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%

Real Estate Commissions - You Get What You Pay For

Real Estate Commissions: You Get What You Pay For

by The KCM Crew on March 7, 2012

Considering a Discount Broker?

Does it makes sense to pay a full commission to your real estate agent in today’s market? Sellers, buyers and even agents are debating what should be charged to assist a consumer in completing a real estate transaction. Forget what the actual amount of the commission is. The bigger question is whether you should pay a ‘full fee’ when hiring a real estate expert to guide you through the complexities of today’s rapidly changing housing environment.

 If a full fee was the rule in 2006 when completing a deal was so much simpler, why would you now consider cutting the fee of your agent in today’s tumultuous market? You are depending on this person to help you reach your goals in a sale or purchase. In 2006, buyers were willing to pay almost anything to a seller just to get into a home. Banking entities seemed to be willing to mortgage any property for any buyer. The process was rather simple.

Today, a person looking to buy or sell should be willing and ready to pay a full fee for two reasons:
You need an expert guide if you are traveling a dangerous path:

The field of real estate is loaded with land mines. You need a true expert to guide you through the dangerous pitfalls that currently exist. Finding a buyer willing to pay fair market value for your home at a time that there are mass inventories of foreclosures and short sales will take a true real estate professional. Finding reasonable financing can also be tricky in today’s lending environment.
Experts in any profession do not discount their fees; especially when the job is becoming much more difficult.
You need a skilled negotiator

In today’s market, hiring a talented negotiator could save you thousands, perhaps tens of thousands of dollars. Each step of the way – from the original offer, to the possible re-negotiation of that off after a home inspection, to the possible cancellation of the deal based on a troubled appraisal – you need someone who can keep the deal together until it closes.
When an agent is negotiating their commission with you, they are negotiating their own salary – the salary that keeps a roof over their family’s head; the salary that puts food on their family’s table. If they are quick to take less when negotiating for themselves and their families, what makes you think they will not act the same way when negotiating for you and your family? If they were Clark Kent when negotiating with you, they will not turn into Superman when negotiating with the buyer or seller in your deal.

Bottom Line
We believe that famous sayings become famous because they are true. You get what you pay for. Just like a good accountant or a good attorney, a good agent will save you money…not cost you money.

In Real Estate, Keeping Current Matters!

In Real Estate, Keeping Current Matters!

by The KCM Crew on January 10, 2012

There is too much misinformation being spread about today’s real estate market. Studies are being misinterpreted. Prominent names are being used to foster a point even if their quote is from years ago.

As an example, we want to look at a story published last week by The Fiscal Times titled The New American Dream: Rent, Don’t Buy. In the article, they claim:

“Call it the Big Selloff—America is headed toward a future in which fewer people own the spaces they call home… Those trends are just the beginning.”

We are not arguing that the homeownership rate is under downward pressure in this country. We are disputing some of the ‘evidence’ used in the article. Here are three points we want to refute:

The Homeownership Rate IS NOT in a Freefall

The article quotes a Morgan Stanley study from July 2011 which did make the argument that the homeownership rate was trending downward. Many others made the same point at that time. What the article failed to mention is that the homeownership rate unexpectedly increased in the third quarter of 2011! As DSNews reported in early November:

“After falling to a 13-year low during the second quarter, the homeownership rate posted a highly unexpected rise in the third quarter, according to a Census Bureau report.”

The jury is still out as to whether the homeownership rate will continue to fall or whether it has already bottomed out.

The Founders of Case-Shiller ARE NOT Saying Renting is Better

In the article mentioned above, they claim that the team that founded the prestigious Case-Shiller Pricing Index believes that buying makes little sense. The article explains that back in 2006 Robert Shiller presented a study based on data collected prior to 2005 showing that, over time, it made more sense to rent than buy. They use this information to conclude:

“Another skeptic is Yale economist Robert Shiller, co-creator of the Case-Shiller Home Price Index.”

They claim Shiller is a skeptic today based on what he said six years ago!

The major challenge we have with this is that Karl Case, the other founder of the Case Shiller Index, came out ten days ago saying that now is the time to buy. The New York Times in a story published on 12/30/2011 quotes Professor Case as saying:

“If you’re buying a house or apartment to live in and pay for over time, and can afford the payments, then it’s a terrific time to buy.”

Beracha and Johnson DID NOT Conclude That You Shouldn’t Buy

The Fiscal Times article went on to say:

“And in a paper this June in the journal Real Estate Economics, two researchers calculated that over the past 30 years, most often it would have been better to rent than buy.”

They were referring to the great study done by Beracha and Johnson titled Lessons from Over 30 Years of Buy versus Rent Decisions: Is the American Dream Always Wise? We are very familiar with this study as we posted on it back in May of last year. The paper does explain that over the last thirty years the financial benefits of buying vs. renting could be debated.

However, the conclusion of the paper left no room for argument. According to professors Beracha and Johnson, NOW IS THE TIME TO BUY!

“(F)undamental drivers now appear to be in place that favor homeownership over renting in the near term future…

“[This] might seem unwise to many given the recent crash in the real estate markets around the country. However, rent-to-price ratios now seem to be in place along with other fundamental drivers that favor ownership over renting.”

They conclude their research paper with this sentence:

“Conditions (historically low mortgage rates and relatively low rent-to-price ratios) now seem in place to favor future purchases.”

Dr. Johnson, Ph.D. — Florida International University (FIU) and Editor of the Journal of Housing Research, is now a guest blogger on this site and in November shared with us his current presentation on this issue. To download the presentation, go to http://realestate.fiu.edu/buyer-or-renter-nation.html.

Bottom Line

We attempt to keep our readers current on this very rapidly evolving housing market with this blog, our tweets, our facebook posts and our subscription service. The letters K-C-M preface each offering. They actually stand for ‘keeping current matters’. We believe that helping our followers stay on top of the latest information available will help correct the housing market.