SI Real Estate Tampa and The Beaches

As the buzz of New Year celebrations have settled down, many people are taking a closer look at the pulse of the real estate market for the year ahead. Whether you are considering buying a new home or selling your existing home, 2017 is looking like a promising year for your potential real estate transactions! Kicking off 2017, Realtor.com has released their yearly forecast, predicting a sales volume increase of 4.17% across the southern Florida market. Despite South Florida’s strong population growth and stable job creation, 2016 saw a decrease in home and condo sales – making this year’s sales prediction music to the ears of Realtors and investors! “There is more inventory on the market [in South Florida] than a year ago and prices haven’t fully recovered so it is more of a value play for buyers than other parts of the country” says Jonathan Smoke, chief economist at Realtor.com . Additionally, our neighbors in Jacksonville and Orlando, FL are among the top 10 markets e...

Searching for a home to purchase? You’ve probably noticed the increasing inventory of new construction homes available. Builders are developing new communities all over Florida, especially in the greater Tampa Bay area. If you’re ready to start exploring the option of purchasing a model or builder home, don’t go it alone! There are countless advantages of having an agent with connections to builders and the community, along with new construction experience, by your side for a new home purchase… Always use a Realtor ® As you admire the freshly built model home, you may be surprised to learn that the “new home sales consultant” greeting you might not actually be a Realtor. Builders employ sales agents and staff to sell their homes, but these individuals are not necessarily required to have a real estate license. While not hiring a Realtor may seem like a thrifty choice, it is always in your best interest to have representation in negotiating your purchase, sel...

New home sales are an integral segment of the continual stabilization of the real estate industry, especially in recent years, and the relationships between home builders and Realtors are allowing for the increased volume of sales. E.J. Atchner, Senior Vice President of Bank of America, notes that ‘many builders, regardless of their size, are taking a much more collaborative view of partnering with Realtors than in the past.’ An incredible 66% of all new homes sold in 2013 were original prospects of Realtors that were introduced to home builders, according to the National Association of Realtors’ 2013 Buyer Profile Survey, and 88% of potential homebuyers said they will contact a Realtor to assist them through each step of the buying process. The regional marketplace expertise possessed by many Realtors provides clients with an added sense of comfort and security through the memorable, milestone purchase in becoming a homeowner. Many clients of Realtors are eager, willing, and ...

For those that do not know, “shadow inventory” refers to the real estate property inventory that is either in foreclosure and has not been sold, or properties that have been withheld from the active market with hopes of a price improvement.  With seller uncertainty of the best time to list properties, this shadow inventory causes data on housing inventory to understate the actual inventory levels in the real estate market. High levels of shadow inventory, especially in the form of underwater, modified, and delinquent mortgages, pose as a significant factor to the recovery of the housing market, but refinancing and strong investor demand for distressed properties have helped bring many properties out from the shadows and into the sunlight.   Active, Pending, and SOLD! As the largest quarter-over-quarter decrease since the beginning of the credit crisis, shadow inventory dropped from 3.28 million loans in Q1 of 2013 to 2.99 million in Q2. This represents a 35% dr...

The year of 2013 has proven to be quite eventful for the real estate industry, both in the Tampa Bay area and nationwide.   Over the last nine months, we have been carefully monitoring the market activity and headliners, and planning accordingly in order to stay abreast of real estate from all angles.   Starting Off Strong At the beginning of this year, Tampa’s real estate market continued the upward trend that 2012 produced. Home buyers, and the affordability of housing, were finally receiving some serious recognition, and it was a strong way to begin the year.   The number of homes that were either in foreclosure, or were seriously delinquent, dropped by over 300,000 units from October 2011 to the end of 2012, and the market quickly transitioned towards becoming a seller’s market, which is in part where we are today. Home Values Soar In the first few months of 2013, Tampa experienced an astounding 22% increase in median home sale prices, while the ...

Real Estate Pulse 2013:     It continues to be a promising year for the real estate industry in the U.S., especially in the Tampa Bay area.   We are seeing irrefutable signs of housing recovery.   The latest excitement to make headlines is the blossoming new construction occurring in today’s market.   In July of 2013, construction spending increased to the highest level in the last four years here in the United States. With the recent low inventory levels, this is exactly what some buyers have been waiting for.   Spending increased as much at 5.2% nationwide since July of last year according to the Commerce Department figures .   As for private homebuilders, spending increased .6 %, which is the greatest change we have seen since September 2008.   Private residential construction wasn’t the only category to boast large improvements, with non-residential and factory construction also climbing to  1.3% and federal spending increasing by ...

Homeowners are thrilled to see the values of their homes continue to increase as the real estate industry is recovering and stabilizing.   The strong demand for housing and the low supply of inventory have continued to drive up home prices in the Florida real estate market, as well as nationwide!   Buyers are expected to be prepared to make strong offers due to the rising prices and mortgage rates. We have been witnessing multiple offers and bidding wars taking place in today’s market too. This appears to be great news for sellers, as they are now receiving offers equal to or above their listing prices. Sellers do, however, need to be mindful of how an appraisal can create challenges in closing their real estate transaction.   We noted earlier this year that appraisers were finally beginning to place higher values on homes, allowing for more sales to go through and for the market to gain strength. Recently, however, it appears in some cases as though appraisers a...

The year of 2013 has been proven to be an eventful time for the real estate market, especially here in Tampa, Florida. So far this year, we have discussed: the impact of international investors on the recovery of the housing market, the significant presence of Millenials as first-time home buyers, the recent mortgage rate activity with predictions of what to expect, the low housing inventory levels, and the encouraging signs of home value increases. So what can we expect to see as the next big move in real estate? The latest headline to grab the attention of the Tampa market came from a CNN Money article labeling Tampa, Florida at third place out of the top ten cities with highest percentage of all-cash home sales throughout the country. This is a positive sign of correction and stabilization returning to our real estate market. An astonishing 58% of all home sales in Tampa last month were settled in cash. This group of purchasers is made up of both international inves...

Last week we discussed the importance of understanding the effects that rising home prices have on mortgage rates and the buying power of consumers in the market to both buy and sell.   The recent mortgage rate activity has caught the attention of the nation, and of course our local Florida real estate market.     Since May 2013, the average rate on a 30-year mortgage rose from approximately 3.3% to 4.87% according to Freddie Mac.   Executive vice president of McCue Mortgage, Kim Neilson, states that the market hasn’t seen an increase of this magnitude in years.   Despite the recent jump, however, rates are expected to remain steady between 4-5% throughout the remainder of 2013.   There are two main reasons for this situation on the market. Firstly, the Federal Reserve chairman Fred Bernanke indicated in mid-June that he might slow down the purchase of mortgage-backed bonds. These were designed to strengthen the secondary market for lenders and ...

Every now and then it is prudent to analyze our real estate market pulse, both locally in Tampa and nationally, so we have an improved indication of what the market is doing and why it is behaving as such. Real Estate professionals and consumers have been inundated with reports and surveys that are demonstrating how the real estate market is now thriving.  By taking a closer look, we can say with certainty that the real estate recovery is making more movement than ever before. The month of May marked the 19 th consecutive month that home values have risen.  We have not seen measureable housing starts at this level since the summer of 2004. Home buyer traffic is also up above 29% from this time last year.  Looking back on this time last year, national home values have increased by 5.4%. Our local Tampa, Florida market saw an increase of 15.5% from a year ago, which translates to approximately a $17,000 increase !  Zillow projects home values ...

We are hearing more and more about Millenials in the news, and how this new group of 90 million “Generation Y-ers” is finally reaching the time to consider homeownership. While many will point out that student debt and credit standards may keep these potential homebuyers on the sideline, even more hold high expectations that the largest demographic in the nation’s history will continue to be a major player in today’s real estate market. Encouraging signs that timing is working in favor of the Millenials show that median debt of households made up of people ages 35 and below has diminished by 29% from 2007- 2010. For example, a recent survey by a national home builder shows that over 65% of renters’ ages 18-34 have an income of more than $50K. This same survey shows that 30% of home sales are to first time home buyers who fall into the 18-34 year old age group. Tampa, Florida has seen increased building permits and home starts this year as inventory continues to evaporate and a lar...

Home prices and exchange rates play a huge role in the number of Canadian's who own homes in Florida. Over a half million Canadians call Florida home and that number is continually growing. Follow the link for more details.  SI Real Estate offers highly personalized, multilingual, full-spectrum real estate purchase and sales services . We are a boutique for sophisticated investors , select owners or renters who may be upgrading locally, or those making traditional relocations . We also provide turnkey landlord and tenant management. Blending comprehensive insight into the Tampa Bay area with international perspectives for a worldwide clientele, we like to think that “SI Real Estate is Global Real Estate in Every Way!”  http://www.floridarealtors.org/NewsAndEvents/article.cfm?id=289951  

As a new demographic of real estate buyers and sellers enter the market, economists point out that the timing of younger millennials and older baby boomers coming to the closing table could not be more opportune. A recent study released this week from PulteGroup Inc. finds that demand for housing from people between ages 18-34 is rising at the same time that baby boomers are beginning to sell their homes. The percentage of buyers ages 18-34 with an average income of $50K or more has risen significantly since this time last year. On the same note, baby boomers entering 65 or older are expected to test the waters of the real estate market and list their homes for sale, says Arthur Nelson, professor of urban planning at University of Utah. Pultegroup also pointed out that about 30 percent of 2012 real estate sales were to first time home buyers. Vice President of Pultegroup, Fred Ehle added to the surveys finding by saying, “the combination of incredibly low mortgage rates, rising r...

Tampa, Florida has seen the home market react to trends throughout the real estate. While we are still finding our way back to “normal” we are noticing a new trend catching fire. New construction home interest and purchases have spiked at rates that new home builders cannot keep up with. Homebuilder Lennar Corp. posted first quarter results that showed a 40% increase in revenue from this time last year! CEO of Lennar, Stuart Miller recently stated, “Our first quarter results clearly reflect continued improvement in the marketplace. Current market conditions are driven by strong demand resulting from low interest rates and attractive home price, which have led to very affordable monthly payments, compared to increasing rental rates.” Real Estate in the real world: Our firsthand experience in Tampa’s real estate market reflects the national statistics. We are being inundated with buyer prospects that are tired of wasting money on renting, exhausted from competing with cash invest...

Many real estate home owners have been waiting for the right time to sell their homes. Some stated reasons are that the market has not completed the correction, or they are waiting for home prices to continue to rise. These reasons often draw attention because some are not entirely up to the minute with real estate market pulse and how favorable the conditions are for sellers in today’s real estate arena. Now more than ever, inventory levels have fallen more than 68% here in Tampa, Florida.  Available homes on the national level fell almost 2 million units last year!  Simple supply and demand would tell home sellers that your property is worth more because inventory is down. A national home data provider, Corelogic reported that home prices haven’t jumped this much in the last 6.5 years, and that this is mainly due to current tight home inventory. The end of 2012 showed an 8.3% increase from the prior year, an annual gain that hasn’t been felt since May 2006! Cor...

While more and more positive real estate news trickles in, we examine some of the direct causes of these seemingly endless, yet favorable outcomes. Housing inventory has waned over the last year . So much so, that we have seen the amount of homes available on the national level drop by about 1.8 million units.  At a more local level, Tampa, Florida has seen a dramatic decrease of 68% in home inventory!  So we ask, why so low?  Well, about 22% of homeowners remain underwater with their mortgages. Sellers are usually deterred from listing their home if they have to bring cash to the table or embark on a short sale. Now that home values are finally bouncing back, both home values and the amount of sellers who owe more than their property is worth are two factors that will continue to have an impact on home inventory. Investors are always trying to grab the best deals that produce the highest returns. This usually involves paying cash for real estate pur...

We are constantly being reminded about the condition of the real estate market, both nationally and locally. No matter which media outlet you choose to ingest, you are most likely seeing, hearing and wondering what is up and what is down, and more importantly, what it means for you. Here is a brief recap of some figures to keep in mind. What’s Up : We have heard this for the last few months of 2012 and will continue to hear that home building is on the uptick. Up almost 40% from the previous year, home start are on the rise. At the most recent International Home Builders Show in Las Vegas, the National Association of Home Builders Chief Economist, David Crowe said, “Nearly every measure of housing market strength – sales, starts, permits,  and builder confidence – all have been trending upward in recent months and we expect to see steady growth to continue in 2013.” Home prices also continue to rise. On a national level, we ended up with a 5.6% increase from la...

If you heard that housing starts increased 12% from November to December 2012, you would probably think that it sounds like good news.   If you learned that housing starts increased almost 37% from a year ago, you may stop to think, just how significant are those numbers? The national 2012 year over increase shows that newly constructed homes totaled 954,000; a hefty increase from the previous year, which only recorded 697,000. Not only are new houses being built for current and future home buyers, but they are also being completed at a much higher rate.   About 80,000 more homes were completed in the last year compared to 2011.   A contributor to these upticks includes the authorization of building permits, which are also up close to 200,000 units from the previous year.   So what..? Clearly the housing starts are indicative of real estate market that is showing impressive signs of growth. These home starts show that builder confidence is at a peak and...

Tampa’s real estate market continues the upward trend that 2012 produced. Buyers and the affordability of housing are getting noticed.  Following 11 months of positive data from the National Association of Realtors regarding housing affordability and mortgage rates, we can expect to see more and more home buyers step into the home purchasing arena. Jobless rates continue to fall according to Trulia economist, Jed Kolko, especially for 25- 34 year olds which make up the prime age for housing demand. The national unemployment rate dipped down to 7.7% in December for the age group most ready to purchase real estate. Construction jobs also posted strong gains which not only equals more housing availability, but more people with jobs and paying taxes. Housing affordability is measured on an index which takes in account the median home price, median household income and average mortgage rates. The higher the number, the more home “purchasing power” buyers possess. We ende...