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Miami Real Estate – Plenty of Housing Data Due Next Week
The S&P Case-Shiller Home Price Index for December will be out on Tuesday followed by the Commerce Department’s new home sales report on Wednesday and existing home sales report on Friday. These three reports will help give Wall Street, and the rest of the country, an idea of how the overall housing market is doing.
Are Recent Improvements in Home Sales and Median Prices Here to Stay?
Both on a national and local South Florida level, home sales have been improving and in some areas median prices have actually been increasing. Although we have been seeing a trend in increasing sales and decreasing inventories in Miami-Dade County, Moody’s Investor Services estimates there will be an additional 8% decrease in home prices in 2010 due to an increased number of foreclosures, short-sales, and deeds in lieu of foreclosure sales that will be coming on the market. Moody’s estimates are based on loans that are currently in some form of modification process but that will not be eligible for permanent modification.
The Difference between Cost vs. Price
Sellers and buyers of real estate often fixate on what the price of a property is and in doing so, lose sight of the more important factor, cost. Price is what you get for the property if you are a seller and what you pay for it if you are a buyer. However, what affects both seller and buyer on a monthly basis is the cost. In addition to principal, interest, taxes and insurance costs, there are maintenance costs and maybe association fees.
If you are a seller, consider how much it is costing you to carry that property each month you don’t sell it. Based on the inventory of similar properties in your area vs the number of sales, you can calculate how much it is going to cost you to continue carrying that property for the average number of months it is taking to sell properties in your area. I suggest you cut your sales price and take the loss upfront vs slowly cash out each month.
If you are a buyer, realize that there has never been a better time to buy than right now. You have a large number of options, the interest rates are the lowest they have been in decades and there is the government tax credit that expires at the end of April 2010. If you are waiting for prices to go down lower, consider the cost of owning if the prices go down but the interest rates go up. If prices come down 10% more, but interest rates inch up only 1% your monthly payments are going to be roughly the same.
Small Homes Are Back In Demand
The days of the McMansions have been put on hold for now. What is selling in Miami are the smaller homes on smaller lots in neighborhoods that are close to shopping and transportation. Most of the homes fitting this description are under $500,000 and many are under $300,000 and are therefore perfect for first-time homebuyers.
If you have a home that fits this description, now is a good time to sell since inventories in these price ranges are low and buyers are often bidding above asking. Many of these buyers want to be under contract prior to the end of April in order to qualify for the First Time Homebuyers Tax Credit.
Miami Real Estate – Homes Below $300,000 Get Lots of Activity
The real estate market in Miami continues to be driven by properties priced under $300,000. I listed a home this week in this price range and had 8 offers within the first 5 days, all at or above asking. Many of the would be buyers expressed frustration at losing out to cash buyers or having banks stall the process if the property was a short sale or foreclosure. If you are thinking of selling your home and have a home in this price range, chances are if you price it right you will get multiple offers, even above asking!
Miami Real Estate – Miami Not On Forbes’ Latest List
The latest Forbes real estate article, America’s New Housing Crisis Capitals, lists metropolitan areas were prices are still dropping with continued declines expected. Thankfully, none were in Miami-Dade, Broward, Palm Beach or Monroe counties!
Miami Real Estate – Lots Of Movement In All Directions
The 2010 real estate market has started out all over the place, both nationally and locally. On a national level, the lousy weather has had a negative effect on the new home segment, with construction on new homes and apartments falling 4% overall in December (construction rose in the South by over 3%). Applications for new building permits, however, increased by 11%.
Locally, the market has been moving a lot, keeping buyers, sellers, renters, and Realtors, on their toes. There are constant price adjustments on properties already listed, both upward and downward; properties priced well are going under contract (last week the EWM office in Coral Gables that I work out of had $21,000,000 worth of transactions) and renters are snapping up deals as downward pressure on rents, especially in condos, has given tenants more negotiating room.
Miami Real Estate – Asking Prices For Single Family Homes Up Over Last 3 Months
According to Altos Research, a firm that tracks the movement of single family homes in 27 real estate markets, the asking price for single family homes has increased over the last three months. This finding is especially interesting since it was reported in a Forbes article titled, Cities With The Fastest-Falling Home Prices. Miami was the only market out of the 27 to post an increase. The findings also show that single family homes in Miami sit on the market the longest, approximately 8 months.
Home Foreclosures Expected to Continue in 2010
The good news is that sales on existing homes, both single family and condos, continue to increase and inventories are decreasing in Miami-Dade county.
The bad news is in the foreclosure numbers for 2009. The numbers include all properties that are in some stage of the foreclosure process.
- Palm Beach County – 30,870
- Broward County – 69,633
- Miami-Dade County – 72,391
- Monroe County – 1,275
Since the unemployment rate is so high in Florida, foreclosures are expected to continue to add to inventories on the market in 2010. Miami-Dade’s new on-line foreclosure program and the government’s Home Affordable Refinance Program should help keep the foreclosure rate lower than 2009’s.
Miami Real Estate – Single Family Homes 4th Quarter Market Update
Below is a quick snap shot of what the real estate market for single family homes looked like for the fourth quarter of 2009. These numbers are derived from the Multiple Listing Service and though they do not include For Sale By Owners and anything not listed on the MLS, they are indicative of what is going on in our local markets. The closed sales may be slightly underestimated due to the lag time in posting the sale in the MLS.
Coconut Grove
- Closed Sales: 23. 5 short sales, 3 REO. None of the closings in December were Short Sales or REO. Highest Sales Price: $2.2 million. Highest Price/Square Foot: $437.98. Lowest Sales Price: $154,900. Lowest Price/Square Foot: $82.97
- Pending Sales: 22, 14 of which went pending in the fourth quarter.
- Active Listings: 165, down from 217 at end of Sept. Highest List Price: $18 million. Lowest List Price: $65,900.
Coral Gables
- Closed Sales: 101. 6 short sales, 10 REOs. Highest Sales Price: $5.15 million. Lowest Sales Price: $250,000.
- Pending Sales: 74
- Active Listings: 421, down from 450 at the end of the third quarter. Highest List Price: $49.5 million. Lowest List Price: $89,500
Key Biscayne
- Closed Sales: 13. 0 short sales, 1 REO. Highest Sales Price: $6.15 million. Lowest Sales Price: $820,000.
- Pending Sales: 3.
- Active Listings: 122. Highest List Price: $24.950 million. Lowest List Price: $985,000.
Miami Beach
- Closed Sales: 41. 5 short sales, 7 REOs. Highest Sales Price: $9.75 million. Lowest Sales Price: $240,000
- Pending Sales: 53
- Active Listings: 380. Highest List Price: $29.9 million. Lowest List Price: $181,000.
Palmetto Bay
- Closed Sales: 42. 8 short sale, 4 REO. Highest Sales Price: $1.45 million. Lowest Sales Price: $140,000.
- Pending Sales: 63
- Active Listings: 139. Highest List Price: $2.85 million. Lowest List Price: $165,000.
Pinecrest
- Closed Sales: 45. 4 short sale and 5 REOs. Highest Sales Price: $3.5 million. Lowest Sales Price: $236,000.
- Pending Sales: 29
- Active Listings: 199. Highest List Price: $5.9 million. Lowest List Price: $265,000.
South Miami
- Closed Sales: 24. 3 short sales, 9 REO. Highest Sales Price: $870,000. Lowest Sales Price: $87,500.
- Pending Sales: 21
- Active Listings: 71. Highest List Price: $1.899 million. Lowest List Price: $57,270.
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