Downtown Tampa Condo Prices—1/1 Market Conditions Report

May 6th, 2008 categories: Tampa Condos, New Projects (Condos), Channelside Market Updates, Downtown Tampa

If you happen to be looking for a 1/1 condo in the downtown Tampa area, guess what? You’ve got 89 from which to choose. And there have been 23 sales of the same year to date, the majority at Skypoint (13). Island Place, on Harbour Island, comes in a distant second with 4 sales year-to-date. So how are prices for downtown Tampa condos? Those 89 condos, as you can see in the adjacent chart, are priced widely between $159k and $472.5k. But the median price, the split where there are an equal number of higher and lower priced units, is right at $260k. Examples of units priced around the median?:

1. 21st floor of Skypoint (north side of bldg)
2. 3rd floor at Victory Lofts (Channel District), but this one is 1241sqft
3. 25th floor of Skypoint, 664sqft on the south side (with the views)

On the low end is an 820sqft unit at Grand Central on Kennedy at $159k, but this is a short sale listing (phantom list price) so time will only tell if this price would be approved. But you can get a unit at The Place at Channelside for $159.9k. And on the high end of the pricing spectrum are 3 units at Grand Central at Kennedy. Priced in the mid $400s, these 1127sqft units are in the west building, with the floor to ceiling glass walls providing views of downtown and southward.

As for what’s sold in 2008, The chart shows that the median sale price is around $200k, or about $60k lower than the median list price currently. There have only been 4 sales of 1/1s YTD of over $250k. Of the 89 1/1s for sale, 52 of them are priced at or above $250k. So it’s clear to see that the current demand is at the lower end.

Data used is from the Mid-Florida Regional MLS and does not include private, non-brokered sales or condos for sale.

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Posted by Lenny Gurvich | 2 Comments »

Tampa Foreclosures-Topped Out?

May 1st, 2008 categories: Tampa Real Estate, Tampa Market Conditions, Short Sale Information

With the abundance of pre-foreclosure and bank-owned properties in Tampa currently, one has to wonder when this process will peak and subside. And while some areas have been relatively free of distressed sales, others areas are hotbeds. I see the headlines, follow the market, and I’m in the business. But there’s nothing like hard numbers to get a clear picture of what’s transpired in the last 12 months with regard to foreclosure filings. So with that in mind I recently took a look at the Lis Pendens filings in Hillsborough County for the last 12 months. The results are displayed in the chart.

A Lis Pendens is a notice of some legal action against the property owner. These are recorded with the Hillsborough County Clerk of Court, and the overwhelming majority of these notices relates to a foreclosure on a mortgage. The typical language reads:

You are notified of the institution of this action by Plaintiff against you seeking to foreclose a mortgage encumbering the following real property in Hillsborough County, Florida:…

And with the decline in property values, the slowing economy, and the many risky mortgages resetting to higher interest rates (and much higher payments), foreclosures have certainly been on the rise. Starting in September of 2007, there was a steep rise in the number of Lis Pendens filings. But in recent months, the number of filings has seemed to stabilize, at a high rate. So what will the coming months bring? Will we begin to see a decline in the number of foreclosure filings? I’ll take another look next month and update the chart.

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Posted by Lenny Gurvich | 2 Comments »

MLS Market Snapshot Shows Tampa Real Estate Market Conditions

April 30th, 2008 categories: Tampa Market Conditions, Tips for Sellers, Tampa Home Buyer Tips

Do you see the Market Snapshot form over there in the right hand column? The Market Snapshot is a great tool for Tampa home buyers or sellers to keep tabs on what’s for sale, and on what’s selling in any Tampa neighborhood. And what’s best about this tool is that it automatically sends you an updated report every six weeks, or for whatever time period you select.

The report, sent by e-mail, shows active listings, recent sales, asking prices vs. selling prices, and other data that help Tampa home buyers and sellers understand the local market. You can select a zip code, or better yet, click the zip code lookup and just just select a spot on the map in which to center your reports.

The data we use on the Market Snapshot is imported directly from the Mid-Florida Regional MLS, the database of all brokered listings and sales. Good stuff. Give it a try, or, contact us and we’d be happy to set it up for you and answer any questions about the market, your home’s value, specific neighborhoods, etc.

Posted by Lenny Gurvich | No Comments »

Short Sales and Phantom Numbers

April 29th, 2008 categories: Tampa Real Estate, Tampa MLS, Tampa Market Conditions, Short Sale Information, Tampa Home Buyer Tips

By now many Tampa home buyers are aware that purchasing a pre-foreclosure property is not all that easy. Short sales, or short listings, as they should really be referred to, are abundant across the Tampa Bay area. A short sale listing is a home for sale for which the listed price will not be adequate to cover the seller’s loan payoff(s) and other related costs of selling.

Once it is obvious that the seller can no longer make payments and is facing foreclosure, most sellers will begin dropping the listed price of the home to find the sweet-spot (a moving target these days), the price in which a buyer sees value and finally makes an offer. I call it the phantom number, because that’s really what it is. For many short listings, it has nothing to do with the market value of the home. It’s simply a number dropped low enough to entice a would be buyer to make an offer (market value?). The seller signs off on the offer and presents it to the note holder, and pleads a hardship case. The bank, or holder of the note, solicits an independent opinion of value, and makes a decision to either approve the sale, or counter the buyer’s offer with a higher number.

Quite often the bank comes back with a number that was much higher than the listed price or, phantom number. The bank has to consider many factors, including estimated market value, payoff on the loan, the costs involved in the sale, etc. The bank, in trying to mitigate its losses, will attempt to get the highest price possible.

So many would-be buyers are getting frustrated by waiting months for third party approval, only to find out the bank wants an even higher price than what was listed. The phantom number effect. A disclosed bait and switch? Is it fair to list a home for sale at a short number without first getting the bank’s approval? Banks most likely don’t want to approve any number until an offer is presented and a clearer picture of the market is available. Sure, the fact that the listed price will be short has to be disclosed. Our MLS requires certain language be included on the listing:

Listing price may not be sufficient to cover all encumbrances, closing costs, or other seller charges and sale of Property at full listing price may be conditioned upon approval of third parties. Call for details.

And there’s also a disclosure for buyers to sign that includes the language:

1. You may not simply “walk away” from a contract which is subject to lender or third party approval - you will become obligated to perform under the contract from the date of its execution until the lender or third party disapproves the contract or a term in the contract permits either the seller or buyer to terminate.
The lender or third party is under no obligation to consider, respond to, approve, or disapprove your contract within any specified period of time.
It is possible the lender may elect not to approve the contract, in which event you will not be able to buy the property at the listing or contract price.
At the time the seller enters into the contract with you, the seller may not have been informed by the lender:
(a) what an acceptable purchase price may be, or
(b) that the lender would participate in or consider a potential Short Sale offer.

So buyers beware. That number may look great, but chances are you’ll not even get a response, much less approval. Every situation is different. Some lenders respond quickly, some short listing prices have already been approved. But the fact is, lenders would rather not have to foreclose on the property and attempt to auction it if they think they can do better by letting the borrower sell it short. Short sales are being approved. Let’s face it, market values have declined. So anyone who purchased near the top of the market in 2005-2006, and did not put 20% or more down, is most likely upside down. Likewise, anyone who refinanced in that time period, and tapped out their equity, most likely owes more than it’s worth.

So understanding the circumstances, the processes, and the fact that the list price is just a phantom number, can go a long way in reducing the frustration factor for would-be short sale buyers.

Did you know?

There are 707 MLS listings tagged as “Pre-Foreclosure” in the City of Tampa (as I type).

Posted by Lenny Gurvich | 1 Comment »

Bigfoot Spotted in Seminole Heights

April 21st, 2008 categories: Tampa Real Estate, Seminole Heights Homes, Things To Do In Tampa

I use Google Earth quite a bit as a tool for property research. Users of Google Earth are allowed to upload content to the Google Earth Community, and this content can be shown as placemarks graphically within the application. So when I see these markers I like to click on them and see what valuable information has been uploaded by other users. One group that seems to upload quite a bit of content is the “Bigfoot Field Researchers Organization” (my application is pending).

These guys mark every darn place for which someone has ever reported a Bigfoot sighting. So as you would imagine, the map is loaded with BFRO markers. And make no mistake about it, these reports are highly entertaining. I was flying over Seminole Heights today and what do you know? There’s that unmistakable orange dot that I know marks a Bigfoot sighting. Yes, Seminole Heights had a Bigfoot sighting back in the 50’s it seems.

Here’s the Bigfoot report:

Posted by Lenny Gurvich | No Comments »

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