Archive for September, 2009
Cory Lake Isles Real Estate Market Report
Located in New Tampa, Cory Lake Isles is a gated community built around a ski-sized lake that features distinctive homes surrounded by a canopy of canary palms, red brick boulevards, decorative lampposts, flower-filled medians, and immaculate landscaping. For data about the Cory Lake Isles real estate market, see our new Cory Lake Isles Real Estate Report that shows stats on Active Listings, Pending Contracts, and Closed Sales over the past 6 months. The report also shows average prices, the absorption rate, and list-to-sales price ratios. The Cory Lake Isles Market Report contains colorful charts contrasting Available Listings – vs- Contracts Pending, Sold Listings -vs- Expired Listings, Days on the Market (DOM), and Average Sale Prices. To see homes for sale in Cory Lake Isles , click here. For more information, contact the Realtors who have sold over 140 homes in Cory Lake Isles – Team Bohannon of Coldwell Banker at (813) 979-4963.
Cross Creek Real Estate Market Report
Cross Creek is a collection of master planned neighborhoods in the heart of New Tampa. From the gated neighborhoods of Kingshyre, Coventry and Meadow Creek to the tree lined streets of Creekside, Creekwood, Magnolia Trace, Meadow Woods, Misty Creek and Pinehurst… Cross Creek has much to offer. For summary data on Cross Creek real estate, please see this 4 page Cross Creek Real Estate Market Report that has statistics on Active Listings, Pending Contracts and Sales over the last 6 months. The report also shows average prices, the absorption rate, and list-to-sales price ratios. The Cross Creek Market Report also contains colorful charts contrasting Available Listings – vs- Contracts Pending, Sold Listings -vs- Expired Listings, Days on the Market (DOM), and Average Sale Prices. To see homes for sale in Cross Creek, click here. For more information about Cross Creek, contact the Realtors who have sold over 80 homes in Cross Creek – Team Bohannon of Coldwell Banker at (813) 979-4963.
October 2009 Dave Ramsey on Real Estate
The October 2009 Dave Ramsey e-newsletter has these encouraging thoughts about foreclosures, new construction, relocation and the real estate market:
“Yes, foreclosures have been up lately. A lot of families who bought their homes with nothing down or stupid interest-only loans got stuck in a bad market and are losing their shirts. For a while this spring, it seemed like all the news media talked about was how bad housing was in America. But here’s the truth: 60% of the foreclosures occurred in only five states—Nevada, Florida, Arizona, California and Colorado.
Dave firmly believes that real estate will be the area that leads us out of the recession. It’s happened before, and it will likely happen again. One of the reasons is pent-up demand. Even though it’s a hard time to sell a house, people are still moving. They get transferred in their jobs or take a new job in a different city or need to move home to take care of their families. Life doesn’t stop happening when the housing market takes a hit.
The housing market is flooded with inventory right now, which has kept prices low. However, the cost of new houses really hasn’t changed much, because the cost of construction materials hasn’t changed. So, as the available inventory starts to burn off, prices will start to go back up because they’ll have to compete with the higher new home prices.”
Grand Hampton Real Estate Market Report
Grand Hampton is a gated, master-planned community in New Tampa with the feel of an Old Florida resort. For data about the Grand Hampton real estate market, see our new Grand Hampton Market Report that shows stats on Active Listings, Pending Contracts, and Closed Sales over the past 6 months. The report also shows average prices, the absorption rate, and list-to-sales price ratios. The Grand Hampton Market Report contains colorful charts contrasting Available Listings – vs- Contracts Pending, Sold Listings -vs- Expired Listings, Days on the Market (DOM), and Average Sale Prices. To see homes for sale in Grand Hampton, click here. For more information, contact the Realtors who have sold over 100 homes in Grand Hampton – Team Bohannon of Coldwell Banker at (813) 979-4963.
Tampa Palms Real Estate Report
Tampa Palms is a signature golf course community located in the heart of New Tampa, just minutes from USF, I-75 & I-275. If you are curious about the state of the Tampa Palms real estate market, check out our new Tampa Palms Market Report that shows statistics on Active Listings, Pending Contracts, and Sales over the past 6 months. The report also shows average prices, the absorption rate, and list-to-sales price ratios. The Tampa Palms Market Report contains colorful charts contrasting Available Listings – vs- Contracts Pending, Sold Listings -vs- Expired Listings, Days on the Market (DOM), and Average Sale Prices. To see homes for sale in Tampa Palms, click here. For more information, contact the Realtors who have sold over 125 homes in Tampa Palms – Team Bohannon of Coldwell Banker at (813) 979-4963.
Hunter’s Green Market Report
Hunter’s Green is a golf course community in the heart of New Tampa. If you are curious about the real estate market in Hunters Green, check out our new 4 page Hunter’s Green Market Report that shows statistics on Active Listings, Pending Contracts, and Hunter’s Green Sales over the last 6 months. The report also shows average prices, the absorption rate, and list-to-sales price ratios. The Hunter’s Green Market Report also has colorful charts contrasting Available Listings – vs- Contracts Pending, Sold Listings -vs- Expired Listings, Days on the Market (DOM), and Average Sale Prices. To see homes for sale in Hunter’s Green, click here. For more information, contact the Realtors who have sold over 100 homes in Hunter’s Green – Team Bohannon of Coldwell Banker at (813) 979-4963.
Arbor Greene Market Report
Arbor Greene is one of New Tampa’s signature communities. For summary data on Arbor Greene real estate, please see this 4 page Arbor Greene Market Report that shows statistics on Active Listings, Pending Contracts and Sales over the last 6 months. The report also shows average prices, the absorption rate, and list-to-sales price ratios. The Arbor Greene Market Report also has colorful charts contrasting Available Listings – vs- Contracts Pending, Sold Listings -vs- Expired Listings, Days on the Market (DOM), and Average Sale Prices. To see homes for sale in Arbor Greene, click here. For more information about Arbor Greene, contact the Realtors who have sold over 150 homes in Arbor Greene – Team Bohannon of Coldwell Banker at (813) 979-4963.
Supply of Foreclosed Homes in Tampa Declines
Think most of the home for sale are foreclosures? Think again. Tampa Realtors have been struggling to meet the demand for bank owned (or REO) homes as the supply of foreclosures has waned. For example, there are currently 12 REO listings in New Tampa out of 324 single family homes for sale; while 13 REOs are under contract (out of 192 homes total under contract).
According to Realtyrac, there are 748 bank owned single family homes in the city of Tampa. MLS data reveals that 163 of these are actively for sale, while another 206 are under contract. Hence, about half of the foreclosed bank owned homes are in the market. To put this in perspective, overall MLS data shows that bank owned single family homes represent just 4.42% of all Tampa single family homes for sale, and 13.43% of pending sales in Tampa.
There are 3684 homes for sale in the overall market, and 1534 homes under contract according to Tampa MLS data. The high number of pending sales can be partially attributed to the attractive lower home prices, as well as the large number of short sales that languish in contract pending status for an average of 5 months.
Digging deeper, how do distress sales compare to traditional sales? Of the 583 homes currently under contract that are not distress sales (short sales or bank owned) in the city of Tampa, the average home was listed for $225,364 and went under contract within 129 days for $108 per square foot. Of the 745 short sales currently under contract , the average home was listed for $156,512 and went under contract within 144 days for $85 per square foot. The 206 bank owed homes (foreclosures) under contract were on the market for an average of 76 days for an asking price of $90,000, or $54.50 per square foot. In case your are wondering, bank owned homes have been selling for 96% of the final asking price.
The encouraging numbers in the Pending Sales Index and the Absorption Rate do not take into count the number of homes which will eventually come onto the market. Recent studies show that just 6% of homeowners catch up once they fall behind on their payments (cure rate), and the data indicates that large numbers of Tampa area homeowners are in default. This “shadow inventory” will impact the market for years to come as these homes are added to the supply of active listings. Hence the supply shortage of foreclosed homes for sale may be fleeting.
Why Sell Short if I risk a Deficiency Judgment?
Tampa homeowners considering a short sale might wonder if the bank may someday ask for repayment of the amount they are short. If the bank approves a short sale that results in the bank forgiving $50,000, for example on a home in Lutz, will the bank have the ability to seek repayment years later?
Unless explicitly waived in writing, a debt holder has the right to ask the court for a “deficiency judgment” to collect on debts that are not paid in full. This holds true for a foreclosure, a short sale, and even credit card debt. At the end of the short sale approval process, the bank will produce a letter proposing terms for the short sale acceptance. The precise wording in the “short sale approval letter” is very important in determining your future liability. Here are a few ideas to keep in mind:
#1) You Might Negotiate Away the Deficiency Judgment Before Closing
Upon approval of a short sale, the bank will send a letter with terms and conditions that must be signed by the homeowner. If you are not satisfied with the wording set forth in the letter, you can stop the short sale process. Alternatively, we can attempt to negotiate a change in the wording to remove the risk of a deficiency judgment. In many cases, Team Bohannon has been able to obtain language explicitly stating that a debt is satisfied, paid as agreed, or that the lender waives all rights to pursue a deficiency judgment.
#2) A Short Sale Deficiency Will Be Smaller than a Foreclosure
If the lender(s) and/or investors are determined to reserve the right to pursue a deficiency judgment in the future (for the short sale), you can decide whether or not you would accept the conditions of the short sale. If you allow the bank to foreclose, however, you will face a deficiency judgment. The amount of the deficiency will likely be likely be larger with a foreclosure. We have seen sellers say “I’m not gong through with a short sale if I have a deficiency”, only to later realize they would be stuck with a greater deficiency after a foreclosure. Why? If it takes an extra 6-12 months to complete the foreclosure process, we would expect: a) the condition of the home to deteriorate, b) Tampa real estate values to continue to decline, c) the bank to incur addition legal/tax/HOA/CDD fees, d) and additional uncollected penalties to be assessed. Hence the eventual sale price will be less, and the deficiency greater.
#3) A Deficiency Judgment Can Be Settled
If the bank or investor reserves the right to pursue a deficiency judgment at some point in the future, there is no guarantee this will happen. Remember, there is no automatic schedule for payments. There is talk that banks may bundle up hundreds or thousands of these bad debts and sell them to collections companies at some point. As with any unsecured deficiency or debt, we understand that uncollected debt can sometimes be settled for a fraction of the original amount.
#4) You Cannot Negotiate in Advance
It would be nice to know if a lender was going to insist on a deficiency judgment before you start the short sale process, but there is no way to know in advance. Calling a bank is kind of like calling the IRS: the answer you receive might vary depending upon who you speak to on any given day. And today’s answer might not be the policy in 3-6 months when the bank is considering the short sale. To complicate matters, the bank usually does not even own the loan, and decisions about deficiencies may be made the the investor who actually owns the loan. Furthermore, we have seen banks/investors be much more determined to pursue deficiencies from people with questionable hardships, strong income and other assets. Additionally, we cannot assume that a bank’s approach to short sales and foreclosures will make sense to us; as 53 banks have entered into “loss sharing agreements” with the FDIC that may provide incentives for banks to keep racking up the late fees and eventually foreclose.
In summary, there is no way to know in advance if you will risk a deficiency judgment. A short sale transaction at least gives you the potential to negotiate away a deficiency judgment, or to face a lower potential deficiency. Contact Team Bohannon today for additional information. We will use all of our experience and expertise to help you avoid a deficiency and move confidently into the next chapter of your life.
Forecast for Tampa Real Estate
Yesterday we looked at the impact of various economic factors on the Tampa Bay real estate market as of August 2009. Today we are providing 15 glorious charts derived from Moody’s Ecomomy.com that forecast home sales for the Tampa Metro market. Some highlights include: median existing home price, new home sales, affordability index, total-non farm employment, total households, bankruptcy rates, building permits, employment to permit ratio, and others. Click Tampa Forecast to see the 15 charts.
