SI Real Estate Tampa and The Beaches

For those selling your home, you may have seen an influx in Generation Y, or “Millennial” buyers flocking to your open house in recent years. Yet, with the most recent U.S. Census confirming that Millennials have surpassed the Baby Boomers, it’s no surprise the number of Millennial home buyers is on the rise. So what does this mean for the housing market? According to Realtor.org, “For the third straight year, the largest group of recent buyers were Millennials, who composed 35% of all buyers, more than the combined amount of younger and older Baby Boomers at 31%”. Millennials are a new brand of home buyer. Contrary to previous generations, Millennials are delaying marriage and family to a later time in life. Whereas, home buying is at the forefront of their priorities. Seen as a smart investment, these young purchasers are seeking the stability and security of home ownership. In most markets, Millennials are finding that renting is more expensive than buying - even aft...

Real Estate Season - Home Buying and Selling Hot Springtime Demand About To Start!     The first month of each year when home buying starts to heat up is always April. Experts at the Florida Association of Realtors are expecting the next 4 months (April to July) to have the highest number of buyer and seller transactions all year. Considering real estate transactions have already started this year off at an extremely fast pace, it is exciting to think about the upcoming spring season of 2016.   Sellers will remain in the driver’s seat at all pricing levels. Inventory of homes around $100 to $125K are sparse and extremely competitive, down 8.6% since January of last year. At this price point, there are typically investor type properties needing work and / or updating. You can also find homes and townhomes that attract first time homebuyers looking to step into the real estate market. Overall inventory has been sub 4 month levels all year long here in Florida, a...

Now that the Real Estate industry has final numbers from 2015, they are releasing that data and the subsequent results of last year. As we have reported many times throughout the last 12 months, 2015 was a very strong year in the housing market. After reflecting on 2015, FL Realtors President Matey Veissi states “Florida’s economy is in growth mode, more jobs are being created and mortgage interest rates remain at historically low levels which will continue to drive the state’s housing market in 2016.” Let’s see what else the 2015 FL housing market report says and the impressive numbers it contains. We are going to grade the major indicators we talk about and how we feel they did in the last year’s market.   Total closed sales on existing homes  is always a leading indicator for housing market experts. In 2015, there were 274,769 resale transactions! That is an increase of 12.4% from 2014, which is enormous. On the pricing side of resales, there was another sharp increas...

SI Real Estate Tampa Bay is excited to see what 2016 has in store for the housing market. We were pleasantly surprised with the uptick in real estate activity in 2015. Of course everyone is turning the page to the New Year, and consumers are contemplating what to expect in the housing market. The professionals here at SI Real Estate fully believe this year will be an even better one, eclipsing the fantastic turn-around last year that took place throughout the US. Some of the key reasons for this that we are going to talk about: interest rates/lending, inventory, and pricing. Interest rates have been historically low since the recession began. They are still extremely attractive, even with the negligible increase last month. Yes there should be at least a couple more increases in 2016, but they will likely be small bumps like the quarter point increase in December. This is not expected to affect the attitude of home buyers and will actually help strengthen the economy. Lending...

Real Estate Pulse:  Recapping 5 years! Active Housing Market keeps persuading buyers and now sellers The last 5 years of the real estate market has been a wild ride to say the least. In 2010, first time home buyers increased dramatically over the norm due to the large tax credit given out by the federal government.  That triggered the highest number of first time buyers ever. While this group accounted for half of the homes purchased in 2010, the other key players were the international (cash) investors who were purchasing the rock-bottom-priced inventory. This same group of investors and first time home buyers were the main consumers of real estate through 2012.  By this time, the excess inventory had been purchased one way or another.      In 2013, values of homes were finally catching up and or exceeding the mortgage pay off(s).  Finally sellers and their listings began trickling into the market. This segment of the housing market was prev...

All year long we have been watching the real estate market heat up in Florida. There are many reasons why we are seeing a different resurgence this year!   A few of the key catalysts are: the Florida Legislature, interest rates and PMI insurance reductions. Each of these played a high valued role in the 2015 housing market. Combining all three, we can see housing is more affordable and there are a lot more people looking for housing!   Florida Governor Rick Scott is very enthusiastic about the housing market citing this past month as another remarkable one for the state. He is particularly proud of his tax cuts, saying “our work to cut taxes and create a business friendly environment is creating jobs and attracting more families to Florida because there are so many opportunities for success.” The team at SI Real Estate could not agree more. We have been helping families relocate to the Tampa area all year long, and know many more families are relocating this year,...

Tampa Bay investors are finding out how hot the area is lately, ranking #6 among the top 50 cities for Real Estate investing. Everyone likes generating wealth, especially if the return (ROI) is on a real estate investment. It is extremely satisfying when you put your money to work for you. Real Estate investors look all over the place searching for the best property to invest their money in. Their money has been working extra hard here in Tampa. Over the past 12 months, Tampa’s investors have averaged 16.7 percent gross return on their investment. That is incredibly high, a very attractive rate of return and savvy financial or real estate professionals know it!  Good numbers equal good returns.   The housing market has been on a steady and stable uptick all year. This has led to the increased activity in the real estate market that we are now seeing.  As more people learn and hear about the stabilization here in Florida, they want in on the action. Not so fast, ...

It’s no secret by now that Florida is pushing past the recession this year in 2015. Economists and experts have been optimistic all year, and the data is continuing to back them up. Sean Snaith, a highly respected economist at UCF says Florida’s GDP will continue to climb at least through 2018. Could we really see economic growth lasting that long? Snaith fully believes so, citing average housing prices up, payroll being up and real gross state product steadily rising for a while now. The SI Real Estate team fully agrees, as we are seeing rising home prices as well as increasing rents here in Tampa, Florida. After all, our state boasts sunshine, beaches, palm trees, sand, and year-round weather which are all basically recession proof. The desire for people to own homes in Florida or relocate here has never dwindled. The appeal of Florida has always been strong considering all that this state offers. The issue people were facing was selling their current homes, whi...

2015 has been a pleasant year for the Tampa Bay real estate market, marking a full resurgence. Normally sales fall off during the summer vacations, but not this year!  Homes listed for sale are continuing to seek out higher prices, while buyers are actively finding properties to put contracts on. A local North Tampa homeowner listed their house at $ 450,000 3 weeks ago and had a pending contract 8 days later, including backup offers. SI Real Estate has also participated in this high level of activity, selling three different properties in less than 10 days recently. While we normally see soft interest during summer months, especially July that has is not the case in 2015! ”Statewide in July, the inventory of available homes tightened to a 4 1/2-month supply. Most analysts consider a six-month supply to be evidence of a balanced market between buyers and sellers,” said John Tuccillo, chief economist of Florida Realtors. He is demonstrating here that inventory is d...

It’s no secret the housing market is making a strong comeback. Inventory is incredibly scarce.  Buyers are confident enough in the economy to be actively searching for real estate to purchase. This is leading to a shortage of ready-to-move-in homes. When there is a housing shortage, buyers need to act quickly and sellers are now stepping in. This has been the driving force behind skyrocketing pending home sale statistics. Probably the most positive statistic (there are many this month) is “45% of homes sold within 30 days of being listed”. That is a staggering number compared to what we were seeing since the recession began. Another major factor leading to the housing market surge is because of the historically low mortgage rates. If you could afford a $300,000 home last year, you can get approved for a $330,000 mortgage today. This is due to rates hovering right at 4% and buyers have more purchasing power after sitting out last year. We have not seen this much bu...

Real Estate Pulse:  Tampa’s Rental market is on fire!   Act on it or the property will be gone in a flash! SI Real Estate is a full service real estate boutique in Tampa Bay, including property management.  We have seen a significant increase in rental activity since February, 2015. As the year has progressed, so has the interest in Tampa’s rental market!  Right now, our agents are finding that rental listings are gone in a New York minute.  We are receiving calls and emails from an abnormal amount of new residents relocating to our area, causing the demand to drastically outweigh the supply. This trend has not gone unnoticed by property developers in the area especially our urban core. They are purchasing land and building multifamily high end rentals, rather than luxury apartments or condos for sale.  Jeff Vinik has been at the forefront of this new demand. Starting with revitalizing the Channelside District.  The city of Tampa an...

Almost everyone over the age of 20 has said the phrase “that’s it, I’m moving to Florida” at some point during their life. Usually it is said out of frustration with the weather, or another popular reason being high taxes elsewhere. In the 90’s and early 2000’s, Florida was an incredibly popular destination to move to. The younger crowds flocked to Miami or Tampa, the wealthy to Miami and Fort Lauderdale, and then the retirees to Naples or Fort Myers.   Since 2007 though we have been lagging behind…. Until recently. Sean Snaith, director of the Institute for Economic Competitiveness at the University of Central Florida, says Florida's economy is now solidly passing the Nation’s. Not only are we recovering fully, but we are about to start leading the pack again. Tourism is back to full throttle. Booking hotel rooms or going out to dinner is becoming a serious issue again with all of the traffic. People are spending money again and are confident the economy has stabi...

Recently, bankers have joined loan guarantors to push the ease the proposed capital rules for mortgage insurers. The bankers advised that easing up on the proposed rules will make real estate financing even more affordable for buyers seeking a new home and loan.  Along with the bankers, the National Association of Realtors discussed the importance of having accessible mortgages for first time home buyers. According to the Wall Street Journal , Citigroup and Bank of America are providing mortgages at discounted interest rates as a part of their efforts to help borrowers with low incomes or lack luster credit histories. These discounts are larger than what other banks currently offer on fixed-rate mortgages with high credit scores. This new home loan program encourages borrowers to pay points as a means to receive an even larger discount rate. A point upfront fee lowers the interest rate on a mortgage, and one point is equivalent to 1% of the loan. If you have a $100,...

So far, 2014 has been very positive for the housing market and for the overall economy. Steady increases in home prices and home sales are indicating a continuous trend of strong buyer and seller confidence. The outlook towards real estate is improving quarter by quarter and we are expecting it to stay this way for the upcoming months and years. According to Fannie Mae’s April 2014 National Survey, “for the third month straight, the share of respond ents who believe now is a good time to sell a home increased and hit 42%, an all-time survey high.” One of the other factors feeding the economic upturn is the low mortgage delinquency rate. TransUnion’s latest mortgage report states that in the first quarter of 2014, the rate fell to 3.61% which is a 24% decrease in comparison to last year, and it is now exactly at the same level as it was in the second quarter of 2008. It’s encouraging to see mortgage delinquencies drop once again, especially during a period when mortgage origin...

As the 1 st quarter of 2014 comes to a close, it is a great time to monitor the good news published across the Sunshine State in real estate headlines. In a recent report from Freddie Mac, utilizing its Multi-Indicator Market Index, analysts discovered that Florida’s housing market showed the most improvement in the entire country during 2013.  It also continued to show the most improvement month-to-month in January. The goal of the market index is to effectively measure the market’s stable range, proximity to “normal” and current trends. In an article by Florida Realtors, Freddie Mac Deputy Chief Economist Len Kiefer said, “a better employment picture, along with some income growth, makes it possible for more people who are considering buying a home to stay within reasonable payment-to-income ratios on their monthly mortgages.” Employment opportunities and income growth are essential components to the continual housing market stabilization in Florida, as well as nati...

Nationwide economic growth is projected to increase to 2.9 percent from the estimated 2.6 percent growth in 2013, according to Fannie Mae’s Economic & Strategic Research Group reports. This increase can be attributed the return of consumer confidence following the government shutdown last fall, which affected hard working men and women across numerous industries.  With rebounded optimism, an increase in both consumer and business spending is expected to boost overall economic growth throughout 2014. A significant driving force contributing to economic growth, according to Fannie Mae’s Chief Economist Doug Duncan, is the continued improvement in the real estate market. RealtyTrac published some encouraging statistics in its most recent Foreclosure Market Report, which recorded a 26 percent decrease in foreclosure fillings from 2012 to 2013. With decreases in foreclosure fillings comes an increase in the strength of consumer housing attitudes, which allows for the continu...

SI Real Estate would like to wish our friends, family, clients, and associates a very Happy New Year! We wish you happiness, good health, and prosperity throughout 2014 and beyond. 2013 was a wonderful year for SI Real Estate, and we sincerely thank you for your loyalty and support. As the stabilization of the real estate market continued to improve over the year, it created extreme excitement about what 2014 may hold for the market, especially in our Tampa Bay area. In this blog, we will briefly discuss the most recent events that occurred in the housing market during the final months of 2013, as well as discuss what the real estate industry may see during the year of 2014. Looking Back Due to the short supply of inventory throughout the majority of 2013, the real estate industry witnessed some swift price increases resulting from the increased demand for homes. In response to increased demand, constructing spending reached the highest point the market had seen in the ...