Good news about Homeowners Underwater!

http://www.inman.com/news/2012/09/12/rising-home-prices-lift-13-million-out-underwater

Rising home values helped 1.3 million homeowners get out from "underwater" in the first half of the year, and another 2 million would get equity if national home prices increase by another 5 percent, data aggregator CoreLogic said today.
CoreLogic estimates that 22.3 percent of all residential properties with a mortgage were worth less than what was owed on their mortgages at the end of June, down from 23.7 percent at the end of March.
That translates into 10.8 million homeowners who owed more than their homes were worth at the end of June, down from 11.4 million at the end of March and 12.1 million at the end of 2011, CoreLogic said.
"Surging home prices this spring and summer, lower levels of inventory, and declining REO sale shares are all contributing to the nascent housing recovery and declining negative equity," CoreLogic Chief Economist Mark Fleming said in a statement.
Nevada had the highest percentage of mortgaged properties that were underwater (59 percent), followed by Florida (43 percent), Arizona (40 percent), Georgia (36 percent) and Michigan (33 percent).
Those five states accounted for 34.1 percent of the $689 billion of negative equity in the U.S.

July 2012 Pinellas County Real Estate Statistics

The positive housing trend continues, although the inventory levels continue to drop, making it harder to find properties for buyers.  As long as the inventory stays low, the prices will continue to climb. 
Here is the month of July 2012 stats from the Pinellas Reator Organization:

Pinellas County Real Estate Statistics for July 2012

Residential sales were up just over 17%. Median sales prices were up 4.5% from $114,000 to $120,000 from July 2011 to July 2012. Listings continued to slide by almost 30% for the same time period.

Single family sales were up almost 19% from 759 to 900 over the last 12 months. This puts further pressure on the months-supply of inventory, dropping it 42%, from 6 months to 3.5 months. The median sale price increased by almost $15,000, from $122,000 to $137,600 over the last 12 months. Condo sales were up almost 16% with the median sales price increasing by about 2.5% from July 2011 to July 2012. Condo listings fell by 25% pushing down the month’s supply of inventory to 6 months.
In the distressed market short sales made up 19% of total sales for July and foreclosures accounted for 14%. This was a significant shift from last year when the two were neck and neck. The median sales price of short sales over the last 12 months has dropped by almost $32,000 from $122,000 to $90,000. The median price of foreclosed properties and non distressed properties had a negligible drop over the last 12 months.
One bright spot has been the days on market for both short sales and foreclosures haves dropped by almost three weeks over the last four months. Hopefully this trend continues and indicates that banks are processing their inventory more efficiently. Unfortunately, the days on market for non-distressed properties has increased by two weeks over the same time period. This is most likely due to increased problems with appraisals, mortgage financing, and insurance.

Short Sales Getting a Boost!

Some good news on Short Sales today!

The Federal Housing Finance Agency on Tuesday announced measures to make "short sales" of underwater homes easier for homeowners, including extending help to people who have financial difficulties but haven't missed mortgage payments.

Read more: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10000872396390444443504577603552056318314.html

Pinellas County Real Estate Statistics for June 2012

Total residential property sales rose by almost 16% from June 2011 to June 2012, and median sales prices rose by 4.5% over the same time period. Total active listings fell over 30% for the same time period.

Financing had virtually no change over the last 12 months as cash accounted for almost 60% of all

transactions and conventional financing accounted for 25% of all transactions.

Single family sales rose nearly 17% and the median sales price rose by 8% from June 2011 to June 2012.

Listings continued their decline, sliding 32%. The month’s supply of inventory (MSI) declined over 50% to 3.4 months. To put that number in perspective, a 6 month supply of inventory is considered a normal market.

In the condo market, sales were up just over 14% and the median sales price was up 13% over the last 12 months. Active listings fell by 30% and pending sales were down 4.8%. The month’s supply of inventory for condos dropped from 9.2 months to 5.2 months over the last year.

The number of days a property stays on the market rose drastically over the last year, reflecting the

problems buyers and sellers are having with banks. For short sales, days on market increased by 56%,

while non-distressed properties days on market increased by 19%.

Statistics provided by Pinellas Realtor Organzation

For Graphic Results check:
http://www.pinellasrealtor.org/userfiles/files/stats/monthly_analysis/June-2012-Pinellas-County-Residential-Real-Estate-Report.pdf

May 2012 Pinellas County Real Estate Statistics are out!

Pinellas County Real Estate Statistics for May 2012

Pinellas County’s real estate market continued familiar patterns in May. Prices and sales are up and listings down. The National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) was renewed. As a result, buyers weren’t trying to close before the program expired. We won’t see any slow down as a result of the NFIP expiring, either.
Single family unit sales are up 16% and the median sales price is up 15.83% from May 2011 to May 2012. The sweet spot in the single family market is between $120,000 and $140,000, with almost 10% of the closed sales in May. Listings are continuing to decline with a 35% decline over the past 12 months.
Condo sales in May were up just over 10% and the median sales price was up 18.4% as compared to May of 2011. Condos priced between $250,000 and $300,000 as well as $40,000 and $50,000 are the strongest segment of the market. Condo listings continue to decline with a 30% decrease from May 2011 to May 2012.
Distressed properties made up less than 20% of the active inventory for the month of May, with bank owned properties representing only 5% of the active listings. Median sale prices for non-distressed properties were 16% higher in May than that of a distressed home.
Additionally, the median price for non-distressed sales is up by almost 24% and up 16% for distressed. If that’s not enough good news, total sales were up from last year by close to 12%, with 69% being non-distressed homes.

Check this link:
http://www.pcrealtor.net/May-2012-Pinellas-County-Residential-Real-Estate-Report.pdf

From: Pinellas County Realtors Organization

Fla. housing market continues positive signs

Good news released today that prices are rising.  I have noticed it also within my area of St Pete.  With inventory levels so low, the good houses are selling quickly and at times higher than the listing price!
http://www.floridarealtors.org/NewsAndEvents/article.cfm?p=1&id=276139
If you are in the market to buy, dont hesitate.  If you see something you like, you need to jump on it or you risk losing it.
Contact me for help in your search!
Pete

www.yourhomeinstpete.com
pete@yourhomeinstpete.com
727-215-7394

Good News from PRO about Pinellas County Real Estate for March 2012

Pinellas County Real Estate Statistics for March 2012

For the month of March the single family market continues to be the strength of the market. While single family sales are down 3.1% from March 2011 to March 2012, sales are up almost 32% year to date, and the median sales price is up nearly $12,000 year to date. There was 21% increase in year over year sales in the condo market and as well as a 54% increase in month over month sales. However, even with a decrease in condo sales and in listings, there has still been a year over year decrease of 11% and a month over month decrease of 6.5% in the median sales price of condo’s in Pinellas County.

In the distressed market there have been ten straight months where short sales have continued to outpace foreclosure sales as banks are speeding up there short sale approval process. Of the 481 distressed property sales last month 58% were short sales and 42% were bank-owned sales. To give some perspective on how much the numbers have improved in March 2011 foreclosure accounted for 70% of the distressed market and short sales accounted for 30%

Financing continues to be a problem as cash buyers have accounted for 60% to 65% of the market over the last year. Financing will be a key factor over the next year as the real estate market continues its recovery. Sellers will need to feel confident they can get financing to buy a new house before they will put their current house on the market.

Also in March for the first time since the Pinellas Realtor Organization has been keeping sales records, there is less than one home for sale per home buyer. The chart below only shows the last two years but it illustrates how low inventories have become. According to David Bennett, President and CEO of the Pinellas Realtor Organization, "The pendulum is just starting to swing back towards a seller’s market. With the number of listings so low sales prices have been starting to increase, hopefully fewer homeowners are underwater and more of them will be able to sell.


Provided by: Pinellas County Realtor Organization.