes in Broward County was $270,500…”
Only five times the median household income would be my guess.
I tried to look it up but the census department just closed their website due to the “government shutdown”.
“Nowadays, people want their back yards to be more like a resort, and this gives them room to do that.”
There is a strange human nature that seems to drive most of us to try to recreate cool stuff in our own houses at great expense rather than simply enjoying them as a special treat once in a while on vacation. The older I get the more I realize that “resort features” are things that are better to rent once in a while rather than pay to maintain. They’re not that special when you have access to them every day anyway. We’re like little kids killing ourselves to recreate the Chucky Cheese experience in our basements. When you grow up you realize Chucky Cheese isn’t really that special if you go very often. But we don’t want to have to stand in line and share with other people even though it’s good for us.
There is a strange human nature that seems to drive most of us to try to recreate cool stuff in our own houses at great expense rather than simply enjoying them as a special treat once in a while on vacation.
Brilliant.
“All the lots will be 90 feet wide by 140 feet deep, McDade said. “That’s extremely big for Boca Raton,” he said. “Nowadays, people want their back yards to be more like a resort, and this gives them room to do that.””
Are you kidding me? 12,600 square feet is “extremely big?” Is this some kind of manipulative psychology designed to make people think that is a big lot size? It reminds me of used car ads which tout “low miles” when the vehicle has over 150k. What a joke.
‘As quickly as the homes are put onto the market, they’re gobbled up…They sell before the ‘for sale’ sign paint dries’
One word comes to mind; testy! Testy!
‘Northwest Florida banker Buzz Ritchie sees a lot of good things happening in Pensacola, the key city in the two-county market served by his Gulf Coast Community Bank. Ritchie’s bank is among those banks that as of the first quarter reporting date had a troubling level of problem loans and foreclosed real estate relative to equity capital and loan-loss reserves, according to calculations by RMPI Consulting, a consulting firm to community banks with an office in Tampa. That ratio, called the Texas ratio, is considered bad if it’s over 100%.’
‘Gulf Coast’s ratio stood at 329% as of the March 31 reporting date, down from 536% three months earlier. “We know where we are. We know how bad that it looks, but at least there’s improvement,” Ritchie says.’
‘At Bank of Jackson County in Graceville in northwest Florida, the Texas ratio stood at 266% on March 31. “It is what it is,” says President Kathy Leibold. “The economy in this area has not improved. It’s not good.”
Check out the list at the end of the report:
Heritage Bank of North Florida - Texas ratio - 1,064.76
‘In another South Florida example, The Trump Group, headed by Eddie and Jules Trump, recently obtained a $160 million construction loan for Mansions at Acqualina, an ultra-luxury condominium project under construction in Sunny Isles Beach.’
‘And in July, four companies controlled by Miami developer Craig Robins and his partner L Real Estate obtained $251.5 million in financing for various properties in the Design District project from by HSBC and Credit Agricole. The developers also obtained another $50 million in financing from a Blackstone fund for future development in that high-profile, mixed-use project, according to Schwartz, who worked on both the Design District and Acqualina deals.’
‘The Porsche project, which has units priced from $5.3 million to $32.5 million for a penthouse, requires buyer deposits of 30 percent.’
‘Most condominium projects in the works in South Florida are using the Latin American model of taking larger deposits from unit buyers, typically upwards of 50 percent of the purchase price before closing. That has proved to be an attractive low-cost source of funding for condo developers, who are attracting cash-rich foreigners looking to invest in Miami real estate.’
And how will these foreigners realize their investments in RE? Selling to a knife-catcher is the only thing that comes to mind.
‘The fight may be in Washington, but the effects of the government shutdown will ripple through every neighborhood in America-without a fully functioning government, an already tight mortgage market may become even more prohibitive. It is exactly what the housing recovery does not need.’
“This is going to be very disruptive to the mortgage industry and pretty much result in a freeze of the pipeline,” said Craig Strent, CEO of Bethesda, Md.-based Apex Home Loans. “New loans can be taken, but without IRS and Social Security number verifications, [they] will not be able to proceed to closing.”
Well, Mr. Craig Strent, CEO of Bethesda, Md.-based Apex Home Loans, there’s only one thing you can do; pandamonium!
http://www.sandiegozoo.org/pandacam/
mr market disagrees- it’s up even though we’re all going to die, like the debt ceiling last time
planes falling from the sky etc
800,000 deabeats
I’m starting to question this panda cam shutdown. I mean, they still have the panda, they already bought the cam and have paid for the internet. How much electricity could a cam use? It’s Panda-gate, I tells ya!
similar to closing the white house tours……very petty.
the sad part is, more people will miss the panda-cam more than the other govt. services.
Petty was closing down open-air monuments.
Best story of the day was the 80-90 year old WWII vets knocking down the barricades to the WWII monument.
If they threaten to stop feeding the Panda, then you would get very upset. You might beg them to borrow trillions and send drones to Al Qaida.
How much electricity could a cam use?
More than this gov’t can afford, apparently.
Clearly the government shutdown is a non-event in the asset markets, including housing. Of course this won’t prevent construction bosses from pandering to the Congress for a quick resolution to differences in order to ensure that real estate keeps going up from here…
my mil in tampa would take a 2003 offer in a heartbeat
recovery to 2002 !
‘They sell before the ‘for sale’ sign paint dries,’ Grimes said.”
They use vinyl these days, moron.