Florida leads nation in cash-only home sales

MIAMI – Aug. 29, 2013 – Florida led the nation last month with what one expert called an “astounding” rate of all-cash home sales: 66 percent, a new report shows.

Investor groups, international buyers, landlords and those in the market for vacation homes are fueling a cash-only market that has virtually shut out entry-level homebuyers, who can’t get approved for mortgages.

Lake Mary real-estate agent Tom O’Brien said he recently represented a single mother employed by Valencia College who wanted to buy a house near downtown Sanford.

“The seller said he wanted to hold out for a cash buyer instead of waiting for her FHA mortgage to get approved,” O’Brien said Wednesday. “The first-time buyers are the ones who are really struggling; they’re scraping together every nickel, and they’re competing with the cash buyers.”

The influx of cash continues to grow in one of the country’s most volatile states for real estate: Cash sales made up 57 percent of Florida’s home sales a year ago and 61 percent of all sales in June of this year, compared with the 66 percent reported in July, according to the report released today by the real estate research company RealtyTrac Inc.

“That’s astounding,” RealtyTrac Vice President Daren Blomquist said. Nationwide, only Nevada (64 percent) and Maine (60 percent) came even close to Florida’s tidal wave of cash-only deals.

Among Florida’s metropolitan areas, Brevard County had the highest rate of cash deals: Seven out of every 10 house sales last month went for cash. Next in line was the giant metro area that includes Miami, Fort Lauderdale and West Palm Beach; 69 percent of all sales there were all-cash deals.

One factor tipping the scales in cash buyers’ favor has been the tightening of mortgage requirements following the easy-lending era that preceded the 2007-09 recession.

“The home-loan mortgage market has utterly dried up,” said Mark Soskin, an associate professor of economics in the University of Central Florida’s business college. “The market requires buyers and sellers, [but] if you want to buy a house, you have to have cash.”

Private-equity firms and institutional buyers have been actively picking up Florida’s lower-priced houses, fixing them up, and renting them for some time already, but those buyers are moving on to other states, RealtyTrac’s report shows. During July, institutional buyers drove 22 percent of the home sales in Georgia, 16 percent in Nevada, 15 percent in Arizona and 14 percent in Florida.

According to Blomquist, Florida last month attracted more small-scale investors, as well as buyers interested in buying second homes or paying cash for their retirement housing. He said he has heard from investment groups that they have turned to the Carolinas and other markets that still offer good returns and until now have been below the radar compared with Florida.

Regardless of who has been laying down all the cash in Florida, the trend has helped the market by flushing sales through the system, Winter Park real estate broker Scott Hillman said.

“The good news is that at least they’re buying,” Hillman said. “We’re not waiting on appraisals to come in and make sure it works, because appraisers look at history and don’t look as much at the current conditions, with the depletions in inventory. A lot of these closings needed to be cash.”

Another key shift noted in RealtyTrac’s July report was a strong rebound in the number of short sales – closings with sales prices below the balances still owed on the properties’ mortgages. During the housing-market meltdown and the Great Recession, distress sales had dominated the Orlando-area housing market before receding in the past year or so as prices rallied.

In July, though, short sales accounted for 30 percent of all home sales in the state, 32 percent in the Fort Lauderdale/Miami metro area, and 39 percent in Metro Orlando. That was double to triple the rate of short sales reported a year ago.

Regular foreclosures, meanwhile, have held steady at about 10 percent of all sales throughout Florida, including Orlando and South Florida, during the past year.

With one of the nation’s highest foreclosure rates, South Florida has a large supply of bank-owned properties. Lenders aren’t interested in waiting for traditional buyers to qualify for mortgages, preferring instead to sell to investors paying cash.

“That’s where all the action is,” said Lex Levinrad, founder of the Distressed Real Estate Institute, a Deerfield Beach-based club for investors. “The banks have an urgent need to get these bad loans off their books as soon as possible. They’re willing to sell for 30 percent less to a cash buyer rather than waiting for a buyer with a mortgage.”

Much of the cash buying in South Florida is from foreigners who view condominiums as safe investments. In the past year, large funds have entered the region, buying single-family homes and renting them out for a year or longer. The Blackstone Group of New York and California-based Waypoint Homes are two of the larger funds buying in Broward and Palm Beach counties.

Some industry analysts once feared that a so-called shadow inventory of homes would hurt the housing market. But David Dweck, founder of the Boca Real Estate Investment Club, said there are enough cash buyers here to support any excess supply of properties. “Without a doubt,” he said. “Without a doubt.”

In July, compared with a year earlier, distress-sale prices in the Orlando area were up 16 percent to $110,000 and in South Florida were up 12 percent to $106,450. Conventional-sale prices, meanwhile, rose 16 percent in Metro Orlando and 19 percent in South Florida from a year earlier.

Even with cash-only deals driving up prices throughout the state, Soskin, the UCF economist, predicted that home prices in Florida won’t return to 2007 levels for another 20 years.

Copyright © 2013 The Orlando Sentinel (Orlando, Fla.), Mary Shanklin. Distributed by MCT Information Services.

Miami’s tight supply of homes in July drove strong sales and pricing.

Single-family home sales again surged in July to 1,227 from 964 a year earlier, an increase of 27.3 percent.

“This is the highest monthly number of sales for single-family homes in Miami-Dade since the height of the boom in 2005,” according to the Miami Association of Realtors.

Condominium sales increased to 1,538 from 1,356, a 13.4 percent increase on the same time last year.

“The Miami real estate market continues to thrive as demand for housing intensifies and increasing inventory remains insufficient,” said 2013 Chairman of the Board of the Miami Association of Realtors Natascha Tello. “Miami is a global city that is not surprisingly attracting worldwide attention on many fronts. Residents, visitors, tourists and business enterprises want to be in Miami and experience all that our unique and vibrant city and market offer. This attention is driving our real estate market and our economy.”

July’s figures mark 20 consecutive months of appreciation for both single-family homes and condominiums in Miami. The median sales price of single-family homes spiked 25.7 percent to $230,000 year-over-year and remained the same compared to the previous month. The median sales price of condominiums, which has significantly increased each of the last 25 months, jumped 33.3 percent to $180,500 compared to a year earlier, but declined 2.7 percent compared to the previous month.

Compared to July 2012, the average sales price for single-family homes in Miami-Dade County increased 24.9 percent to $406,532, while the average sales price for condominiums increased 20.9 percent to $323,338.

Miami properties that are priced right are selling very quickly and yielding very high percentage of asking price. In July, the median days on the market for single-family homes and condominiums were 35 and 45 respectively, reflecting sales at a very rapid pace. The average percent of original list price received was 96.1 percent for single-family homes and 97.1 percent for condominiums.

“Active listings at the end of July increased 0.8 percent, from 12,547 to 13,583, compared to July 2012. Despite the slight increase in inventory, current active inventory remains insufficient to satisfy intense demand for Miami properties,” according to the association statement.

Cash is still king: In Miami, 60 percent of total closed sales in July were all-cash sales compared to 63.5 percent in July 2012. All-cash sales accounted for 43.3 percent of single-family home and 73.6 percent of condominium closings, compared to a year ago when cash sales were 44 percent and 77.4 percent of closed sales respectively.

“Since nearly 90 percent of foreign buyers in Florida purchase properties all cash, this reflects the much stronger presence of international buyers in the Miami real estate market. By comparison all-cash sales nationally accounted for 31 percent of transactions in July, down from 33 percent the previous month and 29 percent in July 2012,” according to the association statement.

Oscar Pedro Musibay

Reporter-South Florida Business Journal

New Jersey Housewife Melissa Gorga Sells Home

By Erika Riggs | Zillow

On Bravo’s “The Real Housewives of New Jersey,” Melissa Gorga and Teresa Giudice are pretty far from friends. Although the two are sisters-in-law, they fight constantly and compete over everything.

While both are nearly matched for controversial behavior, there’s one area where Gorga comes out a little ahead of Giudice: real estate.

While Giudice and her husband are facing dozens of fraud charges — specifically mortgage fraud on their mammoth New Jersey mansion — Gorga and her husband just sold their New Jerseyhome for the full asking price of $3.8 million, according to a report by US Weekly.

The two reportedly sold the home at 8 Pond Vw, Montville, NJ 07045 in order to begin construction on their new dream home in Franklin Lakes, NJ. While they wait for development to begin, the family of four will be staying in a rental home.

“It’s going to be a lot of work designing and building the new home, but Joe is an incredible builder, and I’m excited to go back to where we started our family,” Gorga told US.

Although the Gorgas are anticipating a brand-new dream home, their former residence in Montville was pretty luxe. They bought the newer “European-influenced” home in 2007 for $950,000. Sitting on nearly 2.5 acres, the home measures 9,500 square feet and has 6 bedrooms and 6.5 baths.

Custom upgrades include an Italian marble foyer leading to a dual marble stairway, custom tray ceilings, carved moldings and built-ins.

5 Inspection Problems Buyers Shouldn’t Ignore

Home buyers need to be extra vigilant about inspections in the early stages of a purchase because if problems are discovered too late in the process, it can "dash home owners' dreams and budgets," writes Yahoo! Finance in a recent article.

One home buyer in Long Island, N.Y., explains in the story that she didn't discover the fixer-upper she bought needed $225,000 in repairs until after she purchased it. 

Jonathan and Drew Scott, who educate viewers about transforming fixer-uppers on HGTV's "Property Brothers," offers up a checklist of five things buyers should look for to ensure they don’t buy a lemon. 

• Mold: Buyers should note any musty smells in the home and be on the lookout for any mold. Mold can be caused by improper air circulation as well as water leaks. 
• Pests: Termite damage can be widespread and costly to repair.  
• Outdated fixtures and wiring: Electrical problems in a home can cause fire hazards. Buyers should take note of any indication of faulty wiring, such as cable coming out of drywall. 
• Poor DIY jobs: Buyers should make sure that the previous home owner's do-it-yourself projects were done correctly and are up to code. For example, poorly done flooring and painted-over wallpaper can be time-consuming and costly to fix. 
• Drainage problems: Sloping sod can cause flooding problems in a backyard, and a slow-draining sink could be an indication of a bigger problem. Buyers should test sinks and flush toilets to test for any potential problems. 

Source: “Property Brothers: Don’t Buy a House Without Checking These 5 Things,” Yahoo! Finance 

CÉLINE DION’S FLORIDA MANSION LISTED FOR $72 MILLION

Celine Dion and her husband Rene Angelil have just listed their Jupiter Island, Florida compound for a whopping $72 million via a Canadian realtor.

The location can’t be beat: Jupiter Island is a wealthy enclave of some 800 people north of the Miami area, and it has one of the highest per-capita incomes of any town in the U.S. Dion’s island neighbors include golf legend Tiger Woods and country singer Alan Jackson.

Montreal Realtor Joseph Montanaro, who has the listing, said the house hasn’t been used as much as Dion hoped. He said the asking price is “just about” what it cost to build up the property.

The listing describes the house as a “luxurious Bahamian-inspired estate” with 415 of oceanfront, one main house and five pavilions, including a four-bedroom guest house.

The master suite has a walk-in closet with an automated rack for clothing and an automated carousel for shoes. It has a wraparound terrace and two decks, one with an fireplace and another with a hot tub.

The property also includes an eight-bedroom guesthouse, a tennis house with a simulated golf range, a pool house and a beach house with a sleeping loft and massage room.

There are three pools, one at the rear of the property by the ocean, and two connecting pools at the front that have their own water park, with two slides, a bridge over a lazy river and water gun stations.

The house is being sold “turnkey,” meaning the new owner gets to keep almost all the contents, including furniture, with the exception of Celine’s personal effects, the listing states.

Read Original article

Why You Should Have Your Home Inspected Before Selling

Ordinarily, a serious buyer would pay to have a home formally inspected. The goal is to uncover any potential problems before signing on the dotted line, while there’s still time to negotiate.

But sometimes, sellers will have their homes inspected before they even put them on the market. Here are three reasons why apre-inspection may be a good idea.

1. It shows your home is ‘an open book’

A pre-inspection is a goodwill gesture. It demonstrates a willingness to go beyond what’s expected, and that sets you apart from other sellers. You’re sending a signal that your house is an “open book,” and that you’re being upfront about the property. All of this can give potential buyers peace of mind and confidence.

2. It can save you money in the long run

A pre-inspection gives you, the seller, a heads-up if there are problems that a potential buyer will likely want repaired. Once you know what’s wrong, you can have those issues fixed before you list. The cleaner and more problem-free you can make your home, the faster it’s likely to sell.

Because a pre-inspection lets buyers know what they’re getting from the beginning, they can factor any needed repairs into an offer. And by disclosing all known issues upfront, you’re protecting yourself against claims the buyer might make later — which sometimes result in lawsuits.

On the other hand, let’s say you don’t have a pre-inspection. During escrow, the buyer’s inspector discovers problems you didn’t know about. You can be sure the buyer will try to negotiate a lower price, which will cost you money and can delay the sale. The buyer might even cancel the contract.

3. It can highlight your home’s assets

Assuming you’re not trying to sell a fixer-upper, a pre-inspection can shine a spotlight on your home’s selling points, such as any electrical upgrades you might have had made.

When not to have a pre-inspection

If you’re trying to offload a fixer-upper that would give even the Munsters reason for concern, there’s no point in paying for a pre-inspection. But if you’ve maintained your home and want to sell it as quickly, and as profitably, as possible, a pre-inspection is almost always a good idea.

By Brendon DeSimone | Zillow – Fri, Aug 23, 2013 8:41 PM EDT

Before sale: Which home upgrades are worth the expense?

Compromises will be made when it comes to buying a home, but certain features are definitely a priority, such as air conditioning, basements and houses hardwired for technology.
The National Association of Realtors released results of the 2013 Profile of Buyers’ Home Feature Preferences, which examined the importance buyers placed on 33 features and 12 rooms commonly found in homes. The survey analyzed responses from 2,005 households who purchased a home between 2010 and 2012.

Realtors use the survey results to assist buyers in finding a home, and “it’s interesting and sometimes surprising to see what buyers think is important when choosing the right house for them,” said Jessica Lautz, manager of member and consumer survey research for the National Association of Realtors.

It also can give good insight into which upgrades might pay off in a home you’ll eventually sell.

3 bdrs, 2 bath
The typical recently purchased home totaled 1,860 square feet with three bedrooms and two baths and was built in 1996.

“What’s surprising is that everyone wants three bedrooms and two baths. It doesn’t matter if it’s a single female or a family with two parents and two children,” Lautz said.
Slightly more than half the homes purchased were single-level, and “that’s probably important for people who are older and are looking to avoid having to climb stairs, but it also was an important feature for single women,” Lautz said.

Single men preferred a home with a finished basement.

AC, walk-in closets
For all buyers, the most desired home feature was central air conditioning, with 65 percent of buyers considering it very important.

“Air conditioning is important all over the country but even more so in the South, where 79 percent said it was very important,” Lautz said.

It’s also something people are willing to pay extra for in order to have it in their home. Sixty-nine percent of the buyers who did not purchase a home with air conditioning said they’d be willing to pay on average an extra $2,250 to have it, the survey found.

The next most important feature was a walk-in closet in the master bedroom; 39 percent of buyers considered this feature very important, the survey said. Closely behind was having a home that was cable-, satellite TV- and/or internet-ready; 37 percent considered this important.

“I found it very surprising that more people did not feel it was important to buy a home that is cable-, satellite-, TV- and internet-ready,” Lautz said.

While it might not have topped the list of priorities, 94 percent of buyers bought a home that was wired for technology.

All about kitchens
Kitchens tend to be the gathering areas in the home, and 89 percent of buyers had an appetite for an eat-in kitchen.

“People want a communal space where they can watch their kids while they cook or have a drink with friends,” Lautz said.

New kitchen appliances were also a big draw for married couples and single men. Sixty-nine percent of buyers who did not purchase a home with new kitchen appliances would be willing to pay $1,840 more for a home with this feature. Luxury countertops of granite and stainless steel were big draws as well.

“You turn on HGTV and they’re on every program,” Lautz said. “Even though stainless shows off all those fingerprints, people still want it.”

Bigger and better
The most surprising finding for Lautz was that even if people were satisfied with their home purchase, a majority said they would try to improve it almost immediately.

Although 97 percent of recent buyers were satisfied with their home purchase, there are always features buyers would like that they don’t have, said NAR Vice President of Research Paul Bishop.

“Most satisfied homeowners still said they would like more or larger closets and storage space” or a larger kitchen, and two out of five would prefer a larger home overall, Bishop said.

Within three months of a home purchase, 53 percent of buyers undertook a home improvement project.

By Melissa Erickson
Read more: http://www.timesreporter.com/archive/x1533300191/Before-sale-Which-home-upgrades-are-worth-the-expense#ixzz2cbPoiJvO

Dennis Quaid Lists $3.1M Mansion with Salt Water Pool

Dennis Quaid bought this sweet Pacific Palisades home in February, and he’s already listing it. Might have something to do with his recent split from wife Kimberly Buffington.

The home was originally purchased for $3.1M, and they are selling it for about the same price. Featuring four bedrooms, 4.5 baths and spectacular views, this space is a steal for the price.

The space also features a saltwater pool, spa, fully gated premises and 3,421 square feet of space.

By Allie Early

Photos courtesy of realtor.com

Where the Housing Recovery Is Strongest and Weakest

If you own a home in Baltimore, you probably know the housing market is recovering. But how much?

Not so much, actually. Housing has turned up nearly everywhere, with the average home price nationwide up about 12% during the past year. But some markets are going gangbusters while others barely seem to have escaped the gloom.

Baltimore, it turns out, is a housing laggard, according to a new RealtyTrac housing-recovery index that ranks 100 metro areas based on 7 variables including home-price appreciation, the unemployment rate and the decline in foreclosure rates. In Baltimore, prices are up, foreclosures are down and fewer homeowners are underwater on their mortgages, owing more than the home is worth. But the market in Baltimore is still far weaker than in 99 other cities ranked in the index, making it the lowest-ranking metropolis.

That illustrates how a spotty economic recovery is creating new boom and bust cities. The most promising housing markets tend to be in cities with relatively low unemployment, including several smaller cities that never had much of a housing boom back in the go-go days of 2004 and 2005. In Rochester, N.Y., for instance--the No. 1 city--the percentage of home owners who are underwater is just 7%, compared with a nationwide average of 26%. That's largely because there was never a huge run-up in prices in Rochester, or the rampant speculation that became prevalent in cities such as Miami, Phoenix and Las Vegas.

Here are the top 10 metro areas where the housing recovery is strongest, ranked by their showing in the RealtyTrac index:

[Click here for a slideshow of the top 10 cities.]

The average unemployment rate for those 10 cities is 7.1%, which is too high for comfort but still lower than the national average of 7.4%. And homes in those cities have appreciated by 63% on average since the housing market bottomed out.

In depressed cities such as Flint, the housing “recovery” comes from home prices that collapsed and now seem to be taking off, even if they’re never likely to regain prior levels. But in most of the other top 10 cities, housing is bouncing back because the underlying economy is.

It’s a murkier picture in the bottom 10 cities:

[Click here for a slideshow of the bottom 10 cities.]

The average unemployment rate in the bottom 10 cities is 9.3%, and homes have only appreciated by 15.9% on average since the bottom of the housing bust. When jobs are scarce, it hampers nearly everything about the housing market. More people fall behind on their mortgages, leading to more foreclosures. There are fewer working people who can afford a home, which crimps demand, weighs down prices and discourages people from selling their homes to move up or take a better job someplace else.

In that way, a strong housing market usually accompanies a vibrant economy, while a weak housing market and a sagging economy amplify each other. In a few lucky cities, it may seem like the housing bust never happened. But in most places, it seems like it only ended yesterday, if at all.

By Rick Newman | The Exchange

World's Largest Building Opens in China

China continues to live up to its larger-than-life reputation with its most extravagant new opening: a gargantuan mega-structure that could contain 20 Sydney Opera Houses.

The New Century Global Center in Chengdu (population 14 million), capital of Sichuan province in southwestern China, isn't a skyscraper, but it sprawls to almost three times the size of the Pentagon—it's 1.7 million square meters of pure consumerism.

The building also contains more trees than the Pentagon—the "Paradise Island" waterpark inside features palm trees aplenty on its mock beach, which blasts visitors with an ersatz sea breeze intended to "make one intoxicated, as if he were enjoying himself in the fabulous heaven."

The building, "themed with a comprehensive and profound oceanic culture and inspired by the design concept of sailing seagulls and undulating waves," also contains an IMAX cinema, luxury shopping malls, offices, hotels, a university complex, a pirate ship (yep, a pirate ship), a skating rink, and an entire faux Mediterranean village, among other features.

Declared the "largest freestanding building in the world" by Chinese officials, the Global Center is located in an entirely new planned area of Chengdu called Tainfu New District. The center is a city unto itself, "where recreation has become to core value of modern business concepts and business will become a way of life," according to the promotional video.

The building opened June 28, and is part of a larger, ongoing initiative to transform Chengdu into an economic and cultural hub in western China. The capital hosted the 2013 Fortune Global Forum, and announced a GDP of around $130.5 billion at the end of 2012. An expanded subway line and a new airport are expected in the city by 2020.

Photo credits: all photos courtesy of Exhibition & Travel Group

Original article found here

How Long is Too Long to Live at Home?

Once you've graduated from college, how soon should you be out of your parents' house and living on your own? Well, the younger your parents are, the more time they're willing to give you.

A new study by Coldwell Banker Real Estate finds that younger parents are more forgiving of their kids living at home post-college than older parents. Overall, 20 percent of Americans say it's OK for adult children to live at home as long as they want, while 13 percent said it's never OK to live at home with mom and dad after college, according to the study.

But Millennial parents — those ages 18 to 34 — say it's acceptable for adult kids to live at home for up to six years after college. Parents ages 55 and older say kids should be out of the house by no more than three years after college.

“In terms of transitioning into independent adulthood, it’s almost as if 27 is the new 18,” said psychotherapist Dr. Robi Ludwig, who serves as Coldwell Banker's lifestyle correspondent. “Living at home can be a great opportunity for young adults who need some time to get on their feet, but it’s only beneficial if the time is used wisely. Our twenties are a very crucial time because the decisions we make and the lessons we learn then influence who we become as adults.”

Despite the leniency among some parents, 65 percent of Americans say they believe adult kids living at home are overstaying their welcome, according to the study. That sentiment is stronger among parents 55 and older (73 percent) than Millennial parents (58 percent).

Source: Coldwell Banker Real Estate

Is It Time for Baby Boomers to Downsize?

By Tom Sightings 

For many reasons, a lot of baby boomers have been delaying retirement. One reason is that we have been unable to sell our homes. We've been trapped in our old houses, in our old, high-tax communities, handcuffed to our jobs by a lofty cost of living. We couldn't afford to retire until we could move to cheaper digs.

But now the real estate market is improving. According to the Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller home-price index, the number of existing homes sold is up more than 8 percent from a year ago, and average prices have climbed 12 percent since this time last year. In some markets, such as Dallas and Denver, prices have regained all of what they lost during the Great Recession. Even in Detroit, prices are up by a third from the bottom (although still well below their peak in 2005).

Now the question is: If you can finally sell your home and move to the retirement destination of your dreams -- whether across town or across country -- should you rent your new place, or should you buy again?

Let's remember that despite the lousy real estate market of the recent past, most boomers have made a lot of money owning their own homes over the past 30 years. For most of our lives -- and our parents' lives before us -- owning a home was the American dream. A house centered you in a stable community, provided a school for your kids, and in the long run, was a good financial decision as well. The mortgage and taxes were subsidized by the tax code, and the value of your house increased -- some years more than others, but except for a few brief recessionary periods, always on an upward trajectory.

The rule of thumb was that it was better to own than to rent, as long as you planned to stay in your house for at least five years. But that was then. What about now?

What we've all learned since 2006 is that owning a home can be an albatross as well as an opportunity. Many people now seem more interested in mobility than stability. You can't retire and you can't take that new job if you can't sell your house. And maybe you just no longer want the responsibility of taking care of a lawn and doing maintenance on the roof and the plumbing and the heating system.

Many of us know -- and are a little jealous of -- a friend or relative who was renting an apartment or a condo and was able to take a new job or jump on an early retirement package, then wave goodbye and start the new life they wanted. Now that we homeowners have the chance to move, do we really want to be saddled with another place we may not be able to sell? Especially in a volatile market like Florida or Nevada or Arizona?

Certainly, if you're experimenting with your retirement, shopping for a new place to live, you should not buy a place right away. Remember, buying and selling a house costs a lot of money -- not just the down payment, but the mortgage, the lawyer, the insurance and taxes.

If you're not sure, rent for a year or two. But eventually, you'll probably begin to feel like you're "throwing away" all that rent money, contributing to the wealth of your landlord rather than building your own equity. The people in your complex are transient, and while you might not have to worry about maintenance, you might find your landlord often does a "quick fix" instead of doing the job right. Plus, maybe you want to put your own stamp on a place -- fix up the kitchen the way you want it, rather than the way the landlord has it.

Also, be careful: You might find that you need to buy a place quick, before prices run up again and leave you behind, unable to afford what you'd like.

Above all, the choice of whether to rent or buy is a lifestyle decision: What kind of home and neighborhood you want to live in, whether you want to feel like a part of the community and how long you are you going to stay there. In other words, the new rule of thumb is the same as the old rule of thumb. Rent if you're going to be moving on. Buy if you want to settle down and stick around for at least five years.

What Would YOU Do to Get That House? [INFOGRAPHIC]

by THE KCM CREW on AUGUST 9, 2013 · 0 COMMENTS

in INFOGRAPHIC

Fla.’s housing market continues positive trends in 2Q 2013

ORLANDO, Fla. – Aug. 8, 2013 – Florida’s housing market gained strength in second quarter 2013 with more closed sales, higher median prices, more pending sales and a shrinking supply of homes for sale compared to the same quarter in 2012, according to the latest housing data released by Florida Realtors®.

“Data from the second quarter of 2013 shows that Florida’s housing market is continuing to improve and the growth is boosting the state’s economic recovery,” said 2013 Florida Realtors President Dean Asher, broker-owner with Don Asher & Associates Inc. in Orlando. “We are experiencing an extended run of year-over-year gains in existing home sales (18 months as of June) and Realtors across the state are reporting increased activity in their markets. At 7.1 percent, Florida currently has a lower unemployment rate than the nation. As more jobs are created, it’s providing a stable foundation for future growth in the state’s housing market.”

Statewide closed sales of existing single-family homes totaled 63,173 in 2Q 2013, up 14.7 percent compared to the year-ago figure, according to data from Florida Realtors Industry Data and Analysis department in partnership with local Realtor boards/associations. Closed sales typically occur 30 to 90 days after sales contracts are written.

Meanwhile, pending sales – contracts signed but not yet completed or closed – for existing single-family homes rose 28.5 percent in the second quarter compared to the 2Q 2012 figure. The statewide median sales price for single-family existing homes in 2Q 2013 was $170,000, up 14.1 percent from the same quarter a year ago.

The median is the midpoint; half the homes sold for more, half for less. Housing industry analysts note that sales of foreclosures and other distressed properties downwardly distort the median price because they generally sell at a discount relative to traditional homes.

Looking at Florida’s year-to-year comparison for sales of townhouse-condos, a total of 31,829 units sold statewide in the second quarter, up 7.9 percent from the same three-month period in 2012. Pending sales for townhouse-condos in 2Q 2013 increased 18.8 percent compared to a year ago, while the statewide median for townhouse-condo properties was $129,000, up 16.7 percent over the same quarter last year.

In 2Q 2013, the median days on market (the midpoint of the number of days it took for a property to sell that month) was 51 days for single-family homes and 57 days for townhouse-condo properties.

The inventory for single-family homes stood at a 5-months’ supply for the second quarter; inventory for townhouse-condos was at a 5.2-months’ supply for the same period, according to Florida Realtors.

Florida Realtors Chief Economist Dr. John Tuccillo said, “For those who have been following the Florida real estate market, there’s not much new in these numbers. The market continues its gradual improvement and return to stability. While investors have been the major driving force in the market, we are beginning to see more owner-occupants enter the market. This is an encouraging sign.”

According to Freddie Mac, the interest rate for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 3.69 percent for 2Q 2013, down from the previous year’s average of 3.80 percent, according to Freddie Mac.

To see the full statewide housing activity reports, go to Florida Realtors Media Center  and look under Latest Releases, or download the 2Q 2013 data report PDFs under Market Data.

Related: NAR: Home prices pick up steam in most metros during 2Q

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