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2010-03-09T14:41:00.001-05:00

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Tax credit has Realtors' phones ringing as deadline looms

2010-03-09T08:00:00.001-05:00

Real estate agents say their phones are ringing a lot more in recent weeks as folks scurry to sell and or buy homes before next month's tax credit deadline. To qualify for the credit, buyers must have fully executed sales contracts in place by April 30 and the deal must close by June 30. First-time home buyers are eligible for up to $8,000. Buyers who have owned a home for five consecutive years within the past eight years can get a credit of up to $6,500. Tampa Bay area sales prices have plummeted more than 40 percent since the peak of the housing boom. Home sales in Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater rose 28 percent in the fourth quarter of 2009, and the median sales price hit $138,800. That's down 42 percent since prices peaked at $239,600 in June 2006.

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Mortgage Rates to Stay Low, Goldman Predicts

2010-03-09T07:57:00.002-05:00

Investment bank Goldman Sachs recently predicted that mortgage rates won’t rise much when the Federal Reserve ends its purchases of mortgage-backed securities at the end of March. Part of the reason is that demand for mortgages is low, says Goldman analyst Sven Jari Stehn. What would drive up mortgage rates, he says, is a decision by the Fed to sell the mortgage backs it holds, but that isn’t likely to happen anytime soon, he believes.

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The Future of Home-Price Appreciation

2010-03-08T09:58:00.002-05:00

After its historic decline brought the global economy to its knees, the U.S. housing market is gearing up for a long-awaited recovery. Real estate experts expect home prices to hit bottom in late 2010 or early 2011 before--finally!--heading north again. But what shape will the rebound take? Are we in for another boom? Or will we have to settle for sluggish growth? Here's the outlook for home price appreciation through 2020.

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Foreclosed Borrowers May Get Loans Again

2010-03-06T09:36:00.001-05:00

Will people who currently face foreclosure or short sales or who walk away from their underwater properties ever be able to get financing to buy another home down the road? Banks haven’t been very forthcoming on this issue. However, knowledgeable observers of the situation say that while it may take some time, the situation will right itself for most people. Because bankrupt borrowers have eliminated their debts, they should "constitute attractive fodder for mortgage lenders," says University of Michigan law professor John Pottow, whose specialty is bankruptcy. As home prices and the mortgage market stabilize, lenders will be motivated to lend to people who previously had financial troubles if they look like they can pay the next time around, says Alan Riegler, a consultant with CCG Catalyst, which advises banks.

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Low Rates Help Make Home Buying More Affordable

2010-03-05T08:04:00.000-05:00

The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) averaged 4.97 percent with an average 0.7 point for the week ending March 4, 2010, down from last week when it averaged 5.05 percent. Last year at this time, the 30-year FRM averaged 5.15 percent.

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Buyers Who Wait May Lose a Lot

2010-03-03T07:39:00.002-05:00

Potential home buyers who delay have a lot to lose. First-time home buyer and move-up tax credits worth $8,000 and $6,500, respectively, expire April 30. Buyers who qualify get a dollar-for-dollar reduction in taxes or a cash payment if they don’t pay enough taxes to cover the credit. Other factors that should spur buyers: Low mortgage rates. If the Federal Reserve stops buying mortgage-backed securities at the end of March, 30-year rates will almost certainly rise to more than 6 percent. Rising prices. About 30 percent of markets are already experiencing price increases. Prices are falling in 12 percent of markets, says Fiserv (but that only helps if you want to live there).

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After one-year blip, Florida's population to grow again

2010-03-02T11:40:00.001-05:00

Florida's population should rebound this year from its first loss in more than half a century, according to new estimates from the University of Florida. The state is expected to add about 23,000 residents between April 1, 2009, and April 1, 2010, following a loss of almost 57,000 residents the previous year, UF's Bureau of Economic and Business Research reported Tuesday. Last year's population drop startled a state used to steady, and sometimes explosive, growth since World War II. Researchers say that appears to have been just a one-year blip. "Based on changes in electric customer data, we believe Florida's population has increased slightly over the past year," said bureau director Stan Smith who led the research. "This may be an indication the state's economy is no longer declining at the rate it had been before."

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Move-Up Tax Credit Having Little Impact

2010-03-01T14:45:00.001-05:00

The $6,500 move-up tax credit isn’t significant enough to have much of an impact on the housing crisis, housing experts say. The percentage of current home owners who are considering buying was unchanged from January, a traditional slow month, to February, when business is usually better, according to a poll of 1,500 real estate agents by Campbell Communications and Inside Mortgage Finance. "You've got a really big problem that requires big guns, and the tax credit is just not big enough," says Roberton Williams, senior fellow at the Tax Policy Center in Washington. The credit "is hardly registering on the economic Richter scale," says Patrick Newport, an economist with IHS Global Insight.

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Tampa Area Sees First Median Home Sales Price Increase Since 2006

2010-02-28T09:39:00.006-05:00

For the first time since 2006, the median home sales price in the Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater MSA increased. The existing home median sales price was $125,600; a year ago, it was $122,400 for a 3 percent increase. A total of 1,603 homes sold in January compared to 1,573 homes a year ago for a 2 percent increase. In the year-to-year comparison for the existing condo market, a total of 574 units sold in the MSA last month, up 85% from a year ago when 310 condos sold. The market’s existing condo median price was $100,000; a year ago, it was $108,600 for a 8 percent decrease.

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US New-Home Sales Hit Record Low

2010-02-25T16:57:00.000-05:00

Sales of new homes declined 11 percent in January from December to the lowest level since the U.S. began keeping records in 1963, according to a report from the U.S. Commerce Department released Wednesday. Sales dropped to an annual pace of 309,000 with the median price falling to $203,500 in January, the lowest since December 2003. At the current sales rate, there is a 9.1 months' inventory of new homes. New home purchases are 6 percent of the housing market.

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One in two homes in Tampa area underwater

2010-02-24T07:16:00.002-05:00

Nearly half the homes in the Tampa-St. Petersburg market are financially underwater, or upside down, according to a new report from First American CoreLogic. The latest statistics show that 332,968 homes, or 48.5 percent in the Greater Tampa area, were in negative equity during the fourth quarter. Another 28,182, or 4.1 percent, were near negative equity in the market. That is in-line with Florida as a whole, which reported 48 percent negative equity, behind only Nevada with 70 percent underwater and Arizona with 51 percent upside down. Florida had the second-highest number of underwater mortgages at 2.2 million, behind California with 2.4 million.

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US home prices rise 0.3 percent in December

2010-02-23T09:42:00.002-05:00

Home prices rose for the seventh straight month in December, a sign of price stability as the U.S. housing market continues its bumpy road to recovery. The Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller 20-city home price index released Tuesday rose 0.3 percent from November to December, to a seasonally adjusted reading of 145.87. The index was off 3.1 percent from December last year, nearly matching analysts' estimates that it would fall by 3.2 percent. Only five of 20 cities in the index showed declines from November to December. The index is now up more than 3 percent from its bottom in May, but still 30 percent below its May 2006 peak. Los Angeles and Phoenix posted the largest price increases. The worst performer was Chicago with a 0.6 percent decline.

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Could the Tax Credit Be Extended Again?

2010-02-23T08:26:00.000-05:00

The pressure is increasing on Congress to renew the homebuyer tax credits for a third time. The first $7,500 tax credit was passed in 2008 and required first-time buyers to repay the credit over 15 years. A few months later in 2009, Congress expanded the credit to a maximum of $8,000 that didn’t have to be paid back. At the end of last year, Congress extended the benefit again until April 30 with an extra two months on top of that to close. A new credit of $6,500 was added for move-up buyers, too. Now representatives of the housing industry are lobbying for another extension. Some experts, including Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody’s Economy.com, who supported the earlier credits, think the time has come to let it go. “It’s worn out its benefit,” he says. “If you extend it again, it isn’t going to do much, and what you’re doing is providing a tax break to folks who bought anyway.”

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IRS Clarifies What's Needed to Claim Tax Credit

2010-02-23T08:24:00.001-05:00

The Internal Revenue Service has clarified which documentation taxpayers need to submit to claim the first-time and move-up homebuyer tax credit. While the IRS is still requiring the filing of Form 5405, it is not demanding that all parties’ signatures be on the HUD-1 settlement document in areas where requiring both the buyer and the seller to sign the document isn’t common. The IRS clarification says: "In areas where signatures are not required on the settlement document, the IRS has clarified that it will accept a settlement statement if it is completed and valid according to local law. … The IRS encourages those buyers to sign the settlement statement prior to attaching it to the tax return.” For repeat buyers, the IRS is seeking documentation that home buyers have lived in the previous property for a consecutive five of the past eight years. Proof can include property tax records, home owner insurance records, or mortgage interest statements.

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Mortgage delinquencies decrease

2010-02-21T12:10:00.000-05:00

The number of borrowers falling behind on their mortgage payments dropped sharply at the end of last year, a sign the foreclosure crisis is beginning to ebb. The Mortgage Bankers Association said Friday that the percentage of borrowers who missed just one payment on their home loans fell to 3.6 percent in the October to December quarter, down from 3.8 percent in the third quarter. The decline was even more surprising because delinquencies usually rise at that time of year because of higher heating bills and holiday spending. The new trend in late payments is significant because it means the number of people going into foreclosure should continue to decline this year. And that is important for all homeowners in areas where cheaply priced foreclosures are bringing down neighboring values. In high-foreclosure cities like Las Vegas, Phoenix and Miami, for example, homes have lost roughly half their values from their peaks. Friday's report, however, showed Nevada, Arizona and Florida had some of the biggest declines in new delinquencies.

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Citizens Insurance Policies Found To Be Lopsided

2010-02-20T09:11:00.003-05:00

Recent policyholder inspections by Citizens Property Insurance Corp. found that some homeowners are getting more of a discount for fortifying their homes than they are eligible for. The state-backed insurer looked at 452 policyholders. Of those, 311 homeowners - more than two-thirds - were receiving more than they are owed, while 39 aren't getting enough, the insurer said this week. Citizens spokeswoman Christine Turner Ashburn said that policyholders who owe more will be told they can fortify their homes to receive the discounts or their premiums will rise. Ashburn says the company is trying to be fair. All Florida home insurance policyholders pay fees to offset Citizens' deficits from previous hurricanes.

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Short sale deals increasingly requiring bank paybacks

2010-02-19T12:49:00.002-05:00

With so many distressed homeowners owing more than their homes are worth, short sales have become life lines. These types of sales make up more than half of the homes on the market in Tampa Bay. Generally, this means the mortgage lender has agreed to allow the home to sell for market value. The lender writes off the rest of the debt, and the homeowner walks away. But is it really this simple? Lenders are increasingly adding language to the approval package, reserving the right to pursue the deficiency amount later, that is, the difference between what you owed on the house and what it sold for. Some homeowners, so anxious to get out of a pending foreclosure, skip right over that part of the letter. Some understand, but opt to take their chances, betting they won't hear from the lender again.

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CoreLogic: Home price declines improving around Tampa

2010-02-19T12:47:00.000-05:00

Home prices are still declining in the Greater Tampa-St. Petersburg metropolitan area, but the rate is slowing. A new report from First American CoreLogic shows home prices, including distressed sales, were down 11.8 percent in December, slightly worse than the rest of Florida but better than its year-over-year declines in November that topped 13 percent. When distressed sales were removed, annual price declines in the market were 11.3 percent, compared with 12.5 percent the year before. It was a better story nationally where home prices dropped just 3.7 percent in December, compared with a 5.3 percent decline the year before.

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Mortgage Rates Hover Near Record Lows

2010-02-19T07:12:00.001-05:00

The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) averaged 4.93 percent with an average 0.7 point for the week ending February 18, 2010, down from last week when it averaged 4.97 percent. Last year at this time, the 30-year FRM averaged 5.04 percent.

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State recovery will be slow, analyst says

2010-02-18T09:36:00.001-05:00

Housing prices aren't likely to fall much further, but mortgage interest rates are about to start rising, according to well-known Florida economist Hank Fishkind. Interest rates, which are still in the 4 percent range, could be 8 percent or higher by early 2012, Fishkind said Wednesday during a meeting of the Bay Area Real Estate Council. The area is out of the recession, although the recovery will be slow.

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The Mortgage Forgiveness Debt Relief Act and Debt Cancellation

2010-02-17T13:29:00.000-05:00

If you owe a debt to someone else and they cancel or forgive that debt, the canceled amount may be taxable. The Mortgage Debt Relief Act of 2007 generally allows taxpayers to exclude income from the discharge of debt on their principal residence. Debt reduced through mortgage restructuring, as well as mortgage debt forgiven in connection with a foreclosure, qualifies for the relief. This provision applies to debt forgiven in calendar years 2007 through 2012. Up to $2 million of forgiven debt is eligible for this exclusion ($1 million if married filing separately). The exclusion does not apply if the discharge is due to services performed for the lender or any other reason not directly related to a decline in the home’s value or the taxpayer’s financial condition. More information, including detailed examples can be found in Publication 4681, Canceled Debts, Foreclosures, Repossessions, and Abandonments.

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Housing bargains abound, but try closing the deal quickly

2010-02-17T08:36:00.001-05:00

Matt and Brenda Wehrly can't wait to move out of their cramped apartment and into their first home. The couple, expecting their second child, plan to close on a 3-bedroom home in Gibsonton this month. The house sold in late 2005 for $222,800, and the Wehrlys are ecstatic about their contract to snatch it up for $97,000. Sweetening the pot even more, the couple will be eligible for an $8,000 federal tax credit. "We wanted to buy something that would allow us to live on one income," said Brenda Wehrly, who plans to eventually stay at home with her children. "We wouldn't have been able to do that a few years ago." Tampa Bay sales prices have plummeted more than 40 percent since the peak of the housing boom in 2006. That, coupled with federal tax incentives, is motivating buyers like the Wehrlys to get off the fence and purchase a home. This, real estate professionals say, has given a needed boost to Tampa Bay's struggling housing market.

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Tampa Ranked As Worst American City For Commuters

2010-02-16T14:25:00.001-05:00

Forbes Magazine ranks Tampa as the worst American city for commuters. You've got to be kidding me.

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State erects foreclosure hurdle

2010-02-16T14:15:00.002-05:00

The Florida Supreme Court continues to make it more difficult for lenders to foreclose in the Sunshine State. The court says lenders now are required to verify they own loans before they file a foreclosure lawsuit. And, according to the court order, lenders no longer can charge the homeowner for that investigation. This comes after a court order in late December that requires lenders to offer owners of primary residences a chance to negotiate with a third-party mediator before moving forward with foreclosure. Florida has the nation's fourth-highest foreclosure rate, and the court estimates about 456,000 foreclosure cases are clogging the state's court system. The new rules are an effort to help the courts better manage foreclosure cases and make sure lenders have tried to modify loans before taking back homes. The rules and corresponding legal forms were proposed by a pair of Florida Bar panels.

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