SI Real Estate Tampa and The Beaches

As the flowers and trees start to blossom, there is another change in the air. With drops in foreclosure filings and a rise in the buying market, could Spring bring a new season for real estate? According to an article published by Housing Wire , Housing starts rise 7.2 % in March 2011. This is after a long decline of months. The data is collected from Department of Commerce, U.S. Census Bureau , and the Department of Housing and Urban Development every month to compare to previous months and previous years. March reached the highest peak in 16 months. Another noteworthy statistic to highlight is that RE/MAX National Housing reported that, “Home sales jumped more than 10% in 53 of the 54 metros tracked by RE/MAX between February and March”. This is a huge accomplishment in such a harsh season of retail. In this article it also quotes Freddie Mac in projecting that annual sales this year will be up a total of 5%. Another important thing that Freddie Mac monitors is foreclosure p...

If the time is now, consider Tampa, Florida for your next luxury real estate purchase. Wealthy borrowers with real estate mortgages that exceed $1 million are foreclosing or turning to short sales at almost double the average U.S. rate. Payments on about 12% of mortgages exceeding $1 million were 90 days or more overdue in September, compared with 6.3% on loans less than $250,000 and 7.4% on all U.S. mortgages, according to data from First American CoreLogic Inc., a Santa Ana, Calif.-based research firm. Many home buyers are taking advantage of the current prices on these “McMansions” that will already have instant equity in them at the time of closing. Atlanta Falcons’ linebacker, Porter Michael Peterson recently purchased a mansion near Tampa, Florida for $1.1 million – That is almost half of what the sellers paid for it 3 years earlier! Before you try to find your dream home, keep a few things in mind: Know your budget and pre-qualify with a lender…Can you really affor...

Excellent news - the U.S. real estate market is rebounding faster than expected. For the first time in five years, existing home sales have increased for four consecutive months., the National Association of Realtors announced today. Existing home sales, including single-family homes, townhouses, condos, and co-ops rose 7.2 percent to a total if 5.34 million in July. An NAR survey showed that 30 percent of the homes purchased in July were by first-time home buyers, as buyers have started to come off the fence to take advantage of the $8,000 tax credit. The National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index reached 18 this month, its highest level since June 2008. The numbers show that confidence among home builders is continuing on a steady rise. This increase can be contributed to buyers taking advantage of the dramatically discounted home prices, with nationwide housing affordability continuing to hover near its highest level in more than 18 year and the $8,000 ...

According to a recent Realty Times article, “The most bearish of Wall Street economic analysts have made the same point for the past 18 months. There's no recovery or rebound in the housing market, they said, until home builders start building again.” The numbers that they have been waiting on are here. Last week the Commerce Department reported an unexpected rise of 7.5 percent in single family home starts during the month of May. New construction has been one of the weakest segments of the housing market since 2007. May’s increase was the third consecutive monthly gain in single family starts, bringing total starts, including multifamily apartment starts and condos, up by 17.5 percent. Not only were starts significantly up, but so were other key indicators of future home building activity such as single family permits, which saw an increase of 8 percent. Consumer confidence, which is extremely important for home buying, was also up for the fourth consecutive month. Sales of prev...