Orlando Real Estate A Steal

The value of homes in the Orlando area has fallen 20.7 percent from the previous year. The numbers released by the Zillow report (released February 3, 2009) confirms that there has not been a better time in the last 5 years to pick up a deal on Orlando real estate.

The report shows the current value for all homes in the Orlando area was $172,188 by the end of the 2008. Single-family home values were down 20.7 percent to $177,625 and condo values declined 16.2 percent to $130,047.

About 39.8 percent of the homes purchased in 2008 had negative equity and 94.5 percent of homes in the market lost value over the last 12 months, based on Zillow values. The report estimated that 35.5 percent of homes sold in the Orlando area were sold for a loss.

Nationwide, home values fell for the eighth straight quarter, dropping 11.6 percent to $192,119. That means homeowners lost $3.3 trillion in home values during 2008, with much of it coming in the fourth quarter.

Orlando’s Top Ten Real Estate Deals!

Orlando Real Estate Pros are now producing Orlando’s “Top Ten” real estate deals” for a zingy new, nationwide real estate website called, yes… Top10RealEstateDeals.com

Each month, we’ll be selecting the best of Orlando’s real estate deals and will bring them directly to this new listings site.

You’ll find our first Orlando top ten on their site right now: Orlando Real Estate Deals. We’ll also be syndicating the deals to our own sites both here and also at: CondoMetropolis.com

These opportunities represent just a few of the more than 22,000 units on the Orlando homes market at present. Contact us for more info on these or if you’re not seeing something that suits you, just let us know and we’ll perform a custom search of the central Florida MLS database for you at no charge.

Villa Esperanza 1st place winner street of dreams

Bella Collina Offered at under $8,000,000.

Built in 2006, this incredible residence is located on Lake Siena in the Country Club & Equestrian Community of Bella Collina. 

 

Enter through a stone-covered front entry to a private courtyard with a reflecting pool with fountains. Arched front doors lead to a 2-story foyer with a hand-laid mosaic tile rug. Ahead is the Grand Living Room, with a curved ceiling & stone fireplace with a spectacular view of the terrace, pool & lake. Dining Room has an arched brick ceiling with wall of stone. Study has wide-plank walnut floors, custom woodwork; gourmet kitchen features glazed knotty Alder cabinets with granite tops, blah blah, yada yada, I could go on for another 6 paragraphs, balcony overlooks lake, pool, & terrace,heated pool Spa & Summer Kitchen, 4-Car Garage. Sold fully furnished and decorated. Lease Purchase available!

To schedule a private tour, call us on: 407-290-3408.

This listing has been sampled from the mid Florida region MLS.

Home Affordability Best Since 1970’s

Good news for Home Buyers: Recent data from the National Association of Realtors (NAR) indicates that its home affordability index is at the best levels since the 1970’s. The index compares average family incomes to average home prices nationaly. A value of 100 signifies that a family earning the median income has enough income to qualify for a mortgage on a median-priced home, where the monthly payment is conservatively figured to not exceed 25% of the monthly family income.

The current Home Affordability Index is currently at a staggering 141.8 - which means that a family earning the median family income has 141.8 % of the income necessary to qualify for a conventional loan covering 80 percent of a median-priced existing single-family home. This is even better than the number of 119.4 from the same time last year, and is in fact the best since the early 1970s - and the best ever since the NAR began determining this ratio monthly in 1981.

Orlando Real Estate is no exception and prices here have never looked better. Of course financing is more challenging today although interest rates are still at historic lows.

Orlando Real Estate: Market Conditions

Real estate sales are still down in Orlando - and nationwide, including in the new home sector which experienced a 2.9 % decline. This news by the Commerce Department, who say that this is the slowest home sales pace since January 1991.

The report shows that regionally, new-home sales were mixed in November 2008, with two regions posting gains and two posting declines. The Northeast and West each regained some ground, with 14.3 percent and 11 percent gains, respectively, while the Midwest and South posted declines of 16.4 percent and 7.1 percent, respectively. All four regions were reported to be down by more than 25% on a year-over-year basis.

“The fact that new-home sales continue to decline even in the face of substantial builder incentives, very favorable mortgage rates and improved housing affordability shows how fearful consumers have become about making a home purchase in the current economic environment. That’s why it is absolutely necessary for the government to take action that will reassure home buyers and stimulate demand in order to help revive home sales and economic growth,” said National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) Chairman Sandy Dunn, a home builder from West Virginia.

Orlando real estate roughly mirrors the national trend. This, of course means there are some tremendous bargains out there at the moment in the Orlando metro area. “We’re not just talking about Orlando home prices being down from their 2005 peak to where they would have been,” says Marcus Burke, broker of the Orlando Real Estate Pros, “We’re now seeing some foreclosure deals that are almost too good to be true. For those that have been waiting on the sidelines, now’s the time to jump in and cherry pick those deals.”

Florida Shows Signs Of Rebound

It seems home buyers are making their way back to Florida. Third quarter statistics show sales increases across the board with a 5 percent increase in sales compared to the same quarter in 2007.

The Florida Association of Realtors (FAR) reports sales rose to more than 33,000 across the state for the quarter. Despite lending restrictions, buyers appear to be taking advantage of homeownership (or invesment) opportunities in the current buyer’s market.

The University of Florida’s Bergstrom Center for Real Estate Studies are seeing a similar upswing: “People who have responded to our surveys have not lost their faith in Florida as a place to be and a place to invest,” says Dr. Wayne Archer, director of UF’s Bergstrom Center for Real Estate Studies, on MarketWatch.com. “We have 40 pages of comments from our respondents, and although the dominant theme is the disruption of financing, perhaps the second theme, as one person put it, is people being on the sidelines with full pads and helmets just waiting to jump back in.”

The city with the strongest pricing was Panama City with a drop of just 5% to an average of $192,300, with Jacksonville not far behind.

Of course, those places with the biggest drops are pehaps the best places to buy. Orlando Real Estate has dropped fairly significantly over the last couple of years, providing great deals for those looking to enter Orlando at its low point.

Contact us to find out where the best Orlando real estate deals are!

Orlando Home Buyers Conference

A Slap in the face for investors

Investors: Start Your Engines… 6 weeks to go…

Investors hoping to finance through a lender who sells on to Fannie Mae, 12/1/08 is a date to remember. Nail your mortgage commitments quickly - in the next six weeks if you can. Because Ms. Mae - plans to load on extra fees across the board for investor loans purchased after December 1st (due to market conditions?)

Freddie Mac is imposing similar fees, and its increases take effect even earlier on November 7th.

Worse still, some large private mortgage insurers plan to stop underwriting investor loans altogether, effectively cutting off financing support for low-downpayment, high leverage rental home deals, no matter where the property is located. This could mean a minimum of 20% down. Just like the old days.

Fannie’s new fees will hit the full range of investors, from those with low downpayments to those who are able to put down a wad of cash. Come 12/1/08, investor applications where the downpayment is between 10 and 15 percent, can expect a 3.75 point “adverse market fee” - up from two and a half points currently.

Loans where an investor can lay down 20 to 25 percent will be subject to a three point add-on, and those able to do even better than that (40% or more) will have to cough up one and three quarter points.

The new fees come on top of earlier Fannie Mae restrictions, including limiting investor applicants to no more than four rental properties, plus a variety of restrictions on condos, including bans on mortgages in projects where more than 49 percent of the units are owned by investors.

It’s a harsh world.

Brought to you by the Orlando Real Estate Pros