Davidson Realty, Inc.

Northeast Florida Real Estate Trends in July

August 30, 2010

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Posted by in Uncategorized

This week’s headlines on the historical drop in national home sales certainly didn’t help in creating market confidence.  Closings in the Northeast Florida Association of Realtors (NEFAR) market area in July are down almost 30% from the number of closings in June. I really believe the tax credit is part of the reason for this drop.  It is encouraging to see that pending sales or new contracts being written in Northeast Florida have increased over June.

Out of curiosity I did some research on high-end transactions in the Nease High School attendance zone which includes communities such as Nocatee, Palencia, World Golf Village and everything in between. Since January 2010 there have only been 25 single family homes closed over $500,000. My statistics come from the Northeast Florida Multiple Listing Service and do not include any home listed only in the St. Augustine MLS. Sales of high-end residential homes are still hampered by the lack of consumer confidence and the mortgage lending market.

Here are a couple facts about St. Augustine and  Jacksonville FL real estate in July:

• While the median sales price in the NEFAR area dropped in July, the average sales price in the NEFAR  area showed a slight increase. Unfortunately our primary markets 32092 (World Golf Village) and 32095 (Palencia) showed a decrease in the average sales price. Home price improvement will only be generated by reduced housing inventories and increased job production in the private sector.
• The number of homes available for sale continues to drop. When looking at “for sale” inventories, keep in mind there is a need to segregate listings based on sales price viability. There are many sellers listing their homes high above true market value. These properties are “for sale” but not saleable.
• The inventory of available homes in the World Golf Village is less than half of what it was 2 years ago. In August 2008 there were 258 active listings and in July 2010 there were only 122 active listings. Read more

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Updates on Short Sales from the CDPE Momentum Convention

June 9, 2010

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Posted by in News, Short Sales

untitledAt the end of May, I was fortunate to go on a road trip with Davidson Realty’s Short Sale Coordinator Cindy Vaughn to Tempe, AZ to attend the Certified Distressed Property Expert (CDPE) seminar. We had a great time and learned a lot. There were many great speakers and I wanted to share some of the comments I found most interesting.

Rick Sharga from Realty Trac Inc. talked about three waves of foreclosures. The first wave of foreclosures occurred when employment was strong and the economy was growing. These foreclosures were caused by the sub-prime loans. The second wave of foreclosures was caused by unemployment. They estimate that there is 1 foreclosure for every 6 to 10 jobs lost. The third wave of foreclosures is mainly due to Option Arm loans resetting. Many people will see payments rise by $1,000 to $1,500 per month. The resetting Option Arms will peak in 2011.

Matt Vernon from Bank of America spoke about improvements to the short sale process using a new technology called Equator. Just to give you an idea of their volume of short sales, in March 67,000 short sales were initiated and 64,000 decisions were made. They have made major improvements in the time frame for approvals; however, Matt pointed out that only about 10% of the loans are owned by Bank of America. Most of the approvals have to be made by an investor and some investors respond more timely than others. Read more

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Top 5 Things Homeowners Should Know about the New HAFA Regulations & Short Sales

May 7, 2010

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Posted by in News, Short Sales

With an estimated 12% of Jacksonville and St. Augustine area home mortgage loans currently delinquent, new regulations from the U.S. Treasury Department’s Home Affordable Foreclosure Alternatives program (HAFA) may provide some much-needed financial help. The new HAFA regulations, which went into affect on April 5, offer more incentives that make a short sale a smarter and better alternative to foreclosure for the majority of homeowners. Explains Davidson Realty President Sherry Davidson, “The new HAFA rules are a huge help for homeowners who otherwise might be faced with foreclosure.  A HAFA short sale can help homeowners protect their credit, gain a $3,000 relocation incentive and not worry about future liability so they can get on with their lives.”  The top five things homeowners should know about the new HAFA short sale, include:

1. Homeowners who qualify for a HAFA short sale are fully released from future liability for the first mortgage debt.  This means that the mortgage lender cannot come after the homeowner at any future time for repayment of the original loan.
2. A HAFA short sale allows for a $3,000 relocation assistance payment for homeowners. That’s a one-time payment of up to $3,000 to help sellers with moving costs, rent security costs, etc.
3. Most major lenders are already on board with the new HAFA rules, including Citibank, Wells Fargo, Bank of America, Wachovia, Chase, Wamu, and the list continues to grow.
4. With HAFA, the short sale process has been standardized and streamlined so homeowners can expect a quicker outcome.
5. Homeowners can enlist the Realtor of their choice to help them through the HAFA process so they have an advocate.  A Realtor can also help the homeowner determine if they qualify for a HAFA short sale and, if not, what other options are available to them. Read more

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Will Mandatory Mediation Help Foreclosures in St. Augustine?

March 3, 2010

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Posted by in Short Sales

Florida is one of the states hit very hard by residential foreclosures. We had over 13,000 foreclosure filings in the Seventh Circuit Court (for Flagler, St. Johns, Putnam and Volusia Counties) in 2008 and over 16,000 filings in 2009.

A task force was formed to address the crises and they identified lack of communication between the parties as the most significant issue. The Florida Supreme Court addressed this issue by requiring mediation in all foreclosure cases involving homestead property unless the parties agree otherwise or have already participated in mediation.

The mediation will be handled by a Florida Supreme Court certified mediator appointed by the Court. The costs of the mediation will be paid by the lender and the total cost may not exceed $750. The plaintiff (lender) must have a representative who has full authority to settle at the mediation but they may appear by telephone or other electronic method. Read more

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January NEFAR Market Statistics May Surprise You!

February 22, 2010

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Posted by in Uncategorized

Sherry DavidsonIf you have been reading my market analysis for the last few months, you probably think you can skip this one because I have been saying the same thing over and over. Well this month brings a few surprises.

My first surprise is that closed sales for January 2010 were about 40% less than December 2009. There were 1,316 closings in November, 1,365 in December and 834 in January.

This looks like very negative news, but I believe the reason for the decline in closings was mainly due to short sales. We saw lenders approving and closing short sales in December to get them closed by year end. Maybe the holidays were also a factor, but we did not see any short sales making it through the process in January. Read more

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