Big Changes In Condo Law For 2010

The Florida Legislature has made some big changes in the law affecting condominium, cooperatives and homeowners' associations. I can't get into all of it in this blog, but I do want to point out a few of the changes just in case you find yourself sitting on the Board of Directors of one of these organizations.

• Changes were made to give associations greater rights to amend their documents in regard to the rental restrictions which may be imposed on existing owners. Apparently from this point forward, the only amendments involving rental which cannot be applied to existing owners are those which prohibit owners from renting their units, alter the duration of the rental term, or specify or limit the number of times owners can rent their unit during a specified period.
• A revised section of the law now states that if a Board member's term expires and there are fewer candidates for the Board than there are vacancies, the Board member would be "eligible" for re-appointment to the Board. The old law made the Board member's re-appointment "automatic".
• A member of the Board who is more than 90 days delinquent regarding any monetary obligation due to the association shall be deemed to have abandoned his Board membership.
• If a unit is occupied by a tenant, and the unit owner is delinquent in paying the association fees etc., the association may demand that the tenant pay rent directly to the association until the back payments are brought up to date. This can now be accomplished simply by a written notice to the tenant. If the tenant fails to pay rent to the association, the association can now evict the tenant.
• If an owner is more than 90 days delinquent in funds owed to the association, the association can suspend his use rights for common elements and amenities until the fees are brought up to date. Further, if the owner is more than 90 days delinquent, his voting rights can now be suspended until the debt is paid.

There are several pages more of changes to the law for 2010, and I just don't have space in this blog to summarize all of them. If anybody needs to review them -- and if you are on a condo Board I suggest you do read them -- please e-mail me and I'll see to it that you get a summary sheet.

Oh, by the way, before you act on any of these legal changes, be sure you check with your attorney or with your association's legal consultant. I'm not an attorney and do not give out legal advise.

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Real Estate Market Holds Its Own For June

Despite a ho-hum economy and the recent end of tax incentives for buyers, the real estate market in Tampa Bay held its own pretty well for June.

The Absorption Rate, calculated by dividing the number of units sold in June by the number of total listings, was the best in four years for single family homes and condominiums.

The AR for June 2010 advanced to 12.4%. For June of 2009 it was 11.1%; 7.3% for 2009; and 7.5% for 2007. So, we're seeing improvements year over year.

For condos, the AR for June was 7.9%. It was 7.0% for 2009; 4.5% for 2008; and 4.0% for 2007.

Listings increased during June. Some 6,479 homes were listed in the MLS in June while in May there were 6,270 homes in the MLS. This means there is still plenty of inventory in the market and buyers should be able to find that "dream" home from among the available properties.

Sales increased in June as compared to May, but only a little. MLS reported 802 sales in June as compared to 786 in May.

The median price of a single family home in Pinellas County dropped to $144,800 in June as compared to $146,500 in June of 2009; that's a decrease in median price of 1.2% year over year. That's pretty good and shows some stability in the marketplace.

Condominiums were pretty flat for June, but that's to be expected since summer has historically been the slow season for condo sales.

Condo listings decreased from 5,375 units in May to 5,344 in June. That's not a significant reduction in inventory and there are still plenty of condo from which buyers can select.

Condo sales also decreased from May to June. MLS shows 489 condo sales in May, but only 424 in June. Like I said, condo sales slow down in the summer.

The median price for a condo in June of 2009 was $138,500. That figure fell about 17% in June of 2010 to only $115,000. That's a significant loss in just a one year period and probably reflects the fact that condo buyers are hammering out better deals for units than in the past.

All in all, June was a pretty flat month for real estate sales. Just kinda of a ho-hum month.

Happy selling!

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Prices Have Not "Bottomed-Out" In Tampa Bay

Although statistics indicate that Tampa Bay's real estate price decline has slowed during the past year, new information from Zillow.com shows that prices continue to fall here.

According to information released today and reported in the St. Petersburg Times, average home prices in Tampa Bay fell another 10.2-percent during the past twelve months. Zillow said that nationally, average home prices are down only 3.8-percent for the past year. Additionally, Zillow reports that Tampa Bay home prices fell 0.8-percent from April to May versus a 0.4-percent drop nationally. Home values have crashed some 46-percent from their peak in 2006.

The Zillow report spotlighted Tampa Bay as among the worst performing real estate markets. Included in that spotlight are the cities of Detroit, Las Vegas, Orlando, Miami and Phoenix. Zillow's chief economist, Stan Humphries, wrote in a blog site that he expects a continuing decline in home prices until later this year due primarily to high unemployment and the end of home-buyer tax credits.

So, when will we see improvements in pricing?

Well, if Humphries is correct we might see prices continue to decline into 2011. Why? First of all the government has indicated that Congress has no plans to renew the home-buyer tax credit program that stimulated home sales in the first quarter of this year. Second, the so-called economic recovery has failed to produce meaningful employment increases. So if these are the two things that will increase sales and improve real estate prices, it frankly looks pretty grim.

Let's hope there are other factors that can stimulate a recovery in the real estate market in Tampa Bay and across the country.

In the meantime, if you are selling a property it would be wise to position your price to reflect the current economic reality.

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Flood Insurance Extended

The United States Congress has finally given yet another 3-month extension to the National Flood Insurance Program. So now, thousands of property sales where closings have been in limbo can be finalized.

This is only a temporary fix. The funding for the program will expire again in three months, and Congress will once again have to put together some kind of legislative package to renew the funding for this much needed program.

Historically, funding this program has always been tied to some other funding program -- like an extension of unemployment benefits or some restructuring of the budget.

Given that this is a much needed program, isn't it time that funding for it be made a permanent item in the United States budget? This quarterly game of cat-n-mouse with flood insurance slows down real estate sales and makes prospective buyers more nervous than they need to be.

The National Association of Realtors is supposed to be one of Washington's most powerful lobby groups. Isn't it time they had a few conversations about permanent financing for flood insurance with the powers that be in DC? Let's get permanent funding for the National Flood Insurance Program.

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Home Sales Fall In May

This just in. Pending real estate sales in May plunged 30% from April nationwide according to the National Association of Realtors.

So, if the big question was what would real estate do once the tax credit ended, I think we're beginning to get the answer. Pretty ugly.

Gurus say home sales will continue to fall during the second half of this year unless there is big, positive movement in employment. Employment figures for the month are due out Friday -- and early indications are that they will be disappointing.

Nuts!

Happy Selling!

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