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South Florida Real Estate
Icon Brickell To Be Turned Over To Lenders
Icon Brickell, the three-tower 1800-unit complex with views of the Miami River and gorgeous grounds is being turned over to the developer’s lenders in a friendly foreclosure. Only two of the three towers have been built.
Interest Rates Will Start Increasing in 2010
The Fed’s Mortgage Backed Security (MBS) purchase program ends on March 31, 2010. This purchase program is what has kept mortgage rates so low for the better part of 2009 and once the Fed stops purchasing MBSs the demand will drop. Since the supply of MBSs is still high, this will have a downward affect on bond prices which, in turn, will make home mortgage rates rise.
This will affect the purchasing power of home buyers.
Happy Holidays from Citigroup
Citigroup announced that it will suspend foreclosures for the next 30 days in order to work on long-term alternatives to foreclosure. This will be happy news to an estimated 4,000 borrowers.
Short Sales Starting to Pick Due to New Treasury Rules
At the end of November, the United States Treasury Department released new rules attempting to encourage banks to speed up short sales. The rules create a uniform process and documents that all banks must use as well as provide cash incentives to banks willing to participate. The new rules are starting to work…I actually had a previously unapproved short sale close faster and with less problems than a regular sale that went under contract at around the same time.
This is great news for buyers and sellers as it will help us move through the inventory levels that much faster. In order to qualify, a seller must:
- use the home as his/her primary residence
- have taken the loan out prior to January 1, 2009
- must be delinquent on mortgage or likely to default on it
- have a loan that is less than $729,750
- have a monthly mortgage payment that is more than 31% of before-tax income
Buying Real Estate? Bring Plenty of Patience if You Are Financing
I just came from a closing that almost didn’t happen because of the strict lending requirements lenders have. Mind you, the Buyer has been under contract on a regular sale for over a month and was putting 40% down. Last night the bank decided it needed more information on the source of his original $5,000 deposit, given back in early October. When he provided his bank statement showing the $5,000, the latest bank statement also showed a significant deposit, a gift from his sister to help with the down payment. This initiated a request from the lender for a letter from the sister saying it was a gift. He got the letter, but this morning they wanted a copy of the sister’s account where the money came from. She forwarded the statement showing the debit being made to her account. Unfortunately for all parties involved, the sister is married and doesn’t share her husband’s last name, which lead to another request for information. We finally closed a little before 9:00 p.m.
I have no problem with lenders tightening up their lending requirements and wanting to track the money. I do have an issue with them doing so the day before the closing, jeopardizing the transaction, and stressing out all parties, who are usually stressed out enough on the day of a closing.
Moral of the story?
- Create a paper trail of where all the money you are using for the closing is coming from and provide it to your lender or mortgage broker at least several days before the closing.
- If you are getting money from a family member, get a gift letter to go along with it. The letter should be specific as to where the funds are coming from and include a bank statement showing the funds.
- Make sure the name(s )of the accounts match the name(s) in the gift letter.
- If you are running short on time, sign an addendum for a one-two day extension for the closing and make sure all parties to the original contract sign it before the end of the contracted closing date so that you are still in contract.
- Be patient. Lenders are backlogged with new buyers and new regulations.
Mortgage Rates Increase But Still Under 5%
Home loan rates increased by .125% last week, in reaction to good economic news. As interest rates increase your purchasing power decreases, so why wait for interest rates to go up further? They are still at historically low rates.
Foreclosure Numbers Show We Still Have A Long Road to Recovery
Although national foreclosures in November were down 8% from October, they are still up 18% over last November. With Florida in second place behind Nevada in having the highest number of foreclosures, we are still a long way off from being able to say the market has recovered. Recent decreases in inventory and increases in sales are all good signs that we have turned the corner, but a recent article in Forbes highlights some of the issues we still face and lists the 10 markets where they believe the market is turning around. Not surprisingly, none are in Florida.
South Beach Real Estate – Continuum Condo Market Update
This gorgeous oceanfront development on 12 acres is a true vacation destination, even if you live here year round! The Continuum, in Miami Beach’s South of Fifth neighborhood, currently consists of two condo towers and several lofts. The North Tower is 50 S Pointe Drive and the South Tower is 100 S Pointe drive.
The market information as of today for 2 bedroom units in each of the two towers is as follows:
- The average price per square foot for 2 bedrooms sold this year in 50 S Pointe is $ 716. At 100 S Pointe the average is $652.
- 36 2-bedroom units currently for sale in Continuum (both towers)
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17 in 50 S Pointe (2008)
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19 in 100 S Pointe (2002)
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4 are townhomes/lofts
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Highest list price is $3.299 million for a townhouse
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Lowest list price is $1,150,000 for unit 1901 at 100 S Pointe
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9 2-bedroom units have sold this year in 50 S Pointe. Highest sales price was for Loft-1. It sold for $1,700,000, $732 per square foot, on 9/29. The lowest sale was unit 805. It sold on Sept. 25 for $900,000 or $452 per square foot. Highest per square foot price $838 for unit 1404. Lowest price per square foot was unit 805 at $452. There are currently no pending sales in 50 S Pointe.
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10 2-bedroom units have sold this year in 100 S Pointe. Highest price was unit 804 at $2,325,000 or $1014 per square foot. Lowest was unit 605 at $940,000 or $502 per square foot. Those are also the highest and lowest prices on a square foot basis. There are two pending sales. One is listed at $1034 per square foot the other at $931.
Miami Real Estate – Market Update November, 2009
This chart shows all of the single-family homes and condos that are currently on the market for sale, are under contract and pending, or that have sold. The most telling one is the For Sale bars as it shows a steady decrease in inventory as properties are either pended, sold, or taken off of the market. The number of homes pended and sold in November is down slightly from those in October, but the overall direction of the inventory is still heading downward. Granted, based on November’s inventory and sales, we still have approximately 18 months of inventory to plow through, but as long as inventory keeps going down, the market is moving in the right direction.
Remember that this is a county-wide snapshot and each neighborhood or even building is going to have it’s own unique market. What are you seeing in your neighborhood or building?
EWM Real Estate Has Another Great Week of Sales!
Thanksgiving week is normally the start of a slow time for real estate sales. Not for EWM, however. Our Miami-Dade EWM offices totaled almost $23,000,000 in sales and leases.
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