Jupiter Florida Real Estate Broker

More closed sales, higher median prices, increased pending sales and the continued stabilization of the homes-for-sale inventory resulted into a sunny outlook for Florida’s housing market in September, according to the latest housing data released by Florida Realtors®.

“Throughout the year, we’ve seen Florida’s housing market strengthen, and that positive momentum continued in September,” says 2013 Florida Realtors President Dean Asher, broker-owner with Don Asher & Associates Inc. in Orlando. “Home values are rising, and many homeowners across the state see improving home equity. Those trends are helping to ease tight inventory levels in many areas as people who had been waiting on the sidelines decided to list their homes for sale.

“September marks 22 months in a row that the statewide median sales prices rose year-over-year for both single-family homes and for townhome-condo properties.”

Statewide closed sales of existing single-family homes totaled 18,490 in September, up 18.8 percent compared to the year-ago figure, according to data from Florida Realtors Industry Data and Analysis department in partnership with local Realtor boards/associations. Closed sales typically occur 30 to 90 days after sales contracts are written.

Meanwhile, pending sales – signed contracts not yet completed or closed – for existing single-family homes last month rose 10.5 percent over the previous September. The statewide median sales price for single-family existing homes last month was $170,000, up 17.2 percent from the previous year. The median is the midpoint; half the homes sold for more, half for less.

According to the National Association of Realtors (NAR), the national median sales price for existing single-family homes in August 2013 was $212,200, up 14.4 percent from the previous year. In California, the statewide median sales price for single-family existing homes in August was $441,330; in Massachusetts, it was $345,000; in Maryland, it was $272,895; and in New York, it was $242,000.

Looking at Florida’s year-to-year comparison for sales of townhouse-condos, a total of 8,279 units sold statewide last month, up 11.4 percent from September 2012. Meanwhile, pending sales for townhouse-condos last month increased 4.6 percent compared to the year-ago figure. The statewide median price for townhouse-condo properties was $130,000, up 23.5 percent over the previous year. NAR reported that the national median existing condo price in August 2013 was $211,700.

Inventory was at a 5.3-months’ supply in September for both single-family homes and for townhouse-condo properties, according to Florida Realtors.

“Not too long ago, the focus was on the strength and longevity of Florida’s housing market recovery.

Average U.S. rates on fixed mortgages rose slightly this week, staying near three-month lows. Rates could fall next week now that lawmakers reached a deal to avert a possible government debt default and reopen the federal government.

Mortgage buyer Freddie Mac said Thursday that the average rate on the 30-year loan increased to 4.28 percent from 4.23 percent last week. The average on the 15-year fixed loan edged up to 3.33 percent from 3.31 percent.

Mortgage rates began falling last month after the Federal Reserve held off slowing its $85-billion-a-month in bond purchases. The bond buys are intended to keep longer-term interest rates low, including mortgage rates. And rates stayed relatively low during the 16-day partial government shutdown.

Rates are likely to fall even lower now that Congress reached a deal to reopen the government and allow the Treasury to borrow normally until early February.

Mortgage rates tend to follow the yield on the 10-year Treasury note. The 10-year note fell to 2.61 percent Thursday, down from 2.74 percent Tuesday.

To calculate average mortgage rates, Freddie Mac surveys lenders across the country on Monday through Wednesday each week. The average doesn’t include extra fees, known as points, which most borrowers must pay to get the lowest rates. One point equals 1 percent of the loan amount.

The average fee for a 30-year mortgage was steady at 0.7 point. The fee for a 15-year loan also was unchanged at 0.7 point.

The average rate on a one-year adjustable-rate mortgage slipped to 2.63 percent from 2.64 percent and the fee held at 0.4 point.

The average rate on a five-year adjustable mortgage rose to 3.07 percent from 3.05 percent. The fee was unchanged at 0.4 points.

FHA answers questions about shutdown’s impact

The Federal Housing Administration FHA says it has received a number of questions about the government shutdown and its impact on FHA loans. As a result, it issued a list of questions and answers:Can I get an FHA case number?Yes. Lenders will be able to obtain an FHA case number from the FHA Connection. Will FHA endorse single-family loans during a shutdown?FHA will be able to endorse single-family loans, with the exception of Home Equity Conversion Mortgages HECM and Title I loans, during the shutdown. A limited number of FHA staff will be available to endorse new loans. Due to limited staff, the time to endorse the cases may be extended. Will FHA still be able to endorse my loan if I am not able to obtain tax returns verified by the IRS during the shutdown?Some lenders obtain tax transcripts directly from the IRS when underwriting their FHA-insured loans. But these lenders may be unable to obtain returns directly from the IRS for the duration of the government shutdown. Lenders may continue originating loans using FHA’s existing underwriting requirements, which have not changed. Lenders must obtain tax returns from certain borrowers in order to originate FHA-insured loans, and the borrower’s signed authorization i.e., Forms IRS 4506, IRS 8821, or whatever form or electronic retrieval service is appropriate for any loan for which the borrower’s tax returns are required. Why didn’t the borrower’s name and Social Security Number pass validation with the Social Security Administration?When the lender requests a FHA case number, the borrower’s name, date of birth, Social Security Number SSN and property address are entered into FHA Connection FHAC. If the matching process with Social Security Administrations SSA fails, a “Case Warning for SSN Validation” will be placed on the case number.The failure could occur because the data doesn’t match or because the SSA system went offline due to the government shutdown. SSA has limited tolerance for minor mistakes in names, birth dates and social security numbers. Can the Social Security Number validation be run again?Lenders can make necessary corrections and try a second time to validate with SSA. Any changes made to the borrower’s name, birth date and SSN at any time prior to insurance endorsement will trigger a validation request with SSA. If the revised data passes validation, the Case Warning for SSN Validation is removed. However, if the failure was caused by the government shutdown, the Case Warning for SSN Validation will not be able to be removed until the government reopens.

I copied this from Florida Statute 180.135…

180.135?Utility services; refusal or discontinuance of services for nonpayment of service charges by former occupant of rental unit prohibited; unpaid service charges of former occupant not to be basis for lien against rental property, exception.—

Florida’s Legislative Budget Commission allocated $2.77 million to improve Everglades pump stations in a short-term benefit package to improve the health of waterways harmed by releases from Lake Okeechobee.

To protect Lake Okeechobee and the integrity of its earth dam, Florida has directed excess water – notably in the summer rainy seasons – to the two rivers that flow east and west. However, the man-made increase in polluted water has impacted the environment and homeowners who live along the rivers. It has caused a problem for homeowners and those Realtors who work as property managers for units along the water.

According to William Poteet with Poteet Properties Inc. in Naples, the onslaught of polluted water from the redirected flow pushes the saltwater farther downstream and turns “our view from clear, pristine water to a milky brown mixture. It’s just not a pretty picture.”

In addition to pump station improvements, the money will also be used to build a channel to aid Florida Everglades’ water flow across the Tamiami Trail in Miami-Dade County that now acts as a de facto dam.

Sen. Joe Negron, R-Stuart, chairs the Legislative Budget Commission, which is comprised of lawmakers from the House and Senate. Negron says the projects will allow the communities east and west of the lake “to mitigate the damage to the lagoons and estuaries.” The projects are “all designed to store water on mostly public lands; to have additional pumping so that the water goes south.” He says there is “a small amount of money to cut a little area in the Tamiami Trail so more water can go south.”

Florida Realtors backs environmental changes that bring a better balance to the Everglades river system. Audubon Florida Legislative Director Mary Jean Yon also supported the allocation. “If there is a surprise (to this announcement), it’s that they were able to get things going this quickly,” Yon says.

Water sent from Lake Okeechobee into the rivers has reportedly killed oysters and sea grass, and caused a toxic algae outbreak that has forced Martin County health officials to warn residents against coming into contact with the water.

The money, to come from the Water Management Lands Trust Fund, was among a number of short-term fixes by Negron’s Senate Select Committee on the Indian River Lagoon and Lake Okeechobee Basin, which held an afternoon-long workshop in Stuart on Aug. 22.

“It’s going to be a tremendous boost,” says Rep. Mark Pafford, D-West Palm Beach, that will help correct “some of the things we’ve done in Florida over the last 150 years.”

Fla. foreclosure starts down 65% year-to-year

Florida foreclosures dropped dramatically in RealtyTrac’s latest report for August. Overall foreclosure activity dropped 43 percent, and foreclosure starts – homes that received a first notice – dropped 54 percent year-to-year.

Nationally, RealtyTrac reports that national foreclosure filings – default notices, scheduled auctions and bank repossessions – decreased 2 percent from the previous month and 34 percent year-to-year, the 35th consecutive month where foreclosure activity has decreased on an annual basis. One in every 1,019 U.S. housing units had some kind of foreclosure filing activity during the month.

Some experts say the Florida drop relates, at least in part, to a bill passed during the 2013 session of the Florida Legislature to ease the court burden of foreclosures in the state. St. Petersburg foreclosure attorney Matthew Weidner tells the Tampa Tribune that mortgage servicers and banks now have more trouble proving that they own a mortgage, which the legislation requires.

That could mean lenders are doing more prep work before filing foreclosure paperwork, which would impact the foreclosure numbers. However, RealtyTrac Vice President Daren Blomquist says it’s too early to know the impact of Florida’s new foreclosure law.

In addition, Florida is not the only state to see a dramatic drop in foreclosure numbers.

Report findings

• Florida is no longer No. 1 for its foreclosure rate, slipping to the No. 2 spot behind Nevada. Ohio, Maryland and Delaware round out the top five.

• Florida cities accounted for six of the 10 highest metropolitan foreclosure rates – but that’s down from nine of the top 10 the previous month.

• Some Florida cities, while still in the top 20, logged fewer foreclosures year-to-year. Florida cities in the top 20 include: 1) Port St. Lucie (foreclosures up 218% year-to-year), 2) Jacksonville (down 2.2%), 4) Miami (down 18%), 5) Ocala (up 42%), 6) Tampa-St. Petersburg (down 11.64%), 9) Orlando-Kissimmee (down 27%), 14) Palm Bay-Melbourne-Titusville (down 33%), 15) Naples-Marco Island (up 17%) and 18) Cape Coral (down 41%).

• REO activity increased in Florida 48 percent to a seven-month high. Nationally, REO activity increased month-to-month in 26 states and was up year-to-year in 23 states.

• The year-to-year decrease in Florida foreclosure activity was driven primarily by a 65 percent decrease in foreclosure starts, dropping those to the lowest level since RealtyTrac began issuing its report at the state level in April 2005.

• Foreclosure auctions in Florida, however, increased 39 percent from a year ago.