SI Real Estate Tampa and The Beaches

In today’s real estate market many industry professionals are dealing with the lowest level of housing inventory in many years to show their ready and anxious home buyers. On both a national level and locally in Tampa Bay, we have experienced the effects of the dwindling inventory as it relates to real estate options. We are frequently encountering multiple offer scenarios and bidding wars between buyers and sellers requesting highest and best offer.  New home construction is gaining tremendous momentum and offers home buyers enormous options and appeal. Various areas of Tampa, Florida are on the right side of this opportunity.  We have always enjoyed the benefits of newly developing communities, new home starts, and luxury of turning to new homes as viable options for our home buyers. The U.S. census reported that about 36.5 million people moved into a new home in 2012! The demand for homes in Tampa, Florida is clearly up and mounting. Last year concluded on a high...

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...

We would like to wrap up the year by saying thank you to all of our friends, families, clients, followers and supporters. We would truly be nothing without you. SI Real Estate is honored to represent you through your real estate transactions in the past, present and future. 2012 has treated the real estate industry quite nicely and we hope that next year sees similar, if not more improvements to the market in which we are all involved in. We hope that you all stay safe through this holiday season. Whether you are visiting family and friends, remember the roads and airways will be busier than usual, so please exercise caution. Please keep all the less fortunate people in your thoughts and remember to be grateful of what you have and where you live. We have seen tragedies such as natural disasters to the East coast, innocent children’s lives taken and political / financial turmoil in foreign countries. 2012 also offered bright spots like amazing performances from the US Olympic te...