I’ve been trying to convince Buyers of this for years that the value of their home is not something that can be calculated to an exact number.  No two homes are identical and no two buyers value the features of a property in the same way.  One person may look at a 3 car garage or a pool or big yard or a whatever and say WOW when others see un-wanted space or something else to maintain.

Sellers often find that price and cost do not equal value.

Buyers’ and sellers’ motivations and desires play a big role, but they can be difficult to calculate. Some people may be willing to pay more for a pool, a main-floor master bedroom or to live a certain location, for example, but these features may turn off others.

Experts point out that a home’s worth is based on the data as well as the role it serves for the person living there. Other factors to consider include functional obsolescence due to over-improvement, whether the market will pay more for unique features like outdoor kitchens or media and audio systems, and whether buyers want athletic equipment in their homes that they can access at professional gyms and training facilities.

It’s important for buyers to consider whether the home works for them, as the “value in use” to the occupant may not be supported by market data.

Rates on fixed mortgages fell this week for a fifth straight week. The spring home-buying season has started slowly, but it may be aided by the low rates.

Mortgage buyer Freddie Mac said Thursday the average rate for a 30-year loan edged down to 4.12 percent from 4.14 percent last week. The average for the 15-year mortgage declined to 3.21 percent from 3.25 percent.

Warmer weather has yet to boost home buying as it normally does. Rising prices and higher interest rates beginning in mid-2013 have made homes less affordable for would-be buyers. At the same time, a limited supply of homes is available to buy. New construction has focused increasingly on rental apartments, instead of single-family homes.

Mortgage rates still are nearly a full percentage point above record lows reached about a year ago.

U.S. home prices rose in March, data released Tuesday showed, but the gains are decelerating as fewer Americans can afford to buy.

The Standard & Poor’s/Case-Shiller 20-city home price index rose 12.4 percent in March compared with 12 months earlier. While healthy, that rate of growth slowed from both February and January.

And more Americans signed contracts to buy homes in April than in the prior month, but the pace of buying is still weaker than last year, according to data issued Thursday by the National Association of Realtors.

The increase in mortgage rates over the past year or so was driven in part by speculation that the Federal Reserve would reduce its bond purchases, which have helped keep long-term interest rates low. Indeed, the Fed has announced four declines in its monthly bond purchases since December because the economy appears to be steadily healing. But the Fed has no plans to raise its benchmark short-term rate from record lows.

Fed Chair Janet Yellen has told Congress that the economy is improving but noted that the job market remains “far from satisfactory” and that inflation is still below the Fed’s target rate. She said she expects the Fed’s near-zero target for short-term rates to remain appropriate for a “considerable time” after the bond purchases end.

To calculate average mortgage rates, Freddie Mac surveys lenders across the country between Monday and 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.

Palm Beach County’s new foreclosure cases down 44 percent from April 2013

The number of new foreclosure filings in Palm Beach County remained flat in April, and remain lower than last year, according to the latest statistics from the Clerk & Comptroller, Palm Beach County.

There were 535 new foreclosures filed in April – a 0.38 percent increase from 533 cases filed in March, but a 44.4 percent decrease from 962 cases filed in April 2013.

Mortgages/Deeds Recorded

The number of mortgages and deeds recorded in Palm Beach County increased for the second consecutive month. There were 6,955 deeds recorded in April, a 16.2 percent increase from 5,987 deeds recorded in March and a 4.2 percent increase from 6,675 deeds recorded in April 2013.

There were 2,987 mortgages recorded in April, a 15 percent increase from 2,597 mortgages recorded in March, but a 31.2 percent decrease from 4,343 mortgages recorded in April 2013.

Foreclosure Sales Results

There were 945 properties sold at foreclosure auction in April, according to statistics from Grant Street Group, the facilitator of ClerkAuction®. Of those, 722 were sold back to the plaintiff – typically a bank or mortgage company – in the foreclosure proceeding, and 223 were sold to a third party.

There were 481 foreclosure sales canceled in April, out of 1,426 scheduled for sale. The cancellation rate was 33.7 percent, compared with 34.1 percent in March.

So in rough numbers there were 6000 typical sales and 900 court ordered sales.  These 900 court sales need to be incorporated into the 600o ‘regular sales’ in the near future so about 15% of the inventory being re-sold is REO property.

Great VERY local information from the Palm Beach County Clerk & Comptroller. This is the “Checks & Balances” report…

PBC-2013-Financial-Report

Such as that there were 5051 Building Permits issued in 2013 which is very near a peak year of 6927 for 2006.

And other interesting facts like that the top tax payer in Palm Beach County by a factor of 10 is Florida Power & Light which paid over 76M in property taxes in 2013.

Palm Beach County grew in FY 2013 – both in its tax base and population. The County saw property values increase, with overall tax bills at $3.03 billion in 2013 – a $60 million increase from 20121. The County’s population also grew, with approximately 1.35 million people calling Palm Beach County home in 20132. It is the fourth consecutive year of population growth for Palm Beach County, which remains the third most populous in Florida.

The number of jobs also grew in Palm Beach County during 2013, with employers adding approximately 13,200 nonagricultural jobs in the West Palm Beach Metropolitan Statistical Area4, a 2.5 percent increase from the previous year. The sectors adding jobs included Trade, Transportation and Utilities, Retail Trade and Education and Health Services. As companies added jobs in Palm Beach County, the County’s unemployment rate dropped by 15.5 percent5 from 2012 to 2013. This rate, which measures the percentage of the workforce that is unemployed and looking for paid employment, fluctuated between a low of 6.8 percent in April 2013 and a high of 8.4 percent in October 2012.

Palm Beach County’s growth is changing the makeup of its main industries. While agriculture and tourism are still important parts of the County’s economy, the biggest industries in 2013 include health care, energy and security. Of the companies represented in Palm Beach County’s top five private employers, two – G4S (Wackenhut Corp.) and Bethesda Memorial Hospital – were not among the County’s largest businesses a decade ago.

I saw this on the FP&L site and thought some customers might find it useful…

Mold prevention
•For programmable thermostats: Set your A/C to run at 72 degrees for just two hours each morning before sunrise and at 88 degrees the rest of the time.
•For non-programmable thermostats: Set your A/C to run at 80 degrees while you are away. If you live in a condo or apartment, set your A/C at 77 degrees.
•For maximum energy savings: Use portable dehumidifiers instead of air conditioning. Set dehumidifiers at 58 percent by sinks and showers, one for every 1,000 square feet. Be sure to place the dehumidifiers so the water runs into the drain.