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How Many Homes For Sale In Tampa These Days?

September 16th, 2008 categories: Tampa Market Conditions, Short Sale Information

Without a doubt, an over-supply of homes for sale keeps downward pressure on prices. By over-supply, I mean supply that is much greater than demand, our current market conditions for sure. Until demand comes up or supply comes down or some combination thereof, we’ll have an over-supply.

I keep tabs on the number of homes for sale in Tampa on a regular basis. It’s been a while since I posted anything about our current inventory of homes in Tampa. That’s because that number has been pretty stable, relatively speaking, for some time. The chart below shows the changing levels of the number of listings in the City of Tampa, year-to-date.

Tampa Homes For Sale MLS

You can see that there was a pretty steep increase of inventory in the 1st quarter of this year. That most likely relates to the steep increase of foreclosure notices that were filed in the 2nd quarter. Many of those 1st quarter new listings were short sale, pre-foreclosure listings. But as of late the inventory of homes for sale, much like the number of new foreclosure filings has started to retreat. August saw a 13% drop in the number of new foreclosure notices filed as compared to July.

Peak inventory year-to-date was in late February at 9104 residential properties for sale in Tampa. As of today there are 8571 residential listings in our MLS for the City of Tampa. How about demand? I use pending listings, those under contract, as an indicator of demand. As of today there are about 1134 listings in pending status, a number that has been steady since early July. Can you see the over-supply? Over 8500 homes available and only 1134 spoken for. That’s over-supply. But I will tell you that the difference between active and pending listings is the lowest it has been year-to-date. Supply and demand are moving in the direction of stability, not away from it. Let’s hope for more of the same……

What’s for sale and what’s selling in your neighborhood? Visit TampaMarketReports.com to find out.

Data used is from the Mid-Florida Regional MLS, all brokers/agents included.

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How To Save $1600 and Mortgage Rate Update

September 12th, 2008 categories: Home Inspection Tips, News on Interest Rates, Mortgage Rate Watch

We recently had a Uniform Mitigation Inspection Report done on our home and were told by our insurance company that our insurance premium will be reduced by $1,600 per year due to certain construction features of our home of which they were unaware. If you have not done so already, I would suggest that you contact your insurance agent or company to find out what level of discount is available to you for certain construction features, such as:

Hurricane protection on all of your windows and exterior doors, such as shutters or impact resistance windows and garage doors
A hip roof (sloped on all sides like a pyramid)
Roof to wall connections that are installed with hurricane clips/straps. Discounts will vary depending on the type of connection such as toe nail, clips, single wraps or double wraps.
Florida Building Code-approved roof covering. Discounts will vary depending on the type of covering such as asphalt, tile or metal and the length of the nails used.

I hope you can benefit from this program as well, administered by the Florida Department of Financial Services. We spent $150 on the inspection and will be receiving a $1,600 reduction in our annual insurance premium. Tim Glisson of Glisson Inspection Services performed our inspection, and he can be reached at 813-625-1400 if you have questions.

Mortgage Rates Update

On another note fixed mortgage rates have dipped into the 5’s again as a result of the FNMA and FHLMC bailout. If you are currently in an ARM or a rate above 6.25%, please call me so that we can evaluate whether a refinance would be beneficial to you.

Mark Mathiason “Certified Mortgage Planning Specialist”
Mortgage Corporation of America
213 South Howard Tampa, FL 33606
(813) 874-9110 x201

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Preparing A Tampa Home For Sale

September 11th, 2008 categories: Tips for Sellers, Home Staging

Here’s a comment that a visitor to our Tampa home search site included on an e-mail to a friend, (copied and pasted here):

what about this one…i can’t stand when the hosues are so cluttered you can’t see the actual rooms! they needed to watch Sell This House on TLC

Clutter I mention this because a home seller, in this strong buyer’s market, cannot underestimate the importance of preparing a home for sale, along with the importance of keeping it in showing shape throughout the time it is listed for sale. Competition is fierce right now among home sellers in Tampa. And while I’m not sure to which property she was referring, I imagine the home photo looked something like the one included here. And she may just decide to cross the cluttered room home off the list of homes to see. Welcome to marketing a home on the web. One bad photo can be the determining factor in making a decision. There are most likely, many other well prepared homes to see.

If you’re a seller in this market, unless your home is something in short supply or in steep demand, you better prepare it for the sale. This home buyer, much like our buyer clients, has many properties to wade through in search of the one that’s just right for her. And for the most part, the homes that are ill-prepared for sale, and not priced within reason, will not be shown, much less sold.

Most good Realtors will provide advice on how a homeowner can best prepare a home for sale. We take it a step further by incorporating an accredited home staging professional into our team. She visits with the home owner, and we then put together a plan that best prepares the home to appeal to the widest spectrum of buyers in our target audience. Removing clutter is usually the number one priority, but the plan can be extensive for some homes.

Bottom line is that to find a buyer in this market sellers have to set their home apart from the others. Price and packaging are 2 ways to accomplish the differentiation. Don’t underestimate the importance of preparation.

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Details: Tax Credit For First Time Tampa Homebuyers

September 9th, 2008 categories: Tampa Home Buyer Tips, First Time Homebuyers

One of the most exciting new provisions of the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008 is the First-Time Homebuyer Tax Credit. The credit is designed to encourage first-time homebuyers to go ahead and make the leap to purchase their first homes. Combine this tax credit with the fact that home prices are down, and indeed it is an ideal time for many first-time homebuyers to purchase homes.

Here are some things to keep in mind:

The credit is available for homes purchased between April 9, 2008 and July 1, 2009
The credit amounts to 10% of the purchase price of the home not to exceed $7,500
A first-time homebuyer is defined as someone who has not owned a home in the last three years
Single taxpayers with incomes up to $75,000 and married couples with incomes up to $150,000 qualify for the full tax credit
The tax credit works like an interest free loan and must be repaid over a 15 year period

How does a tax credit work?

A tax credit is a special provision that reduces income tax liability on a dollar for dollar basis. When filing a tax return, you must include income items, deduction items and the number of exemptions, among other things, to figure your total tax liability. If your total tax liability ends up being $7,500, and you qualify for the full $7,500 tax credit, this credit would be applied and would wipe out all of the tax due. If your employer had already deducted the $7,500 from your pay checks throughout the year, you would receive a tax refund of $7,500.

Does the credit have to be repaid?

Yes, the credit does have to be repaid, so it is really more like an interest free loan. Homebuyers will be required to repay the credit to the government, without interest, over 15 years or when they sell the house, if there is sufficient capital gain from the sale. For example, a homebuyer claiming a $7,500 credit would repay the credit at $500 per year. The home owner does not have to begin making repayments on the credit until two years after the credit is claimed. So if the tax credit is claimed on the 2008 tax return, a $500 payment is not due until the 2010 tax return is filed. If the home owner sold the home, then the remaining credit amount would be due from the profit on the home sale. If there was insufficient profit, then the remaining credit payback would be forgiven.

Conclusion:

For more information about the first-time homebuyer tax credit or other changes resulting from the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008, just give me a call. I would be happy to assist you with your mortgage in the purchase of your new home!

Mark Mathiason, CMPS ®
Mortgage Corporation of America
213 South Howard
Tampa, FL 33606
813-874-9110 ext 201 direct
(813) 251-4600 fax
Send me an email

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Channelside Condo/Loft Market Conditions Report Update

September 8th, 2008 categories: Uncategorized, Channelside Market Updates, Downtown Tampa

I recently spent some time in the Channel District with some buyer clients who have decided to make the former industrial district their home upon relocating to Tampa in October. Many of the Channel District projects have been in the news lately. The Towers, The Place and Ventana are all in some sort of financial funk. The Towers and The Place both entered bankruptcy this year and the developer at Ventana handed the project over to the lender. Ventana is in receivership, not bankruptcy.

The Place at Channelside is due to auction its unsold inventory of 170 some odd units in early October. Minimum bid is reported to be $17.2 million dollars, or around $100k per door. Rumor has it that the interested bidders would lease the remaining unsold inventory, much like Grand Central at Kennedy is (has). And in the mix of all of this unsold inventory, The Slade, the Channel District’s newest project is beginning to take shape.

There are 93 properties listed for sale in Channelside on our MLS currently, which really does not accurately indicate availability. Much the available inventory is not on the MLS, just a representative sampling from some of the projects. Prices range from $145k for a 620sqft studio at Grand Central, to just under $2m for an almost 5000sqft unit on the 28th floor at The Towers. Median price for these 93 listings is around $395k.

Sales are slow, but steady. Most year-to-date Channel District closings have been at The Towers, one of the bigger projects and the only true highrise building. Victory Lofts has seen some resales, and there have been some sales at Ventana as well. Ventana, at 84 units, is one of the smaller of the newer projects, and is almost 50% sold (according to sales staff).

Channelside Condos And for my $$ (and tastes) Ventana seems to be the best value out there right now. Prices have been lowered since the project entered receivership, reflecting a price/sqft more in line with other areas of south Tampa/Harbour Island, etc. It is also a smaller, more intimate building of more traditional condos, as opposed to a loft or loft/condo hybrid. The true loft style of living does not seem to be that much in demand by Tampa buyers, at least from my perspective.