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Category Archives: Real Estate News

Florida & Local Market Looking Up: The Bigger Picture

As I’ve said on several occasions it’s been an exciting last few years in Real Estate both locally and for Florida. Yes, I said “exciting”.  It has been because there are a great deal of positives.  All “markets” will naturally have their ups and downs.  Real Estate is no different.  What happened a few years ago was unprecedented that’s for sure.  But the good news is that we are seeing “market correction” here in Florida.  Don’t believe me?  Let’s take a look at residential house sales for Florida going back to 1994 through 2010  (stats provided by the Florida Association of Realtors):

Number of House Sales For Florida 1994 to 2010

2011 totals and are waiting on December numbers, but the state and local markets exceeded last year in terms of quantity of sales.  Notice that rise towards the end and then take a look at the level it’s getting back to.  Market correction.  Demand is important because if people aren’t buying then price can not recover.

In terms of the local market we are seeing a similar month-to-month trend in activity with slight increases each year.  2009 appears a bit strange graphically, but this was due to the expiring Home Buyer tax credit that pushed activity up during that year and number of sales finishing about 1% higher than the year before.  Let’s take a look (Information based upon the Flagler County Association of Realtors MLS. Information is deemed reliable but not guaranteed):

Number of Residential House Sales For Flagler County Month-to-Month

The positive thing here is activity trends remaining similar.  This is key to knowing the better times to plan if you are thinking of selling.  For example if you place your house on the market for sale in January or February, your expectation should be that you will most likely see lower levels of activity.  The reason really isn’t “the market” but rather the normalcy or the local trends in activity.  Likewise, contrary to common assumptions . . . December is actually an active month for Real Estate locally.  Look at the consistent upticks for December each of the last 3 years.

Things are looking up, and we are seeing some great positives locally and at state level.  The numbers tell the story.

 

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Why Interest Rates Can Be a Better Benefit Than a Tax Credit

The national average interest rate on a 30-year fixed mortgage is an astonshing 4.29%. Many buyers were obviously motivated by the tax credits last year and unfortunately the record-low interest rates get overshadowed. Are these rates a better benefit to make the decision to buy now if you are considering purchasing a home? Well let’s do the math and you’ll see that the truth is that these rates are the better benefit.

Let’s take a $100,000 loan at 30 years fixed today at 4.50%.

* Payment would be $506.69 (principal and interest)
* Total interest over the life of the loan would be $82,406.71 or $2,746.89 per year

That same loan of $100,000 at 30 years fixed just 1% higher at 5.50% would be:

* Payment of $567.79 (principal and interest) or $733.20 more per year
* Total interest over the life of the loan would be $104,404.04 or $3,480.13 per year

The difference in the cost of the two loans year over year would be $4,213.33 combining the additional payment amount and interest. Over the life of the loan the savings in interest is an whopping $21,997.33! So are these interest rates a better benefit to buyers today? Absolutely.

Start your Palm Coast or Flagler County, FL home search today at PalmCoastHomeShow.com or contact me so we can get your custom plan today.

 

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Flagler County Sees Soft July But Still Up For The Year

Like the rest of the country, Flagler County and Palm Coast saw a dip in the number of home sale closing in July to the tune of about 28%.  103 homes closed in July of this year compared to 142 in July of 2009.  Year to date, the area still remains 7% above last year through August 25th in terms of the number of home sales.  August through 8/25/10 has seen 82 closings and is slightly below the same period in August last year when 94 homes closed.

The dip in the number of closings in July this year was actually to be expected.  The motivation of the homebuyer tax credit naturally shifted the selling season a bit.  Most will tell you in the area, that July was quieter than normal inlcuding me.  August on the other hand is looking strong and traffic in the area has definitely picked up.

What about price?  Median price in the area for home sales is slightly under last year at $137,500 last year through 8/25 compared to $131,000 this year for the same period.  This is about a 5% decline.

All in all, sales remain strong in the area.  The expiration of the home buyer tax credit at this point seems to have caused more of a shift in the natural trends of the selling seasons in the area rather than to have impacted overall demand in a negative way.  This is a very postive because it shows that people are very interested in the area and are continuing to buy here, but many were obviously motivated to buy earlier than usual due to the benefit of the tax credit.  Then when you look outside of the tax credit, there are other great benefits such as amazing interest rates right now.  Buyers are often able to get into a mortgage under 5% right now.  Definitely a rate to take advantage of.

Looking to buy a home in the area, start your search at PalmCoastHomeShow.com.  The most powerful and easy property search in the area!

Kathleen West, Realtor

Trademark Realty Group of Palm Coast

2 Pine Lakes Parkway, Suite 1
Palm Coast, FL  32137
Office: (386) 446-5930
Email:  Kathleen@PalmCoastHomeShow.com
www.PalmCoastHomeShow.com
“Bringing Real Estate to Life”

Become a fan of the Palm coast Home Show on FacebookGet the Palm Coast Home Show on Your IPhone
*After Downloading the MyAgent App,
enter ‘Agent Code’ 4082 and you’re set!

 

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Palm Coast Real Estate Gets Great New Systems

Recently the Flagler County Association of Realtors began transitioning over to Sentrilock lockboxes.  These lockboxes add far greater security and peace of mind for sellers.  These lockboxes add in the following security features for sellers:

  • Double coded entry system.
  • Wireless updating and reporting.  Local Realtors are now able to see and be notified as to who is accessing a property and when.
  • Realtors can assign ‘day codes’ for out-of-town Realtors showing a property which reduces appointment conflicts and insures properties can be shown when requested.
  • Sturdy rubber-coated construction protects doors and handles while insuring the security of keys.

This past year, the Association also transitioned over to a new MLS system known as Navica by Systems Palm Coast Flagler County MLS by NavicaEngineering. This online MLS system added great new features to provide better services to buyers and sellers.  Some of these great new features are:

  • Seller Gateway.  This option allows us to provide sellers with a login to see their property as it appears on the MLS, view showing schedule and activity, and view feedback from showings.
  • Online showing scheduler for properties that is customizable.  Realtors are able to add-in black-out times and recieve notifications as requests come in.
  • Online consistent feedback form.  All properties use the same feedback form which allows us to recieve a consistent set of information back from visitors that is crucial to the selling process.
  • Quick feeding to Realtor.com.  Getting out in front of potential buyers is important.  In the past, processing took about 24 to 48 hours for a property to appear on Realtor.com.  Now those properties are appearing on the same day as they are entered.

Customers are loving the benefits of these great new systems.  The added services are great bebfits to present and future customers.  Both companies are outstanding service providers in our area and we appreciate all they do and the support they provide.

Kathleen West, Realtor

Trademark Realty Group of Palm Coast

2 Pine Lakes Parkway, Suite 1
Palm Coast, FL  32137
Office: (386) 446-5930
Email:  Kathleen@PalmCoastHomeShow.com
www.PalmCoastHomeShow.com
“Bringing Real Estate to Life”

Become a fan of the Palm coast Home Show on FacebookGet the Palm Coast Home Show on Your IPhone
*After Downloading the MyAgent App,
enter ‘Agent Code’ 4082 and you’re set!

 

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Palm Coast State of the Market 7/10/2010

The common question today is how is ‘the market’ now that the tax credit for new contracts has expired?  Remember to qualify for the tax credit the buyer must have signed the contract by April 30, 2010 and closed by June 10, 2010 with the closing date date extended now to accomodate short sales.  Since most sales will close within 30 days, May was a real focus as an indicator of the impact of the tax credit and June to a point.  So how is the market?  Still holding strong in the area.  Let’s take a look at the Palm Coast Residential Home statistics:

Sales

June 2010          June 2009       %Difference

# of Closings                 135                 131                   +3%

Avg. Sold Price            $155,685           $164,479            -6%

Median Sold Price        $135,000           $138,000            -2%

So we are still seeing positive gains in the number of sales which is a continued trend over the last two years and that’s always a great sign.  The average and median prices, again, are seeing slight dips but the single digit drops are a very postive sign compared to the double digit drops from the last few years and indicate stabilization.

Pending sales have been getting a great deal of news as well.  Palm Coast currently has 130 pending home sales and this is about average for this time of year.  The average list price for these pending sales is $$185,803 and the median list price is $140,000.  Again, positive numbers for the area.

In terms of active homes for sale in Palm Coast, there are 1034 homes for sale with an average list price of $223,803 and a meidan list price of $169,000.  Short Sale comprise 36% of the homes for sale and foreclosures comprise 3%.  This has been the average for some time now and not much change in the area of actives.

So all in all we are seeing the market in the area stabilizing and positive response to all that Palm Coast has to offer.  It’s been a great year in the area and we’re only half way through!

Remember, you can easily search for properties in the Palm Coast area at www.PalmCoastHomeShow.com and even start your search in simple ways such as:

Create a PalmCoastHomeShow.com account and manage your property search with powerful features such as:

  • Saving properties to review later
  • Save multiple custom searches unqiue to you
  • Get email alerts for properties meeting your specific criteria
  • Easily set up showings or request more information on a property

Or call me today to get started on the road to your new dream home in Palm Coast, FL.

Kathleen West, Realtor
Trademark Realty Group of Palm Coast

2 Pine Lakes Parkway, Suite 1
Palm Coast, FL  32137
Office: (386) 446-5930
Email:  Kathleen@PalmCoastHomeShow.com
www.PalmCoastHomeShow.com
“Bringing Real Estate to Life”

Become a fan of the Palm coast Home Show on FacebookGet the Palm Coast Home Show on Your IPhone *After Downloading the MyAgent App,
enter ‘Agent Code’ 4082 and you’re set!

 

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