Key West Short Sales

I will be out of the office most of the day. We are showing Key West short sales to clients.  We can help you no matter what side of the transaction you are on.  There are plenty of buyers in this market.

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Mortgage Rates Move Back Down This Week

Mortgage Rates Move Back Down This Week

DAILY REAL ESTATE NEWS | FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 08, 2013
Average mortgage rates stayed steady or inched lower this week, which “should continue to aid in the ongoing housing recovery,” Freddie Mac says in its weekly mortgage market survey.

The following are the national averages in mortgage rates for the week ending Feb. 7, according to Freddie Mac:

30-year fixed-rate mortgages: averaged 3.53 percent, with an average 0.8 point, holding the same as last week. A year ago at this time, 30-year rates averaged 3.87 percent.
15-year fixed-rate mortgages: averaged 2.77 percent, with an average 0.7 point, dropping from last week’s 2.81 percent average. Last year at this time, 15-year rates averaged 3.16 percent.
5-year adjustable-rate mortgages: averaged 2.63 percent, with an average 0.6 point, dropping from last week’s 2.70 percent average. Last year at this time, 5-year ARMs averaged 2.83 percent.
1-year ARMs: averaged 2.53 percent, with an average 0.4 point, dropping from last week’s 2.59 percent average. A year ago at this time, 1-year ARMs averaged 2.78 percent.
Source: Freddie Mac

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List of Improving Housing Markets Expands

List of Improving Housing Markets Expands

DAILY REAL ESTATE NEWS | THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 07, 2013

The list of improving housing markets grew to 259 in February with all 50 states represented, according to the National Association of Home Builders/First American Improving Markets Index. 

The index identifies metro areas that have shown improvement in housing permits, employment, and home prices for at least six consecutive months. More than 70 percent of the 361 metros covered by the index are now on the list, according to David Crowe, NAHB’s chief economist.

Twenty metros were added to the latest list, including places like Rome, Ga.; Fort Wayne, Ind.; Myrtle Beach, S.C.; Albuquerque, N.M.; and Racine, Wis. 

"The fact that all 50 states now have at least one metro on the improving list shows that the housing recovery has substantial momentum and continues to expand from one market to the next," says Rick Judson, 2013 NAHB chairman. "Of course, there is still much room for improvement in metros that have not yet been listed as well as those that have, and we know that a key factor slowing this progress is today's overly stringent mortgage standards that are keeping qualified buyers on the sidelines."  

View a complete list at www.nahb.org/imi.

Source: National Association of Home Builders

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Home Remodeling Pickup to Trigger Higher Sales Prices

Home Remodeling Pickup to Trigger Higher Sales Prices

DAILY REAL ESTATE NEWS | TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 05, 2013

After years of sluggish growth, home remodeling is rebounding and more home owners are tackling long-delayed house projects to spruce up their homes. 

The growth in remodeling is coming at a time when more home owners are once again seeing equity in their homes as the overall housing market picks up. “Home improvements can further boost home values and help sustain both the housing recovery and economic growth,” Realty Times reports. 

Spending on home improvement projects rose 9 percent in 2012 — the first increase since 2007, according to a study by the Joint Center for Housing Studies at Harvard University. 

"With the U.S. economy and housing market now recovering, investment in the nation's housing inventory is also picking up,” according to the JCH report. “Lenders and new owners are rehabilitating millions of foreclosed properties. Older home owners are retrofitting their homes to accommodate their future needs... And with the huge echo-boom population moving into the home buying market over the coming decade, the remodeling industry can look to an even more promising future.”

The National Association of the Remodeling Industry expects growth to continue in home remodeling, particularly as more clients feel more stable in their finances and employment situations. 

Source: “Home Improvement Growth Latches onto Housing Recovery,” RealtyTimes (Feb. 5, 2013)

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Stay on Top of the Real Estate Market

This is a new feature to our website which we are getting lots of good feed back.  The email updates are automatic, therefore stopping much phone chatter and emails going back and forth. Works great.

One might not think the Key West real estate was fast paced. Think again, there are buyers looking for the right deal, for them, daily. And when it comes, they move fast to secure the property. The best way to stay on top of the Key West real estate market is the setup the criteria you are looking for in our system, which will update you by email when a property meeting your criteria comes on the market. We level the playing field for you. Stay on Top

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How Real Estate May Save an Ailing Job Market

How Real Estate May Save an Ailing Job Market
DAILY REAL ESTATE NEWS | MONDAY, FEBRUARY 04, 2013

The overall economic recovery is betting big on real estate’s continued progress. After all, a stronger real estate market can lead to a stronger job market. 

Strength in the real estate sector tends to lead to increased hiring in various housing-related industries, from carpenters and landscapers to real estate agents, loan processors, appliance manufacturers, furniture makers, and more. 

When it comes to job creation, "the most promising news is related to the housing market," says John Challenger, CEO of employment consulting firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas. 

The construction sector for housing added 28,000 jobs in January alone. 

"Since reaching a low in January 2011, construction employment has grown by 296,000, with one-third of the gain occurring in the last four months," according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The National Association of Home Builders says that for every home start, three new jobs are added in industries such as lumber, concrete, lighting fixtures, and lending. 

If the housing market rebounds to its historical average, the economy could generate 2.9 million direct jobs from it, according to the Bipartisan Policy Center, a Washington think tank. 

Source: “Jobs Still Lag, But Homebuilding May Soon Help,” NPR (Feb. 1, 2013)

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Is the Housing Market the Missing Link to a Better Job Market?

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Tax Reform: REALTOR® Engagement to Be Key

Tax Reform: REALTOR® Engagement to Be Key

DAILY REAL ESTATE NEWS | THURSDAY, JANUARY 31, 2013
Tax reform remains a possibility this year, and should the conversation about it begin members of Congress will benefit hearing from REALTORS® to reduce the chance they make decisions that could hurt markets, a lawmaker, analysts, and Hill staff said at forums in Washington yesterday.

"We really value your judgment because of your sense of the economy and also because you know what your neighbors think," said Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), ranking minority member on the House Budget Committee.

Van Hollen made his remarks before a group of politically active REALTORS® in town for a day of orientation on federal issues of importance to real estate.

Staff professionals on Capitol Hill who work with members of Congress told REALTORS® lawmakers have a lot on their plate, making it difficult to predict the likelihood of their tackling tax reform. But a staff person on the House’s tax-writing Ways and Means Committee says the committee chair, Rep. Dave Camp (R-Mich.), would like to see comprehensive reform passed out of his committee this year.

Would the mortgage interest deduction be part of the mix? It can't be ruled out, the staff aides and other speakers said, so REALTORS® have to remain engaged and be able to sift through proposals that would be unacceptable to them and proposals that would be less bad. "Some proposals will be worse than others," Van Hollen said. He added that his sense is that many members of Congress believe supporting home ownership is a "good policy choice" and that he will "certainly oppose any effort" to change or dismantle MID.

Van Hollen and Hill staffers said Congress is facing three more "fiscal cliff"-like deadlines that will keep the economy in a state of uncertainty: the deadline for the automatic, across-the-board cuts to federal programs, known as the sequester, which is March 1; the deadline for raising the debt ceiling, which is May 19; and the deadline for extending a continuing resolution, which is a temporary budget measure for keeping the federal government operating in the absence of a congressionally passed appropriations bills, which expires March 28.

A panel of analysts at the orientation agreed that for most of the public and for many lawmakers the issue of whether the federal government should support home ownership is largely decided, and it's in favor of maintaining a path for a broad swath of households. "I think that's where the country is," said Jaret Seiberg, managing director and financial services policy analyst for Guggenheim Securities.

"There isn't a snowball's chance in hell that any of these programs are going away," said George Mason University professor Anthony Sanders, referring to FHA, Fannie Mae, and Freddie Mac, among other ways the federal government is involved in home ownership.

The more immediate issue is how any modifications to these entities or to tax incentives for home ownership, including MID, would be modified. It's on that point that the analysts and staffers echoed Van Hollen's argument about the importance of REALTORS® staying engaged, because they’re the ones who can explain to lawmakers the impact that different proposals can have on markets. The worst thing that can happen is for lawmakers to make changes without understanding the impact of what they decide.

"Come in to see us and tell us how these different ideas impact the market," said one of the staff aides on the House tax-writing committee.


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— Robert Freedman, REALTOR® Magazine