Home buyers experience bidding wars

Homebuyers are unexpectedly finding more competition this spring (2012) in securing their offer onf their home. The Wall Street Journal is reporting that price bidding wars are increasingly being reported in markets across the country, from California to Florida.

This is true of Orlando real estate in Central Florida especially in certain neighborhoods like, Baldwin Park, Hunter's Creek, StoneyBrook, Avalon Park, Bay Hill/Dr .Phillips and others.

 Homebuyers can become frustrated and caught off-guard about the bidding wars re-emerging.

 Why are things getting so competitive? Many housing markets are seeing a drastic decrease in the number of homes listed for sale, leaving homebuyers with fewer options and more bidding on the same house.  Some real estate  analysts say the shortage in supply is from sellers unwilling to take much less for their home than what they originally paid for it and pulling homes off the market. Also, a surge in investors who snatch up homes in bulk in all-cash deals has made the market competitive.

The National Association of Realtors® latest pending sales report confirms the trend. Pending sales in March reached their highest level in nearly two years and are up 12.8 percent from one year earlier.

Source: “Stunned Home Buyers Find the Bidding Wars Are Back,” The Wall Street Journal (April 27, 2012)

Orlando Real Estate- What Sold last week

Orlando Real Estate

Orlando Single-family homes sales

• Sales of single-family homes decreased to 260 during the week of Apr 1, from 472 the week prior
• The median price of single family homes decreased to $129,000, a change of -4.4%
• The number of single-family home foreclosure transactions decreased to 51 last week, from 113 the week of Mar 25
• The number of single-family home short-sale transactions decreased to 72 from 136 the week prior
• Single-family inventory decreased by 85, and now sits at 9,056

Orlando Condos, townhomes, and villas

• Sales of condos, townhomes, and villas decreased to 101 during the week of Apr 1, from 172 the week prior
• The median price of condos, townhomes, and villas increased to $76,000, a change of 8.5%
• The number of condo, townhome, and villa foreclosure transactions decreased to 22 last week, from 57 the week of Mar 25
• The number of condo, townhome and villa short-sale transactions decreased to 30 from 46 the week prior
• Condo inventory decreased by 2, and now sits at 2,147

Florida Real Estate- prices rise

CoreLogic released its February Home Price Index (HPI) report last week. Excluding distressed sales, month-over-month prices nationally increased 0.7 percent in February from January, but fell year-over-year by 0.8 percent if distressed sales are backed out of the equation and 2.0 percent if they’re included.

In Florida, however, prices rose in February 2012 compared to February 2011 whether distressed sales were included or not. The CoreLogic HCI found that Florida home prices rose 4.7 percent overall, and 1.6 percent without distressed sale numbers. Distressed sales include short sales and real estate owned (REO) transactions.

HCI highlights February 2012
• Including distressed sales, the five states with the highest home price appreciation were: West Virginia (+8.6 percent), Michigan (+5.8 percent), Florida (+4.7 percent), Arizona (+4.5 percent) and South Dakota (+4.1 percent).

• Including distressed sales, the five states with the greatest depreciation were: Delaware (-11.2 percent), Connecticut (-7.9 percent), Rhode Island (-7.8 percent), Illinois (-7.1 percent) and Georgia (-6.6 percent).

• Excluding distressed sales, the five states with the highest appreciation were: South Dakota (+5.9 percent), West Virginia (+5.6 percent), Maine (+4.5 percent), Utah (+3.7 percent) and Montana (+3.6 percent).

• Excluding distressed sales, the five states with the greatest depreciation were: Delaware (-8.7 percent), Connecticut (-4.9 percent), Nevada (-4.6 percent), Vermont (-4.0 percent) and Minnesota (-3.3 percent).

• Including distressed transactions, the peak-to-current change in the national HPI (from April 2006 to February 2012) was -34.4 percent. Excluding distressed transactions, the peak-to-current change in the HPI for the same period was -24.6 percent.

Source: Florida Realtors®

FHA relaxes new credit despute rule a little on new mortgages

The Federal Housing Administration (FHA) back relaxed some on a rule announced earlier. FHA says it will give borrowers a chance to explain any disputed collection accounts in their history in order to qualify for an FHA-backed mortgage. 

Under FHA’s new rule, borrowers with any credit disputes greater than $1,000 on file will not be able to get the government-backed loan. As first announced, borrowers either have to pay the remaining balance of the credit amount or show proof of entering into a payment plan for it.

 Borrowers will be exempt from the new rule if the credit amount is from a “life event"-which might include a medical bill, death, divorce or unemployment.

 Also starting on April 1, the FHA raised its insurance premiums, citing it as another effort to try to rebuild its emergency fund, which has fallen below the mandated amount Congress requires

2012 Big year for Foreclosures

Even as real estate sales are picking up across most of the country, many experts believe that a second act of the housing slump looks set to unfold. It is expected that many more U.S. homeowners face the prospect of losing their homes this year as banks pick up the pace of foreclosures.

In 2011, the “robo-signing” scandal, in which foreclosure documents were signed without properly reviewing individual cases, prompted banks to hold back on new foreclosures pending a settlement. But some project that 2012 will be  a bigger year for foreclosures than 2010.

According to the Washington Post, the watchdog group 4closurefraud.org, which helped uncover the “robo-signing” scandal, says it has turned up evidence of a large rise in new foreclosures between March 1 and 24 by three big banks in Palm Beach County in Florida, one of the states hit hardest by the housing crash.

Other experts projected that the resurgence in foreclosures, combined with excess inventory of unsold, bank-owned homes will contribute to a 3.7 percent national decline in prices before the market hits bottom in 2013 and stays there until 2016. See the full foreclosure article here.

Orlando Real Estate- On the market this week

Orlando Real Estate for Sale- Single-family existing homes

• Sales of Orlando single-family homes increased to 472 during the week of Mar 25, from 315 the week prior
• The median price of single family homes increased to $135,000, a change of 11.6%
• The number of single-family home foreclosure transactions increased to 113 last week, from 63 the week of Mar 18
• The number of single-family home short-sale transactions increased to 136 from 103 the week prior
• Single-family inventory decreased by 109, and now sits at 9,141

Orlando Condos, townhomes, and villas

• Orlando Sales of condos, townhomes, and villas increased to 172 during the week of Mar 25, from 87 the week prior
• The median price of condos, townhomes, and villas increased to $70,050, a change of 4.7%
• The number of condo, townhome, and villa foreclosure transactions increased to 57 last week, from 24 the week of Mar 18
• The number of condo, townhome and villa short-sale transactions increased to 46 from 26 the week prior
• Condo inventory decreased by 83, and now sits at 2,149

Rates fall back down

The average U.S. mortgage rate on the 30-year fixed mortgage fell back below 4 percent this week, staying near historic lows.

Mortgage buyer Freddie Mac said Thursday that the rate on the 30-year loan dropped to 3.99 percent from 4.08 percent last week. Last month, the rate touched 3.87 percent, the lowest since long-term mortgages began in the 1950s.