Yesterday Tells The Story

Yesterday, Sunday January 27th, I held a condo open for inspection on the north end of Shore Acres in St. Petersburg.

My plan was to hold it open from 1 to 3 PM.

I did not advertise the open house in the newspaper.

I did not advertise it in the Multiple Listing Service.

I did not promote it with postcards on the community billboards.

I did not serve snacks and cold drinks.

I placed five "open house" signs up along the street directing passersby to turn in and visit.

That's it!

Before I could get out of my car in the parking lot, a man followed me onto the property, parked his car right behind me and asked if he could see the unit.  I unlocked the door and he looked around.

While he was looking around, two other groups of people knocked on the door and wanted to see the condo unit at the same time.

I still had not unloaded my info sheets and guest registry book!

In the next two hours I had at least twenty groups of people come through the condo.  Some were looking for themselves.  Some were looking on behalf of other family members.  Some drove away and came back with family members so they could see the unit themselves.  Some were investors.  Some were young.  Some were retired.

My plan to leave at 3 PM fell apart and I stayed until almost 4 PM showing the property.

By the time I got home, I was exhausted.

Here is my point: if there are that many people running around on the north end of Shore Acres -- which is hard to get to -- on a Sunday afternoon looking for real estate, what kind of property market do you think we have?  Pretty doggone active, I'd say. 

If you have property you think you want to sell, this is certainly the time to get it listed.  There is a shortage of high quality single family homes and condos on the market right now.  Prices are going up little by little.  Demand is high.  Mortgage rates are low.  People need homes. 

What are you waiting for?  List your property now!

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Is A New Housing Crisis On The Horizon?

As everyone who regularly reads this blog knows, the inventory of homes for sale in Pinellas County is at very low levels ... lowest in years.

Apparently this lack of inventory is not just a local problem, but one involving many regions of the country.

In the short run, this is good for sellers since scarcity drives prices upward.

Too much scarcity, however, can drive prices to the point where nobody can afford to buy the product.

That may be what the housing market is facing in a new sort of crisis.

I just heard a report on CNBC TV that echoes a worry that I have had for several months.  The report said that if this low inventory of homes continues through the winter and into the spring, the scarcity of homes for sale will drive prices up too fast.  Economists fear that home prices will rise faster than incomes, and will outstrip people's ability to purchase existing homes thus creating another housing crisis similar to the one experienced in recent years. 

Moreover, the report stated that homes in the million dollar and up category are selling quite fast, but home sales in the $100,000 and less class are slowing.  This is causing an artificial rise in the median selling price across the country which is making the average home owner believe his property is worth more today than it really is.  I guess this is causing a lot of people to ask more for their house than buyers are willing to pay, and this of course will cause an artificial slowdown in home sales volume until price adjustments are made.

My reaction is that people thinking about selling might be well advised to put their property on the market now.  Price it at true market value for today's market.  By spring, you will probably have cash in your hand and the property out of your hair.  If you wait, it may be more difficult to sell the property and heaven only knows where prices will be in May or June.  Heck, it might be trending toward a buyer's market again!

Happy Selling!

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December Real Estate Showed Small Gains In Pinellas

The month of December showed small gains in real estate in Pinellas County. 

The Absorption Rate (inventory turn) for single family homes moved up to 31.4% as compared to November's 29.4%.  This means it would take a little over 3 months to sell a property listed on the MLS in Pinellas County during December.

In January, 2012, the Absorption Rate was 14.5%.  So, it would have taken just under 7 months to sell a house listed then.  As you can see, things are indeed improving in the sale of single family homes.  More demand means faster inventory turns -- and that's what we all want!

The Absorption Rate for condominiums during December was 18.2%, as compared to 17.7% in November -- not much of an improvement.  Essentially, it will take about 5-1/2 months to sell a condo listed in December.  So, condos remain kinda sluggish.

Back in January of this year, the Absorption Rate for condos was 10.7%, meaning it would take about 9 months or so to sell.  Again, we are seeing improvements in the market, but slowly.

Single Family Homes

In December, the Pinellas Multiple Listing Service had 2,879 single family homes listed for sale.  This is virtually the same number of homes that were listed in November: 2,882.  In January of this year, there were 3,853 single family homes listed; that's about 30% more homes in inventory then than now.  Buyers need to keep this in mind -- fewer homes mean less selection and rising prices.

Sales of single family homes in December were 904, a nice jump compared to the 852 sales made in November.  By comparison, in January only 558 single family homes were sold.  So, you can see the sales of single family homes are heating up during the last 12 months in Pinellas County -- a sure sign of rising prices.

Proof of those rising prices can be seen in the median prices for single family homes.  In December of this year, the median stood at $140,000.  A year ago in December 2011 the median was $125,000.  That's an increase in median price of 12% comparing this December to December 2011.

Condominium Sales

Condominiums saw fairly good activity for December.  I guess it would best be described as nice and steady.

During December, a total of 3,207 condos were listed in Pinellas County's MLS.  This is just a bit fewer than were listed in November at 3,311 units.  During January of this year, there were 3,915 condos in the MLS.

Some 584 condos were sold in December as compared to 587 in November.  Like I said, nice and steady.  Still, that's an increase in sales as compared to January of this year when only 419 condos were sold.  So, it looks like condo sales increased by about 20% this year from where we started.  That's a good sign.

The median price on condos remained pretty flat in the past year.  In December of 2012, the median price was $90,000; in December of 2011 it was $87,900.  That's an increase of only 2.4% and it means that condo buyers still are not feeling pressed to raise their offers for the area's current condo units.  Perhaps condo prices will go up in 2013, but only if there is a shortage in supply.  Not much chance of that!

Like I said, small gains but gains nonetheless.  Seems like single family homes remain the hot button in Pinellas County real estate.

Happy Selling!

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The Ten Most Expensive Home Sales Of 2012

Drew Harwell of the Tampa Bay Times has written a story for today's newspaper detailing the ten most expensive homes sales of 2012.  Here's the list ...

1. Hulk Hogan's (Terry Bollea) former mansion on Willadel Drive in Belleair was sold for  $6,200,000.  17,145 square feet.
2. Joel Cantor's mansion on Baltic Circle on Davis Island, Tampa.  $5,200,000.  8,595 square feet.
3. Sold last September for $3,800,000 was a 9,786 square foot mansion in Villarreal De Avila in Tampa.
4. Located in Belleair Bluffs on Harbor View Lane, the #4 sale was for $3,500,000 for a 7,501 square foot home overlooking Belleair Causeway.
5. Our #5 sale was made for $3,400,000 on Exmoor Street near Palma Ceia Golf and Country Club.  9,533 square feet.  The buyer was Vincent Jackson of the Tampa Bay Bucs.
6. In May, a management firm from the British Virgin Islands purchased a home known as Villa Terracina, a 1925-built mansion on The Riviera Street in Tampa's Beach Park neighborhood.  $3,400,000 for 6,763 square feet.  I always like homes that have names -- even if I don't know what the name means.
7. The former home of Tampa eye surgeon Raymond Agia sold for $3,400,000 on Ladoga Avenue on Tampa's Davis Island.  5,676 square feet.  The house is scheduled to be torn down by the new owner who will rebuild.  Dr. Agia bought the house in 1974 for $93,500.  Nice return over time.
8. A Tampa Bay football player turned attorney, Brad Culpepper and his wife, bought a 6,109 square foot home on Bahama Circle on Davis Islands.  $3,300,000.
9. What do you know, Hulk Hogan bought a new house!  This time it is on Eldorado Avenue on Clearwater Beach.  5,400 square feet.  $3,300,000.  The Hulkster went from the largest to the smallest home on the list, but it's still posh, posh, posh.
10. Finally, we go to Saint Croix Drive in Tampa's Culbreath Isles.  This 6,500 square foot mansion was purchased by Philadelphia Phillies shortstop Jimmy Rollins for $3,000,000. 

So, what does this tell us?  First, there are people around here with plenty of money.  Second, you can't help but notice that none of these homes were located in places like Snell Isle, Tierra Verde, Old Northeast, Maximo or any other location famous for high dollar homes in St. Petersburg or St. Pete Beach.  Perhaps it was just a bad year in St. Pete for high priced homes.

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Congress Includes Real Estate Actions In Fiscal Cliff Bill

The Senate and House of Representatives have included a number of beneficial actions for real estate in the bill signed to avert the fiscal cliff.  Included in the bill are ...

• Mortgage Forgiveness Debt Relief Act.  This act was extended to January 1, 2014.  The act provides a tax break for homeowners facing financial hardship brought about by foreclosure and short sale.
• Deduction for mortgage insurance premiums for those making below $110,000 annually.  This was extended through 2013 and made retroactive to cover all of 2012.
• A 15-year straight line cost recovery for qualified leasehold improvements on commercial property was extended through 2013 and made retroactive for all of 2012.
• The 10% tax credit (limited to $500) for homeowners for energy efficient improvements to existing homes was extended through 2013 and made retroactive to 2012.
• The capital gains rate will remain at 15% for those earning less than $400,000 annually and couples earning less than $450,000 yearly.  Gains above these amounts will be taxed at 20%.  Additionally, the $250,000/$500,000 exclusion for the sale of a principle residence remains.

Nothing like waiting until the last minute.

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