Florida Markets Top Ten Turnaround Report

Though the past four years have seen many cities suffering from large numbers of foreclosures and a loss in home values, ten of these real estate markets are now leading the nation towards a general recovery and stability of the housing sector.
Realtor.com’s Top 10 Turnaround Town Report, based on third quarter 2011 data, includes six Florida markets: Miami, Orlando, Fort Myers-Cape Coral, Fort Lauderdale, Sarasota-Bradenton, and Lakeland-Winter Haven.
Each of these markets has experienced positive year-over-year median price appreciation, reductions in year-over-year median age of inventory and inventory counts, while also experiencing lower unemployment rates on a year-over-year basis. Florida’s success can also be tied to foreign buyers; the number of foreign buyers purchasing homes there increased from 10 percent in 2007 to 31 percent in 2011.
Let’s take a closer look:
Miami, FL: The number one town on the report, Miami has gone from being one of the first victims of the subprime crash to having a healthy inventory that is only half the size from a year ago. Today, Miami is only reporting one foreclosure for every 407 homes, compared to the national rate of one per every 213. And, condo sales have increased 79 percent in the first five months of this year, largely due to an influx of foreign investors.
Orlando, FL: Ranked second on the report, Orlando leads the nation in the ratio of Realtor.com searches to listings. Inventory has also obtained a balance with demand. Foreclosures hurt the market in 2007-08, but foreclosures in Orlando were down 58 percent in September, compared to last year.
Fort Myers-Cape Coral, FL: Median prices in Fort Myers-Cape Coral have increased almost 33% year-over-year, according to Realtor.com’s October 2011 Real Estate Trend Data. In addition, foreclosures are down–only one in 313 homes in September–while inventory has been reduced and foreign buyers have been attracted to the area’s real estate prices. The metro ranked third on the turnaround report.
Fort Lauderdale: FL: A decrease in inventory coupled with an uptick in prices earns Fort Lauderdale the number five spot on the report. Inventory decreased almost 38 percent year-over-year, according to Realtor.com’s October data report. Prices have fallen about 46 percent since 2006, but are now going up.
Sarasota-Bradenton, FL: A total of 11 percent of all foreign buyers in Florida are in Sarasota-Bradenton specifically. Number six on the turnaround report, the market has seen a list prices increase of more than 17 percent year-0ver-year and a decrease of inventory of 32 percent according to the Realtor.com October data. The market still has a long way to go, after losing more than 55 percent of home values from 2006 to the second quarter of 2011 due to foreclosures.
Lakeland-Winter Haven, FL: A year ago, Lakeland-Winter Haven topped national foreclosure filing lists, but now the area’s distressed sale market share has decreased 46 percent. The area–ranked 7th on the turnaround list–has seen total listings decreased more than 36 percent year-over-year and median age of inventory decrease more than 17 percent, according to Realtor.com’s October data. Prices are also up 12 percent compared to last October.
Realtor.com’s Top Ten Turnaround Town Report is compiled using a formula based on price appreciation, changes in inventory, median age of inventory, searches by Realtor.com visitors, and unemployment data.

Home prices up, hitting 2004 levels

 

Home prices rise, says FHFA

According to the Federal Housing Finance Agency’s (FHFA’s) monthly House Price Index (HPI), home prices rose 0.8 percent between March and April, on a seasonally adjusted basis. Previously, the FHFA had reported a 1.8 percent price increase in March, which has been revised to a 1.6 percent increase. Over the last year, home prices have risen 3.0 percent, the Agency reports.
The results were better than what was forecasted, as economists surveyed by Dow Jones Newswires had only expected a 0.4 percent monthly increase.

Prices, sales, and inventory levels

The U.S. index is down 17.6 percent from its April 2007 peak and is now roughly the same as the April 2004 index level. Today, the National Association of Realtors reported that in May, home prices rose, and sales are slowed slightly by tight supply levels.
According to Freddie Mac, the national average commitment rate for a 30-year, conventional, fixed-rate mortgage declined to a record low 3.80 percent in May from 3.91 percent in April; the rate was 4.64 percent in May 2011; recordkeeping began in 1971.
Meanwhile, banks are looking to alternatives to foreclosures that continue to punish home values, as seen in the reduced number of seizures, falling 18 percent between May 2011 and May 2012, according to RealtyTrac.

Call it a comeback?

Speaking to May’s data (one month ahead of FHFA data), the National Association of Realtors’ Chief Economist, Dr. Lawrence Yun said, “The recovery is occurring despite excessively tight credit conditions and higher downpayment requirements, which are negating the impact of record high affordability conditions.”
The FHFA monthly index is calculated using purchase prices of houses backing mortgages that have been sold to or guaranteed by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac. For the nine census divisions, seasonally adjusted monthly price changes from March to April ranged from -1.2 percent in the New England division to +2.2 percent in the Pacific division.

Home Values See Highest Monthly Increase Since 2006

Zillow issued a released Friday reporting that both national home values and rents rose in the month of April.

According to the April Zillow Real Estate Market Reports, national home values rose 0.7 percent in April to a Zillow Home Value Index of $147,300. This is the largest monthly increase in home values since January 2006, and it makes April the second month in a row in which home values climbed up.

Zillow also reported that rents rose from March to April, increasing by 1.6 percent, according to the Zillow Rent Index. Of the 178 markets covered by Zillow, 78 percent experienced a rise in rents.
The Miami-Fort Lauderdale and Phoenix metro areas saw the biggest increases in home values, rising 1.6 and 1.9 percent, respectively. Values continued to decrease in hard-hit markets like Atlanta, where home values fell 0.7 percent.
“The housing market continues to show positive signs, with home values increasing significantly in April,” said Dr. Stan Humphries, chief economist at Zillow. “The recovery is moving in the right direction, but we caution that negative equity will cast a long shadow over the housing market. With almost one-third of homeowners with mortgages underwater and unable to sell their homes, inventory is having a hard time keeping up with increasing demand in many areas. We’ll continue to watch this signal as increasing home values turn from a blip into a trend.”
Foreclosures also continued to decline in April, with 6.8 out of every 10,000 homes being foreclosed across the U.S. That figure was down from 8 out of every 10,000 in March.