Southeast Florida MLS Regional Sales and Price Activity - February 2012

Regional data is important.  However, if you are buying or selling real estate, knowing the sales and price performance of properties within the specific communities you are interested in is vital to your decision making process.  An experienced and knowledgable Realtor is your best resource.

Southeast Florida MLS Regional Sales and Price Activity

At February 29, 2012

Single Family = Single Family Res
Condo = Condo/Co-Op/Villa/Townhouse
Reports generated from Clarus MarketMetrics®

		% Price Change			% Sales Change
Southeast Florida MLS	Median Price	from Prior Month	from Prior Year	Total # Units	from Prior Month	from Prior Year
MLS Wide
SEFMLS (Single Family)	$165,000	-2.90%	10.10%	947	-1.70%	-12.60%
SEFMLS (Condo)	$100,000	-4.50%	25.00%	1,248	-4.30%	-25.40%
MIAMIRE Region Cities
Single Family Only
Coconut Creek	$232,500	36.80%	25.70%	4	33.30%	-20.00%
Coconut Grove	$482,500	-20.20%	37.90%	8	60.00%	14.30%
Cooper City	$235,000	14.60%	13.30%	7	40.00%	75.00%
Coral Gables	$550,000	0.00%	-2.40%	25	-19.40%	-3.80%
Coral Springs	$178,000	-8.70%	4.10%	11	-15.40%	120.00%
Cutler Bay	$160,000	3.60%	20.70%	23	64.30%	-17.90%
Davie	$275,000	40.70%	-50.90%	11	-21.40%	22.20%
Deerfield Beach	$101,000	-35.60%	-39.60%	1	-50.00%	-75.00%
Doral	$429,750	29.20%	22.80%	12	-25.00%	-29.40%
Florida City	$96,000	37.30%	92.00%	2	-60.00%	-60.00%
Fort Lauderdale	$77,475	10.10%	3.30%	20	-4.80%	11.10%
Hallandale	$125,000	22.00%	13.60%	5	25.00%	66.70%
Hialeah	$151,600	2.80%	4.60%	28	7.70%	-3.40%
Hollywood	$94,900	-13.70%	-5.10%	45	-4.30%	-16.70%
Homestead	$95,000	0.50%	1.10%	61	13.00%	-29.10%
Lauderhill	$85,000	-19.00%	-7.60%	9	12.50%	80.00%
Margate	$146,000	52.90%	49.80%	4	-33.30%	-66.70%
Miami	$175,000	7.40%	16.70%	341	-2.80%	-21.60%
Miami Beach	$1,070,000	28.70%	40.50%	7	-41.70%	-65.00%
Miami Gardens	$107,700	10.50%	37.80%	21	-19.20%	75.00%
Miami Lakes	$350,000	0.00%	-5.30%	7	-12.50%	40.00%
Miami Shores	$250,000	-63.20%	-24.20%	7	75.00%	-41.70%
Miami Springs	$245,000	12.30%	32.40%	8	33.30%	14.30%
Miramar	$197,500	-6.00%	19.70%	38	-2.60%	2.70%
North Lauderdale	$76,305	-33.10%	-14.20%	2	-50.00%	-66.70%
North Miami	$118,167	73.80%	37.80%	14	27.30%	-22.20%
North Miami Beach	$99,199	-19.70%	-17.30%	11	-8.30%	-31.30%
Oakland Park	$70,000	-12.60%	-19.50%	6	100.00%	-14.30%
Opa-locka	$61,380	18.00%	57.40%	9	-25.00%	-10.00%
Palmetto Bay	$282,500	-4.20%	-27.10%	10	-23.10%	-28.60%
Pembroke Pines	$235,000	7.40%	9.30%	29	-9.40%	-21.60%
Pinecrest	$712,500	11.30%	14.90%	10	-23.10%	100.00%
Plantation	$260,000	0.00%	22.40%	17	30.80%	21.40%
Pompano Beach	$70,000	40.00%	31.50%	7	0.00%	16.70%
South Miami	$222,000	-32.70%	-3.90%	3	50.00%	-50.00%
Sunrise	$115,500	-22.00%	3.90%	15	50.00%	7.10%
Tamarac	$65,000	-40.90%	-11.30%	11	-15.40%	37.50%
Unincorporated Dade County	$145,000	-51.70%	-19.00%	7	133.30%	75.00%
Weston	$400,000	14.00%	51.80%	17	-39.30%	0.00%

Buying a Home? The COST Is More Important Than the PRICE

Buying a Home? The COST Is More Important Than the PRICE

by The KCM Crew on March 19, 2012

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We have often advised buyers to look at the COST of purchasing a house more than the PRICE of the home. Obviously, price is part of the cost equation. The other piece, assuming you are not an all cash buyer, is the mortgage rate. The mortgage rate to finance a purchase can have a dramatic impact on the overall cost. Recently, there are more people talking about the possibility that mortgage rates could begin to increase.
HSH.com studies trends in mortgage rates. They explain:

“A better economic climate almost always brings higher rates, and a lessening of the troubles in Europe from massive central bank assistance adds to the movement of money from safe havens to more risky assets, driving rates upward.”

Dan Green of The Daily Market Reports recently stated:

“The Fed sees growth coming faster than originally expected. There’s suddenly less chance that the Federal Reserve will intervene to help keep mortgage rates low. Absent Fed intervention, mortgage rates are apt to rise and Wall Street is now betting that the Fed has bowed out. With no stimulus, mortgage rates rise.”

Lawrence Yun, chief economist for the National Assoc of Realtors, recently wrote:

“Mortgage rates will be starting to rise. From the 3.9 to 4.0 percent average rate in the past five months on a 30-year fixed mortgage, the new rates will soon be in the range of 4.3 to 4.6 percent.”

We do not attempt to predict future interest rates. We leave that up to the experts in the field. However, we want our readers to understand the potential impact on the cost of purchasing a home if they do rise. Here is a simple table that shows, even if the PRICE of a home softens, the COST of a home could increase.

Bottom Line

Many purchasers think they should wait until they are sure that prices have hit bottom. Deciding whether or not to wait should be determined by where the COST of a home is headed.

2.6M of Shadow Inventory To Be Resolved

2.6M of Shadow Inventory To Be Resolved

by The KCM Crew on March 16, 2012

Short Sale Success: What is an Acceptable Hardship?

Short Sale Success: What is an Acceptable Hardship?

by Christopher Reale on March 12, 2012

A short sale, in most instances, is a complex transaction. However, there are two very simplistic characteristics that every qualified short sale possesses:

1. The house must be valued at less than the homeowner owes on their mortgage debt obligation. In other words, the home must be “underwater”.
2. The homeowner must have a qualified hardship.

It is the second characteristic that we would like to touch upon in this blog post.

One question that we answer frequently is “My house is underwater. Is this an acceptable hardship?” Unfortunately, the answer is always “No.”

The simple fact that a homeowners mortgage obligation is in access of their house value is not an acceptable hardship. A Short Selling bank will entertain a short sale when and only when there is a hardship that will, now or in the future, affect the borrower’s ability to pay their mortgage.
The following is a list of acceptable hardships that may be used when submitting a short sale package:

• Mortgage Rate Adjustments
• Loss of Employment or Reduction in Wages
• Business Failure
• Medical Hardship
• Death in the Family
• Divorce/Separation
• Military Service
• Overwhelming Debt Obligations
• Job Relocation

As always, should you have questions as to the acceptability of a hardship scenario, you should seek advice from an expert that has been trained in the short sale field.

One additional note:  Short sale approval by lenders and investors are very impersonal processes.  The hardship letter is one of the few, if not the only opportunity a borrower may have to express their personal sorrow over having to go through a short sale and lose their home.  Sincere words to this effect may make a difference.