Just sold! Marina Blue Condo on Biscayne Bay

Just sold! Marina Blue Condo on Biscayne Bay

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, The Media Is A Lagging Indicator

As the saying goes,"If you get a great stock tip from the newspaper, TV, or radio, it's already too late." In financial matters, journalism is an outlet for historians. In fact, reporters can be regarded as the accountants of recent events when it comes to the markets. They give us an account of what has already taken place. Stocks, bonds, commodities and all other investment vehicles are far too dynamic for their fluctuations to be captured in real time by the press.

The same rule can be applied to real estate. While real estate is a slower moving commodity than other financial vehicles, the media is only able to report and interpret data findings that have been reported in months prior, and is therefore a historical reference source. This is not purely their fault; it takes time to compile, extrapolate and record real estate performance. By virtue of this time lapse, however, the media is simply ill equipped to accurately report what is going on at the moment in a specific market.

Moreover, the media tends to report real estate activity in very broad terms, providing national, regional, or state statistics with respect to growth, contraction, or new developments. Real estate is a localized industry and varies greatly from community to community. Just take a short drive through your own area, and in a brief period of time, you will see a variety of homes in varying price ranges with different landscapes, school districts, demographics, business communities, etc. Therefore, any attempt to capture developments or forecast trends on a broader scale by reporting national, regional or state based findings fails to give an accurate account of the market condition of a specific location or community. People live, work and play in specific communities, not in general geographical designations. As a result, the media is not only a lagging indicator, but many times misses the mark completely when it comes to providing useful information to guide their readers on the decision whether to buy or sell their homes or relocate to another community (market).

Also, there is a social dimension to real estate that distinguishes it from all other commodities. Homes and businesses are not pieces of paper that can be traded without having a profound effect on the quality of of our lives. Besides the financial considerations, real estate is where we live and play, work and rest, raise our families, make friends, worship and shape our own lives and the lives of those whom we love. We belong to communities, and those around us affect who we are. Where we live directly affects us as individuals, and the media can not even begin to grasp the nuances and particulars that this entails.

Enter the professional Realtor. As a Realtor, I am the first to admit that every local market is different. No self-respecting real estate professional can claim to be an expert in every market. We specialize in communities, and our business is about people. The only way to develop expertise in a given community is to be a part of it. In addition to having an extensive awareness of the recent sales activity, homes currently available, mortgage interest rates and other hard analytical data (all critical to the decision making process), a dedicated professional in our field must also tap into the social makeup of a community by understanding the wants and needs of the client and what the community has to offer in order to fulfill them.

Miami is known the world over. From the famous beaches and electric nightlife of South Beach to the lush backdrop and bohemian eclecticism of Coconut Grove, no other city in America offers the excitement and cultural diversity of our great city. Miami is now home to the third largest skyline in the US (behind New York and Chicago-and frankly, we have better weather). Whether you are looking for a stately Coral Gables Old Spanish residence, a majestic Pinecrest estate, a home on the water to fulfill your need for tropical breezes, or a waterfront condo to get away on South Beach, Miami offers something for everyone.

Don't be misled by media reports of gloom and doom (according to the NAR, Miami sales of single family homes surged 72% higher in May 2009 over the same month last year, and condo sales rose 51%-I guess not everyone is reading the papers!). If your thing is tracking economic activity at the macro level, the media is a great source. If, however, you're looking to buy or sell real estate in Miami. ask a Realtor.