Coit Group Fine Homes

Downtown Tampa Florida Home Values Rise 9.2% In 2016  Florida's housing market had higher median prices and fewer all-cash sales in December, according to the latest housing data released by Florida Realtors ® . Sales of single-family homes statewide totaled 22,332 last month, up 0.8 percent from December 2015. "The trend of tight housing supply continued to have an impact on Florida's housing market in December," says 2017 Florida Realtors President  Maria Wells, broker-owner with Lifestyle Realty Group in Stuart .   "Last month,  statewide median sales prices for both single-family homes and townhouse-condo properties rose year-over-year for 61 months in row . While that's good news for sellers, it's continuing to put pressure on inventory for first-time homebuyers and those who may be looking for their next 'move-up' home. "And that's where your local Realtor comes in – he or she will put their expertise to work for you to succ...

Builders predict big expansion in construction Construction of single-family homes is expected to gradually rise this year, as a growing economy, solid employment gains and rising household formation buoys builders' forecasts. Last year, the National Association of Home Builders projected 1.16 million total housing starts in 2016, which was up nearly 5 percent from the previous year. Now NAHB is forecasting a 10 percent increase in single-family production for 2017 and a 12 percent rise for 2018. Still, there will be pressing challenges as builders look to increase their supplies this year. "While positive developments on the demand side will support solid growth in the single-family housing sector in 2017, builders in many markets continue to face supply-side constraints led by the three Ls – lots, labor and lending," says NAHB chief economist Robert Dietz. Sixty-four percent of builders reported "low" or "very low" lot supplie...

Does home flipping help ease  affordability?   November 2, 2017  Investors have re-emerged in home flipping, scouring markets to find homes they can make over to earn a profit. The practice – once blamed for helping to fuel the housing crisis a decade ago – is now a welcome sign to some city officials who say it's helping to solve an affordability crunch. States like Florida and Nevada continue to have a large stock of foreclosed homes, and flippers are stepping in to renovate homes that, at the same time, help battle neighborhood blight and create more options for first-time and low-income buyers. In many cases, the flipped homes being sell well below the rest of the market. Industry analysts point to that as a sign that it's filling a shortage of affordable housing. "This flipping activity could be seen as a social good if it's bringing houses up to standards and putting them back on the market," says Steven Swidler, an Auburn University profe...

It now pays to pay down those balances...   NEW YORK – Oct. 27, 2016 – Applying for a home loan? You may want to consider paying off your credit card bill first. Thanks to a recent change by major credit rating agencies, mortgage lenders can now look at whether you pay off your bill every month or keep a balance. That means homebuyers who pay off their credit cards may earn an advantage when looking for a mortgage. Historically lenders reviewed basic information such as your total debt and whether you were on-time with your payments when deciding whether to make a home loan. But they didn't know whether you were paying off your credit card or other revolving debts in full or carrying a balance month-to-month. That changed in September, when two of the major credit rating agencies, Equifax and Transunion, began offering what's known as "trending data." Lenders now have access to a more comprehensive view of a borrower's debt management habits, spec...

Consumers love looking for homes online   SAN FRANCISCO – Aug. 9, 2016 – Americans spend an average of 55 minutes per online visit with real estate apps on their phones, according to new research unveiled by Google. Basically, "customers roll over in the morning and start looking at real estate listings [on their phone]," John Thornton, a partner in Google's real estate business, said about the study's findings. Sixty-nine percent of respondents Google surveyed call "shopping for real estate fun" from their phone and online. In fact, Americans are so addicted to home shopping online that 64 percent say they keep checking out houses and home values even after they purchase a home. The Google study also finds that people start hunting on real estate sites three years before they buy on average. Also, one in five of the people checking out homes on real estate apps and websites are actually in the current market to purchase a home, the study foun...

After US markets lose three trillion in two days on the back of BREXIT, real estate looks better and safer as investment. Britain's vote to exit the European Union (EU) will likely have a long-term impact on the world economy – but in the short-term, U.S. real estate could be flooded with investors flocking to the U.S. as a safe haven, pushing up the dollar and sending down mortgage rates. "Demand for U.S. real estate could rise," says NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun. On the commercial side, global corporations could show additional interest in U.S. real estate as they come to see the U.K. as a less certain place to set up or maintain their businesses, Yun says, "especially in London as it becomes a less attractive place to conduct global business." While a rise in the dollar could hurt U.S. exports, it's also expected to put downward pressure on long-term mortgage interest rates. "Mortgage rates will tumble," says Greg McBride, chi...

Mortgage rates stay low as home-buying season starts