Beautiful Day in Destin, Florida!

Even with Debby out in the Gulf it is still beautiful in Destin, Florida!

Starting June 15, Fannie and Freddie-backed lenders must respond within 30 calendar days to a buyer's short sale offer.

Sandestin Inventory Dips Below 300 On April 9th, inventory within the gates of Sandestin Golf and Beach Resort reached a number we haven't seen in some time -298 listings. This compares with 439 listings in April 2011.Henderson Real Estate Group can help you find a wonderful property before prices start going higher!

U.S. home buying finally signals a recovery

Many would-be buyers appear emboldened by reduced prices, record-low mortgage rates, higher rents and more jobs.

Retired Moving To Florida In Large Numbers!

A recent US Census Report indicates that US residents from Northern Climates are once again heading to Florida for retirement. The dates between April 2010 and July 2011, Florida welcomed 560 new residents to Florida EACH DAY!

REO Sales

When will REO sales finally reach the peak?

NEW YORK – Oct. 19, 2011 – Properties repossessed through foreclosure may not peak until 2013, HousingWire reports, quoting several analysts and recent reports.

Foreclosure sales are expected to reach 1.48 million properties in 2013, according to analysts from Bank of America Merrill Lynch.

However, with the surge, “we do not expect to see anywhere near the downward pressure on home prices that we had back in 2008, since the expected percent changes in liquidation volumes are so much smaller,” the analysts said.

The increase in foreclosures is expected to mostly change from private banks’ portfolios – which nearly half are from now – to the government’s backlog of properties, with an increase in foreclosures forecasted from Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s portfolios. Overall, they are expected to liquidate about 595,000 properties in 2013.

To handle the expected surge, the government continues to consider ideas, including proposals of turning some of the foreclosures into rentals, and a plan from the Federal Housing Finance Agency to refinance more underwater borrowers so they’ll be less likely to walk away from their property.

But some analysts are skeptical that a surge in foreclosures will come without an intervention from the government.

“Do they really think that the government under any administration would let 500,000 homes hit the mark and crash prices all over again, six years after the first crash?” Scott Sambucci, chief analyst at Altos Research, told HousingWire.

Source: “REO Sales May Not Peak Until 2013,” HousingWire (Oct. 17, 2011)

Homes for sale declining across South Florida

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – Oct. 5, 2011 – The number of homes and condominiums for sale has steadily declined across South Florida in 2011, frustrating buyers and leading to bidding wars in some cases, real estate agents say.

An October update from Chip Rowand of the Keyes Co. in Weston shows that Broward County has 13,480 single-family homes and condos for sale. In Palm Beach County, there are 15,782 homes and condos on the market.

Those figures are less than half of what they were a few years ago, Rowand said.

“We’re seeing multiple showings and multiple offers if the homes are priced right,” he said. “We need more inventory.”

Analysts expect that’ll happen soon enough as a new wave of foreclosures hits the market.

The foreclosure pipeline slowed considerably last year as banks investigated possible paperwork errors as part of the “robo-signer” controversy. Now lenders are starting to process foreclosures more quickly.

Last week, research firm CoreLogic reported that the so-called shadow inventory of homes for sale declined to 1.6 million in July from 1.9 million a year ago.

Shadow inventory is a hidden supply of homes that are likely to come on the market as a result of foreclosures.

“The steady improvement in the shadow inventory is a positive development for the housing market,” Mark Fleming, chief economist for CoreLogic, said in a statement. “However, continued price declines, high levels of (underwater mortgages) and a sluggish labor market will keep the shadow supply elevated for an extended period of time.”

© 2011 Sun Sentinel (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.), Paul Owers. Distributed by MCT Information Services

Housing Inventory Dropping

Shadow Inventory Drops: ‘Positive Sign for Housing’

DAILY REAL ESTATE NEWS | WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 28, 2011

Residential shadow inventory is on the decline, falling in July to 1.6 million units and representing a supply of five months, a new report from CoreLogic shows. 

One year ago, nationwide shadow inventory stood at 1.9 million units, marking a six-month supply. Shadow inventory is 22 percent lower than the peak reached in January 2010 of 2 million units -- or 8.4 months of supply.

CoreLogic calculates shadow inventory by taking into account the number of distressed properties not yet listed on the multiple listing services that are more than 90 days delinquent, in foreclosure, and real estate owned by lenders. 

"The steady improvement in the shadow inventory is a positive development for the housing market," says Mark Fleming, chief economist for CoreLogic. "However, continued price declines, high levels of negative equity, and a sluggish labor market will keep the shadow supply elevated for an extended period of time."

Source: “Shadow Inventory Declines to 5-Month Supply: CoreLogic,” HousingWire (Sept. 27, 2011)

Destin, Florida Seafood Festival

Destin Named Best Place To LIve and Boat

Magazine names Destin the best place to live and boat

May 28, 2011 7:18 PM

Katy Houghton

Florida Freedom Newspapers

TOP PLACES TO LIVE AND BOAT:

1. Destin, Fla.
2. Long Island, N.Y.
3. Newport, Ore.
4. Lake of the Ozarks, Mo.
5. Chattanooga, Tenn.
6. Phoenix
7. Seattle
8. Columbia, S.C.
9. Green Bay, Wis.
10. Traverse City, Mich.

SOURCE: Boating magazine

DESTIN — The area has another feather in its cap after scoring the top spot in Boating magazine’s Top 10 Best Places to Live and Boat.

“Once people go boating in Destin, they’re hooked,” said Fred Pace, managing partner for Legendary Marine.

When deciding the best places to set sail, Boating magazine considered “livability, public access, convenience and also relaxing getaways …”

“Destin has great cruising ability and it’s a terrific place to fish,” Pace said. “There are so many places to boat. There is Crab Island, the magnificent waterways … I’m not sure there is a close second.”

Among the local landmarks for the magazine were Crab Island, Choctawhatchee Bay, the Intracoastal Waterway and the “plentiful” vacation rentals.

Peter Wright, owner of the Ship’s Chandler in Destin, said he thinks there are a couple of reasons Destin took the top spot on the list.

“It’s a big vacation area. A lot of people from cities that placed on the list come here,” he said. “There are places you can catch bigger marlin and more shellfish, but if you drew a five mile circle around the East Pass, you will catch such a variety of fish unlike anywhere else.”  

Wright moved to the Emerald Coast in the 1970s with his family and got his first job on a fishing boat in Destin.

“This is going to help everybody out, especially the charter boat captains who took one on the chin” during last year’s oil spill, Wright said. “For boat dealers like myself, we’re starting to pick up that pace, but there is still a lot of work to go. I’m just glad the fish are biting.”

Shane Moody, president and CEO of the Destin Area Chamber of Commerce, said even after living here for nearly eight years, being on the water is still a magnificent experience.

“The colors, the clarity, the marine life — we see dolphins near or around the boat every time we go out. You can’t get that anywhere else,” Moody wrote in an email. “You have Crab Island, the most unique boating destination
I’ve ever seen. You have the Intracoastal Waterway and the sound where you can pull your boat up on one of numerous islands or beaches and have a day-long outing.”

He also noted Destin’s location on the Gulf of Mexico and its great fishing.

“Destin’s history is full of boating, from charter boats to commercial fishing to recreational boating,” Moody wrote. “It’s not really part of our lives, it is our way of life, and that’s what makes living and boating spectacular in Destin.”

Read more: http://www.nwfdailynews.com/articles/destin-40589-live-magazine.html#ixzz1YPMDh4NW

Staged-to-Sell, But Is it Priced-to-Sell?

September 12, 2011 by Melissa Tracey · 4 Comments
Filed under: Home Trends, Staging Tips 

By Melissa Dittmann Tracey, REALTOR® Magazine

Staging a home to perfection can certainly get buyers’ attention, but pricing the home to sell is what often will get them in the front door, housing experts say.

With home values dropping across the country, a few sellers are still struggling to come to terms that their home may not be worth what they previously thought. About 77 percent of home owners believe their home is worth more than the recommended listing price, according to real estate professionals surveyed in the HomeGain National Home Values Survey. Yet, about 67 percent of home buyers say home values are still overpriced.

Nearby foreclosures can certainly influence a seller’s asking price. Foreclosures in a community can actually reduce nearby property values, on average, by $20,300 per household, according to research by the Center for Responsible Lending.

But many sellers can’t accept that their home’s value may be lower because of the houses down the street.

The sellers who tend to be overpricing their homes the most are the ones who bought post-housing bubble too, according to a study earlier this summer by Zillow.

Zillow found that home sellers who purchased their home in 2007 or later are overpricing their homes by an average of 14.1 percent. On the other hand, sellers who purchased their homes between 2002 and 2006 (pre-housing bubble) tend to price their homes about 9.3 percent above market value, according to the Zillow study.

“Post-bubble buyers seem to believe they escaped the worst of the housing recession, as evidenced by how they price their homes today,” says Stan Humphries, Zillow’s chief economist. “But 2006 was just the beginning of the housing recession, and it is continuing in earnest to this day. That means that even people who bought after the bubble burst need to break out the pencil and paper and do serious research into what has happened in their market since they first bought their home, whether it was four years ago or six months ago. Overpricing homes causes them to stagnate on the market and keeps inventory from decreasing–not a desirable outcome for either the sellers or the market as a whole.”

Downsizing Trend Shows Signs of Reversing

DAILY REAL ESTATE NEWS | MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 12, 2011

New-home sizes had shown signs of shrinking since the housing crisis and recession. However, Americans are still showing signs of living large. 

A new-home built in 2010 averaged 2,392 square feet — still more than 650 square feet larger than in 1980, according to U.S. Census Bureau data. While square footage in new homes have dropped slightly since 2007 (when it as 2,521 square feet), new-home sizes are still bigger than what they were from three decades ago. In 1980, new homes were, on average, 1,740 square feet. 

With the extra square footage nowadays, home owners are adding more rooms. For example, in 1980, more than 25 percent of all new homes had 1.5 bathrooms or less. In 2010, only 8 percent of homes had 1.5 or fewer bathrooms, while the overwhelmingly majority had a lot more. 

Source: “The Way We Live Now is Bigger,” LifeInc.com (Sept. 8, 2011)

Experience Paradise in Sandestin, Florida!

If you have not visited Sandestin, Florida, you are missing a visit to Paradise!  Sandestin is in Northwest Florida on the Emerald Coast. The floral beauty is unmatched except for Disney World!  Sandestin has beachside condos, bayside homes and condos, townhomes, and single family homes. The Hilton Hotel is on this property along with a private beach club and an awesome Baytowne Village with shops and restaurants. Every Season is a festive occassion with floral displays, decorations and entertainment. I am fortunate to live and sell real estate here in Sandestin. I would love to show you how wonderful it is to experience this little Paradise!

Click to see EVENTS on the Emerald Coast!

Events On The Emerald Coast!

New listing! 4409 Southwinds Condo on the Beach in Sandestin!

New Listing in Sandestin!

Southwinds #4409 Gulf Front  Condo

3 Bedrooms and 3 Baths

Beautiful Sunsets and Gulf Breezes.

Call Ben: 334-797-8815 for more information!

NEW LISTING in CARIBE - Caribbean Village By the Gulf!

 New Recent Listing In Caribe!

243 Rue Martine is a lovely cottage home in a village by the Beach!

Call us for more information!