Real estate values in Orlando Florida

Real estate values in Orlando continued on a downward trend according to the latest trends report released by the Orlando Realtor Association.

July's median home price fell to $207,500 down from $216,000 for June. You have to go back to March/April of 2005 to find real estate values that compare to July's numbers. Reports indicated that in March/April the median price fell between $202,000-$215,000.


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- Greg Staker - Watson Realty Corp. 407-304-0255

President Bush not completely happy with housing bill

White House Press Secretary Dana Perino in a press briefing acknowledged that President Bush signed the housing bill this week even though he was not happy with parts of the bill.

When questioned by reporters if the absence of ceremony or a statement by President Bush when signing the bill was an indication of President Bush's desire to distance himself from the bill, Ms. Perino responded;

"When a President of the United States, no matter who it is, signs a bill, that's putting your name on it. And we said last week that there was a provision of the bill that we think bailed out lenders rather than helping homeowners, and we didn't agree with it, but we recognized that the timing was such that we needed the bill sooner than later. And having a prolonged veto fight that we were convinced we would win, and we proved that we would win, was not in the best interest of the housing market and of the credit market. And so that's why the President signed the bill today. "

The housing bill is being considered one of the most important pieces of legislation in decades.


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- Greg Staker - Watson Realty Corp. - 407-304-0255

Americans believe home prices will increase

According to information gathered by a Financial Times/Harris Poll, 68% of American adults believe home prices will increase over the next 5 years.

At the same time 39% of the adults polled are somewhat to extremely concerned about losing their primary residents over the next 12 months due to not being able to make their payments.


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- Greg Staker Watson Realty Corp. 407-304-0255

Trump sells Florida home for $95 million

Reports from the guardian.co.uk World news is that Donald Trump closed on $95 million dollar Palm Beach estate this week. According to a spokesperson this is the largest sold price the country has ever seen.

Donald Trump is quoted as commenting about the sale;

"I love breaking records" ...

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Holiday homes for sale in Florida

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- Greg Staker Watson Realty Corp. 407-304-0255

Orlando home sellers: giving in, selling or losing their home?

ORRA released a new set of numbers dealing with the Greater Orlando housing market. It was noted as a positive that the listings inventory has dropped by 46% since January.

• It is possible that more sellers are giving in or that the listing agents are giving up and if the home is priced to high, they are being taken off the market. MLS reports indicate that 821 Orlando homes were withdrawn from the market in June, 792 in May and 747 in April.
  
• The ORRA report also noted that June saw a 7% increase in sales over May. That is great news and something we have not seen in some time. The hope is that this trend will continue upward regardless of how slightly throughout the year and in to 2009.
  
• Another sad truth is that more people are losing their homes in the Orlando area. Recent reports indicate that Orlando ranks higher than most metropolitan areas in foreclosure rates. The foreclosures will pull down the listing inventory temporarily only to see these same homes reappear months later as bank owned listings.

These are 3 good reasons why the inventory is dropping in the Orlando area. What it means long term is still to be determined.

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Buyer's demand for new homes remain low during peak season

Buyer's demand for new homes remain low during peak season

According to information release by the National Association of Home builders, new home sales are dropping even as the peak-buying season begins.

According to the news release,

“In the latest evidence of severe and ongoing weakness in the nation’s housing market, the Commerce Department reported today that sales of newly built, single-family homes fell 2.5 percent in May to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 512,000 units, largely offsetting a gain they recorded in the previous month.”

Thus far this year in Orlando, 56 new homes built in 2008 are reported as selling in the MLS as compared to 81 last year during the same time period. There are 207 new homes available for sale in the MLS that are recorded as being constructed in 2008.


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- Greg Staker - Watson Realty Corp. - 407-304-0255

National real estate market nowhere near the bottom?

I found this interesting real estate housing article written by Caroline Baum, a Bloomberg News columnist. This quote stood out for me:

While homebuilders are pressuring Congress to enact a tax credit for first-time
buyers, they are resisting the one thing that requires no legislative action to
spark buyer demand, according to Thomas Lawler, founder of Lawler Economic and
Housing Consultants in Leesburg, Virginia: Cutting prices.

Osceola Florida real estate market

Telling numbers for those looking to sell their Osceola home or property.

New listings

January 893
February 878
March 910

Sold listings

January 117
February 163
March 187

Consider the price carefully before entering the market. Consult with a professional real estate agent prior to listing your home.


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- Greg Staker Watson Realty Corp. 407-304-0255

What does it cost a buyer to use a Realtor to purchase a home?

From those I have spoken to, many potential home buyers are unaware of the cost to have a real estate agent help them find a home.

While I cannot speak for every real estate agent or company, we rarely charge a buyer to assist them with buying a home and I have written a web page explaining why there is no cost of using a real estate agent from our office.


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- Greg Staker - Watson Realty Corp. 407-304-0255

Is the media to blame for the current real estate market?

National Association of Realtors, Lawrence Yun, in presentations Wednesday to Kansas City area real estate agents, said the media’s biggest mistake was too much reporting on nationwide real estate trends.

Housing starts decline

Nationwide housing starts declined 3.7 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.19 million units in November as home builders wisely continued to put the brakes on new-home production, according to newly released data from the U.S. Commerce Department.


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Watson Realty, Maitland Florida

It floors me that it has only been 11 days since I assumed the Branch Manager's postion here in Maitland Florida. Maitland is minutes from Orlando. I would call it a bedroom community of Orlando but a Maitland resident may disagree. The way the associates have taken to my style, the conversations and meetings between them and I make me feel like I have been here for forever. They have been very accepting of the "new guy".

The office is made up of strong personalities. It is reflected in their no non-sense approach to their business. Very little wasted time as they come into the offfice get their work done and then out the door to their next appointment. Several top producers here and more developing. I'm thinking no reason why together we cannot take over the number 1 office spot in the company.

Business at hand is to clear up a few issues left over, continue to get to know the associates, get a better understanding of Watson Realty Corp.s, management team and goals and recruit recruit recruit.

Looking for a career in real estate in Central Florida?

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- Greg Staker Watson Realty Corp. 407-304-0255

West Volusia Florida real estate trends

I just looked over the most recent numbers through September has tallied by mfrmls and found these to be interesting:

From Jan-Sept 2005, 62.18% of all transactions were completed with conventional financing. Cash transactions accounted for 15.69%. The data does not say what percent of the conventional financing was insured vs uninsured. Another interesting figure concerns FHA and VA financing. FHA 1.79% and VA 0.72%. This leads me to believe when considering the amount of new Realtors that have entered the Florida real estate market over the last couple of years, very few of them understand these financing options well enough to assist the consumer.

The average sales price in this area dropped to $202,175 in September compared to $210,418 in August.

Inventory for September was 881 units which is the highest number reported since January 2005. As this normal Florida real estate market continues to develop, marketing will be the key to continued success. Those companies who have spent the last few years focusing their marketing efforts only to attract real estate agents or worse yet, have nothing more but a sign in the yard and listing in the mls as their marketing plans, will need to do some serious catch up.

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- Greg Staker Watson Realty Corp. 407-304-0255