September home sale numbers were just over 15,000, a 7% decrease from August sales but up 10% year over year. Part of the month to month decline could be attributed to seasonality, many home buyers want to buy and close before the start of the new school year and often try go to contract and close by August.
When its all said and done the important stat to look at is the year over year number, which is a clear indication the the market is improving. According to National Association of Realtors (NAR) Chief economist Dr. John Tuccillo "One of the most overlooked statistical trends in all of real estate is the growth in home sales, both single family and condo, in the state of Florida" He continued "We've seen an upward trend in sales since January 2011. Even prices, which have been static over the past few months, are well above where they were in January 2011."
Further " fifteen of Florida's metropolitan statisical areas reported higher existing home sales in September, eleven had higher existing condo sales."
Florida's year over year comparison for condo sales, 6666 units sold statewide in September, a 10 percent gain over the units sold in September of last year. Statewide the existing condo median sales price increased 7 percent over this same time last year.
So as I have pointed out in previous posts the Florida real estate market is definitely improving. To make matters even better as opposed to worse, consider that private lenders are starting to work on remedies which will help stem the tide of distressed homes flooding our market.
One program offers buyers approaching or already in default of their mortgage a cash incentive to vacate the premises. This incentive can range anywhere from $5,000 to $35,000 and is working, owners are taking the money and leaving sooner rather then later. As a result these homes are found to be in better shape then usual, need less repair and can be quickly resold at higher prices then in the past.
Another program offered to Florida home owners, has been accepted by almost 80% of those eligible with only about 3% default rate, it's been a great success. It provides the owner with a new first loan that they can afford to pay and the difference between the new first mortgage and then old mortgage is set aside, and will be totally forgiven if the owners keep up their payments on the new loan for a minimum of three years. An interesting twist to this program is when the buyers sell their home and realize a profit their lender will be entitled to receive 5% of the profit, seems a fair trade off and the success of the program proves it.
Both of these programs end up saving the lenders money as well as, help preserve home values, help some owners start over by providing much needed cash and provide others with a new affordable loan so they can remain in their home. This is a win win for both lender and homeowner, we have to hope more lenders get on board and adopt in some form these very successful programs.
