Florida Real Estate, Tourism and Immigration News

BRITISH HOMES GROUP

April 30, 2010

From today’s Orlando Sentinel…

University of Florida survey: Florida’s real estate has bottomed out

Are things about to turn around for real-estate properties both private and commercial, such as in downtown Orlando? According to 1 study, that is a real possibility even if it is far from a certainty at this point.
 
Florida real estate has hit bottom and is in the process of stabilizing, according to results of a quarterly survey by the University of Florida.

Private capital – both foreign and domestic – continues to enter the state in search of high-quality investments, said Timothy Becker, director of UF’s Bergstrom Center for Real Estate Studies. As banks start to deal with their problem assets, more deals will come to market, he added.

Also, life insurance companies have started to reinvest in commercial properties after backing off for the past year and a half. Because those companies invest premiums from customers’ policies, they are not deterred by the lack of available bank financing, he said.

While most of the real estate professionals surveyed predicted the market probably won’t get any worse, few said it has actually begun to improve, Becker noted. “One of our respondents summed it up by stating that, ‘If anything, we will get less bad,’ ” he said.

“So if they think things aren’t going to get worse and they may actually get better, it follows that they’re going to want to start investing again,” he said.

While South Florida is one of the state’s strongest areas with its diverse economy, steady migration and influx of foreign capital, Orlando, Tampa and Jacksonville are also picking up.

“Florida’s big cities – those four areas – are less bad off than the rest of the state, and they’re going to be quicker to recover than other places,” Becker said.

The retail and office markets are in the worst shape and will likely continue to struggle until job growth improves and frees up more discretionary spending by consumers, the survey concluded.

Apartments continue to be the strongest sector in the state because of high demand from people moving out of foreclosed homes, Becker said.

Statewide, Florida’s new-home market will continue to be slow as more and more foreclosures become available on the existing-home market, Becker said. “That competition makes it very difficult for new homes to get built and purchased, because buyers can often get an equal or nicer home for a much cheaper price on the foreclosure market,” he said.

The report is more optimistic than some recent economic forecasts, which have predicted the market may further soften through at least the end of the year.

David Stiff, chief economist for Wisconsin-based Fiserv Inc, predicted in March that Orlando residential prices would fall by double-digit percentages through the third quarter and then increase by less than 2 percent from late 2010 until late 2011. Fiserv’s report predicts that housing prices in Florida will fall in all 22 of its largest markets, with prices in Miami falling by one-third through the third quarter of this year.

Mary Shanklin can be reached at mshanklin@orlandosentinel.com or 407-420-5538.
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Thank you for your business – please tell your friends!

Sincerely,

Bill Cowie  President

www.BritishHomesGroup.com

Kissimmee Office: 407 396 9914

Member: British-American Chamber of Commerce

Our Email Address: Info@BritishHomesGroup.com

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March 22, 2010

From today’s USA Today:

Investors with cash are buying US houses

By Stephanie Armour, USA TODAY

More home buyers are snapping up properties with cash, a trend driven in large part by investors returning to the market after four years of falling prices around the country.
The share of home sales involving all-cash transactions was 26% in January, up from 18% a year earlier, according to the National Association of Realtors. The figures come from a survey of members about their most recent transactions. Many home buyers also are paying cash, but investors are largely using cash so they can avoid paying interest charges on loans and get a larger return on their investment.

Other NAR data also show a pickup in investment activity.

Home purchases made by buyers identified as investors climbed to 17% in January, up from 15% in December and 12% in November.

“We bottomed out in 2008, and in late 2009, prices stabilized and investors have returned,” says Mark Fleming, chief economist at First American CoreLogic. “It’s a different type of investor going after foreclosed properties and expecting to hold on for longer time frames.”

Many investors say they’re financing their purchases with cash on hand, rather than borrowing.

Evan Spinrod of San Francisco bought three rental properties in November and February and now owns 21 in four states. The rent he collects gives him an 8.5% annual return on his investment. Some of his homes are worth about $165,000. “I’m still looking,” Spinrod says. “You can’t build these houses for the prices they’re selling them. I’ve always seen that the real wealth was in real estate. People have been sitting on cash, and there’s no interest from the bank (to pay).”

Leonard Baron, a real estate professor at San Diego State University, has bought three homes with cash in the San Diego area in the past eight months, ranging in price from $100,000 to $130,000. He rents the properties.

Baron says now is an ideal time to make such purchases. “It’s because prices have dropped so much and rents really haven’t,” he says. “The deals were unbelievable.”

Some Realtors also say they’re seeing increased investor activity.

“Flippers, rehabbers, investors … are, in fact, buying,” says Lisa Johnson, with Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage in Haverhill, Mass. “I’m getting builders who have stopped building and are instead buying up condos and single-family homes to fix them up and sell them. It’s a neat change I haven’t seen in four years.”

All-cash purchases also reflect a growing number of investors buying higher-end properties without credit, says NAR spokesman Walter Molony. That’s a sign that some investors see real estate prices as having nowhere to go but up. All-cash offers give buyers a competitive edge on rival offers – even higher ones – that are dependent on financing. Cash deals can close faster and are less likely to fall through.

“You have to have cash to be able to close quickly and have negotiating power. Cash is king,” says Tanya Marchiol, president of Phoenix-based Team Investments, which buys about 70 properties a month with cash it raises from investors. “We do want to flip it or generate cash flow (through renting it out). Now is the time to buy for cash flow. We know the market is going to rebound.”

Some investors say the current real estate market is an ideal time to buy because homes are so low priced, they are bound to hold their value.

That’s the philosophy of Jim McClelland of Tinley Park, Ill.

He is buying about 120 to 150 entry-level homes in the Chicago area this year and owns a total of about 300 properties.

He says now is a good time to buy because properties going into foreclosure are no longer just one-bedroom, fixer-uppers but nicer, split-level brick homes with more bedrooms that will probably appreciate to a higher value.

That’s because so many prime-rate borrowers who bought more expensive homes have gone into foreclosure.

He puts about $60,000 into upgrading a property, then rents it out.

“Do I think this year will be a better time to invest than in 2009? Yes,” McClelland says. “There have always been foreclosures. The difference now is you get a better home for the same kind of money. You’re sitting on better inventory. People get into real estate for financial independence. It’s not a quick fix. It appreciates. It doesn’t happen overnight.”

For more information contact info@britishhomesgroup.com or Telephone (407) 396-9914
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Thank you again for your business.

Sincerely,

Bill Cowie  Director
www.BritishHomesGroup.com
Orlando, Florida

According to the latest numbers from Visit Florida, the state’s publicly subsidized tourism-advertising agency, an estimated 80.3 million people visited Florida in 2009.

These are initial counts and show a slight drop of just 0.8 percent from 2008.

2010 could be different, but the last two years have remained strong despite the general world-wide economic conditions. Visit Florida reported that visitors are spending less while here but this creates a silver lining for short term rental owners as more visitors opt for rental homes over hotels.

Other Visit Florida statistics;

* 18.1 million people came to the Sunshine State during the fourth quarter of 2009.

* About 20 million visited in the 3rd quarter of 2009

* They (Visit Florida) also began using a new methodology to count visitors and revised its original total for 2008 from 82.5 million visitors to 80.9 million – still just an incredible amount of visitors when you think about it.

If you already own a home here and you are considering short or long term renting the home, or if you are considering buying a home (anywhere in Florida) please use one of our contact options below – The British Homes Group

We are located on the NW Corner of 535 and US highway 192 above the Edwin Watts Golf Shop and across the road from the Publix super market. Please feel free to visit anytime Monday through Friday, 9 – 5pm.

Our local number is: (+1) 407 396 9914

Our Email Address: Info@BritishHomesGroup.com

Quick Contact Request

 http://www.britishhomesgroup.com/contactus.php

Customised Property Search Request

http://www.britishhomesgroup.com/floridaproperty.php

We thought that you might be interested in the following US magazine extract discussing the US property market this coming year:

10 Things to Know About Real Estate in 2010

by Luke Mullins
Tuesday, December 29, 2009

Is 2010 the year to buy a house? It certainly looks that way: After a steep run-up in prices during the first half of the decade, home values have plummeted back to 2003 levels. Fixed mortgage rates are sitting near record lows. And the foreclosure epidemic–while painful for many home owners–has created some wonderful opportunities for bargain hunters. If that’s not enough, Uncle Sam is handing out thousands of dollars in tax credits to nearly all first-time buyers and the bulk of existing home owners who close a purchase by June.

But while the 2010 outlook appears inviting, there’s one key catch. “You need to have a stable job,” says Mark Zandi, the chief economist of Moody’s Economy.com. The economy is showing signs of life, but the unemployment rate is already at 10 percent and expected to go higher. And while those mortgage rates are attractive, buying a house makes sense only if you can bank on your income stream. So before you consider purchasing a home, take a hard look at your job, your company, and your industry.

That said, here are 10 things to know about real estate in 2010:

1. Prices to bottom: After more than three years of falling, real estate values have shown signs of stabilization in recent months. At the national level, home prices slid nearly 9 percent between the third quarter of 2008 and the same period this year, according to the S&P/Case-Shiller home price report. That’s a notable improvement from the second quarter’s nearly 15 percent annual drop and the first quarter’s 19 percent decline. This improvement will give way to a bottom in home prices–finally!–in 2010, but not before additional declines, Zandi says. Zandi projects home prices will hit bottom in the third quarter of 2010 after logging a peak-to-trough decline of roughly 37 percent, based on the S&P/Case-Shiller national home price index. “That means we’ve got another roughly 10 percent [decline] to go,” Zandi says.

2. Mortgage delinquencies up: Amid falling home prices and a nasty labor market, roughly 1 in every 7 mortgages was either past due or in foreclosure by the end of the third quarter–the highest delinquency rate in the 37-year history of the Mortgage Bankers Association’s National Delinquency Survey. Two factors are expected to drive delinquencies even higher next year. First, nearly 1 in 4 homeowners currently owes more on their mortgage than the property is worth, which increases their odds of default. And secondly, the national unemployment rate–which already stands at 10 percent–will peak at about 10.5 percent in the first quarter of 2010, says Patrick Newport, an economist at IHS Global Insight. Additional job losses mean more borrowers won’t be able to pay their mortgage bills. “The [delinquency] rate is going to stay up there for quite a while because the job market is going to be really weak for a while,” Newport says.

3. Foreclosures move upstream: The number of foreclosure sales will increase to about 1.9 million in 2010, according to Moody’s Economy.com. And while we’ve already seen a growing number of more expensive homes heading into foreclosure, Heather Fernandez, vice president of marketing at the real estate search engine Trulia, expects the trend to pick up steam next year. (Trulia is a U.S. News partner.) “We are poised in 2010 to see a surge of foreclosures from prime borrowers. Hundreds of billions of dollars in option [adjustable rate] mortgages are set to be recast” next year, Fernandez says. Option adjustable rate mortgages allow borrowers to make lower monthly payments for an initial period, after which the payments adjust–or “recast”–higher. For some borrowers, the new payments can be more than twice their initial payments. Combined with other factors, like the loss of a job, a recasting option adjustable rate mortgage can make borrowers more likely to default. “These are [properties] at higher price points [and] potentially in more desirable neighborhoods,” Fernandez says.

4. Mortgage rates to rise: Anyone who purchased a home in 2009 was presented with some extremely attractive mortgage rates. Rates on 30-year, fixed mortgages fell to an average of 4.88 percent in November, down sharply from 6.09 a year earlier. A key factor behind the plunge was a Federal Reserve program, first announced in November of 2008, that purchased debt and mortgage-backed securities from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. But the program is slated to expire at the end of the first quarter, and if private investors don’t step up, fixed mortgage rates could jump. (The Fed, of course, could always decide to extend the program.) The unwinding of this Fed program, the improving economy, and mounting concern over government deficits could push rates on 30-year, fixed mortgages to roughly 5.5 percent by mid-2010 and close to 6 percent by the end of the year, says Mike Larson of Weiss Research. “Almost all signs to me point higher,” Larson says.

5. Buyer’s market remains: With prices still falling, mortgage rates remaining historically attractive, and additional homes hitting the market in the form of foreclosures, the dynamics of the real estate market will continue to favor buyers over sellers in 2010. That means those looking to buy a home next year should not feel pressured to act impulsively. “You don’t need to have a sense of urgency, but understand that as time progresses the balance of power as we get into 2010 is going to slowly but surely shift away from [buyers],” Larson says. “It is not going to be a strong seller’s market, but it will be more evenly distributed as the year goes on.” Data from the real estate firm Zillow show that home buyers are already losing the leverage they once enjoyed. While home buyers landed a median discount of 4.6 percent off listing prices in January, the size of the gap fell to 2.7 percent by October. Expect this gap to close further as 2010 marches on.

6. Modification plan could be modified: While the Obama administration has put nearly 700,000 borrowers into temporarily restructured mortgages, it had found permanent fixes for just 31,382 struggling homeowners through November. What’s more, critics have identified two key shortcomings of the government’s $75 billion antiforeclosure plan. First, the program isn’t much help for borrowers struggling to stay in their homes as the result of a job loss. And the rickety labor market is a key factor behind rising delinquencies. At the same time, the plan does not sufficiently address the issue of negative equity–owing more on your home loan than the property is worth–which also works to increase foreclosures. “The current modification program does not address negative equity and is therefore destined to fail,” Laurie Goodman, a senior managing director at Amherst Securities Group, told a congressional committee in written testimony on December 8. “It must be amended to explicitly address this problem.” Zandi says the government may move next year to overhaul the modification program in two ways: improving troubled borrowers’ negative equity positions by writing down some of the mortgage principal, and helping to turn troubled homeowners into renters.

7. FHA lending standards may increase: While banks have jacked up lending standards in the face of mounting delinquencies, mortgages backed by the Federal Housing Administration–which come with a minimum down payment of just 3.5 percent–have remained accessible to a wide swath of borrowers. The FHA guarantees nearly 30 percent of new-home purchase mortgages today, up sharply from just 3 percent in 2006. But the rapid growth has occurred alongside an increase in mortgage delinquencies. As a result, the FHA’s reserves have dipped below congressionally mandated levels. The development has put pressure on the Obama administration to beef up its requirements for agency-backed home loans. In early December, the Department of Housing and Urban Development announced that it would make several changes to FHA mortgage requirements: raising up-front cash requirements, boosting minimum credit scores, and perhaps charging more for insurance premiums. Additional new restrictions may be in store. Taken together, the developments could work to choke off the supply of mortgage credit to borrowers who can’t get financing elsewhere.

8. Tax credit available through June: On top of lower prices and cheap mortgage rates, Uncle Sam is offering an additional incentive to get buyers into the market next year. In early November, President Obama signed a bill extending and expanding a popular tax perk for home buyers. The legislation gives qualified first-time home buyers a tax credit of up to $8,000 if they close the purchase of a primary residence by the end of June. Meanwhile, qualified current home owners are eligible for a credit of up to $6,500 when they buy their next principal residence. But while the tax perk may make a home purchase more tempting, would-be buyers should make sure they have the job security and financial wherewithal to handle the transaction before going ahead. “Don’t let [the home buyer tax credit] be the thing that drives you to act,” Larson says.

9. Markets will vary a great deal by region: The performance of the national housing market is much less important that the dynamics of your local market, and sales and pricing trends will vary a great deal from one area to the next in 2010. “There will be geographic pockets where the values will still continue to decline, and there will be geographic pockets where they increase,” said Dale Siegel, a mortgage broker and the author of The New Rules for Mortgages. That means anyone interested in buying real estate next year can’t just read the national headlines. Instead, find a good blog that covers the local housing market and consider speaking with a real estate agent with experience in the area. Check out online listings–pay close attention to pricing and inventory trends. And make sure to head out to open houses to get a firsthand feel for the market.

10. Mobile maps can help: Advances in technology have enabled would-be home buyers to increase the efficiency of their searches. For example, Zillow’s iPhone app allows home buyers to see the estimated values and listed prices of the properties they pass on the street. The app, which is free, has been downloaded more than 830,000 times. Trulia has unveiled a similar product that allows users to find nearby open houses as well. “If you are sitting in a neighborhood having brunch on a Sunday, you can very easily pull up your phone [and] walk into open houses,” says Trulia’s Fernandez.

Copyrighted, U.S.News & World Report, L.P. All rights reserved.

Best in ‘10!

Bill Cowie, Director
www.britishhomesgroup.com

P.S. 2010 might be the year to take advantage of the current unprecedented “buyers market” here in the Sunshine State of Florida!

Home prices in and around Orlando are down, interest rates are down and for the seventh straight month in a row sales are up.

Some recent statistics from the Orlando Business Journal in an article by Anjali Fluker are very encouraging for sellers and buyers alike…

• Home sales in the Orlando market jumped nearly 48 percent, but values fell by nearly 40 percent, according to the March report from the Orlando Regional Realtor Association.
• Association members reported 1,653 existing home sales in March, compared with 1,120 in the same month a year prior.
• Realtors also put 2,956 homes under contract last month, a far cry from March 2008’s 1,679.
• Association members also reported 4,906 pending sales — considered a leading indicator of future sales — in March, more than double March 2009’s 2,398.
• March home resales in the Orlando area — Lake, Orange, Osceola and Seminole counties — jumped nearly 58 percent, from 1,354 homes last year to 2,139 homes this year.
• Osceola County saw the biggest increase in sales at 112 percent, from 466 homes sold in March 2008 to 989 sold last month. Orange County saw the next largest jump at nearly 61 percent, from 1,667 last year to 2,681 this year, followed by Lake County’s 21.5 percent increase, from 657 last year to 798 this year, and Seminole’s nearly 5 percent jump, from 679 to 713.
• The association reported that 49 percent of the homes that were sold being bank-owned or distressed homes. There were 700 bank-owned home sales last month with a median price of $95,000, along with 111 distressed home resales with a median price of $143,500.
• Homes of all types spent an average of 104 days on the market before being sold last month, down from an average of 128 days in March 2008.
• The average home sold for nearly 92.6 percent of its listing price in March 2009, slightly down from the 93.1 percent posted in the same month last year.
• March inventory of homes available reflects a nearly 13-month supply at the sales pace, down from the nearly 17-month supply recorded in February 2009.
• Orlando-area condo sales saw a huge increase 228 percent last month — from 90 in 2008 to 295 this year.

If you are considering buying a home in Florida, please complete this short form for a customised porperty search  – http://www.britishhomesgroup.com/floridaforeclosures.php or call 0800 096 5989.

Read the full article here…

http://orlando.bizjournals.com/orlando/stories/2009/04/13/daily7.html

According to the Orlando Regional Realtor Association, September brings a 38% increase in existing home sales!  Although this is great news and further indication of a market turn around, Orlando area home values have continued to decline somewhat.  September resales for 2008 were 1,335 homes as compared to last year’s 970 sales during the same period.  The median sales price for Orlando home resales was $182,000 – 9% less than that of August 2008.  Sales increases were evident in the four major Orlando counties with the highest increase being a 72% yearly jump in Osceola County.  Orange County followed with a 54% increase over 2007 numbers.  Seminole and Lake counties followed with 7.35 and 7.66 percent jumps respectively. 

Another positive market indicator for Orlando real estate is the month over month increase in pending contracts/sales.  September showed a 62% increase in homes under contract as compared to August – this is a reliable predictor of future sales activity.  Here are a few more Orlando real estate market statistics from September 2008:

• Average Days on Market: 113
• Average Home Sold for 94% of its listing price
• Total homes available from the MLS in September: 24,690 (a 6.16% decrease from 9/07)
• 144 more homes left the market than entered from 8/08 to 9/08
• During September of 2008: 116 condos were sold and 98 duplexes, townhomes or villas

While this spike could be influenced by foreclosures and REOs, we are optimistic about the general market uptick.

Call British Homes Group Today for help with purchasing or financing your Orlando area dream home!

Orlando Area MLS Search  

Florida’s existing home sales remain level in July 2008

ORLANDO, Florida. – Aug. 25, 2008 – Single-family existing home sales rose in Florida for the first time in more than two years: While only six more homes sold in July 2008 than in July 2007, it could indicate stabilization in Florida’s housing sector, according to the latest housing statistics released by the Florida Association of Realtors® (FAR).

11,498 existing homes sold statewide last month

11,492 homes sold in July 2007

The last time statewide sales of existing homes outpaced the previous year’s sales figure was in the year-end 2005 report, according to FAR records, when sales were up 2 percent over year-end 2004.

Florida’s median sales price for existing homes last month was $193,600; a year ago, it was $238,900 for a 19 percent decrease.

But, looking back to July 2003, the statewide median sales price for single-family homes has increased 18 percent over the five-year-period, according to FAR records – at that time, the statewide existing-home median price was $164,000.

In a year-to-year comparison for condos, 3,375 units sold statewide compared to 3,641 in July 2007 for a 7 percent decline. The statewide existing-condo median sales price last month was $168,500; in July 2007 it was $194,100 for a 13 percent decrease.

More than half of Florida’s metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs) reported increased sales of existing homes in July; seven MSAs also showed gains in condo sales. Realtors around the state reported increased business activity, including more telephone calls, more home showings and a rise in pending sales.

Read the full FAR article

Call British Homes Group Today for help with purchasing or financing your Orlando area dream home!

Orlando Area MLS Search  

Securing the number 10 spot of top cities for investment in the American marketplace, Orlando real estate offers a value many investors are finding attractive.  Although it ranked 32nd on the international market list, Brits still consider Orlando number one.  This marketplace is a great investment for vacation bound Europeans at the moment as the combination of strong currency such as the Sterling and all time lows on real estate prices make for an attractive investment.  Most real estate investors expect for the US market to recover and exchange rates to return to the rates of a few years ago.  If this happens, their investments today will produce excellent returns.  According to the Association of Foreign Investors in Real Estate, the US is currently the top nation for international real estate dollars with an expected 16% increase in foreign investment from last year’s $230 billion.

Orlando’s proximity to Disney, historic success with buy to let investment properties and generally strong tourism economy has made it the number one choice for British real estate investors for years.  If you’re looking for that Disney area dream home or even a gorgeous Florida beachfront condo, please contact British Homes Group.  They can help with multi-currency Florida mortgages as well as your Orlando real estate search. 

Opportunities for Europeans to buy real estate in Florida against a weak dollar may soon come to an end.  In a recent press event, President Bush vowed US commitment to keeping the Dollar strong possibly straying from the previous “hands-off” approach.

There are but a few ways for the US government to intervene in strengthening its currency.  There is of course direct intervention – the buying of dollars in currency markets by the US government.  This has not happened during the Bush administration, who is previously known to have touted the natural progression of free-market forces.  Then again, the burgeoning cost of gas and all time lows may have them thinking twice.  The Federal Reserve could also raise interest rates, which is seen as an unlikely candidate considering economic woes.

The new dollar discussions are likely being fueled by pressure to respond to soaring gas prices.  The Federal Reserve Chairman also recently chimed in saying that the Fed is paying close attention to the situation.  Is all this talk an attempt to make currency traders think twice about betting against the dollar?  This remains to be seen, but what is clear is that the opportunities for Brits to buy Florida dream homes at a currency bargain may soon disappear.

Contact British Homes Group today for information about multi-currency mortgages or for more information about Orlando Real Estate.

Orlando Area MLS Search

Southern Business and Development Magazine has listed Orlando in the top two metro growth markets for 2008.  According to the magazine, the area has posted strong growth indicators for the last six years.  Economic diversity is one of the main factors lending to such strength.  The Orlando market has thriving enterprises in a wide range of segments such as: aviation, manufacturing, digital media, film and television, conventions, entertainment, tourism, distribution, simulation, photonics and optics, software and life sciences.  The life sciences segment has raised the bar for Florida growth and development with the addition of entities like the Burnham Institute for Medical Research and the UCF College of Medicine.  Several hospitals and research labs are also under construction in the Orlando area. 

Sustainable regional growth is due in large part to strong population growth and job creation as well as plans for a 60+ mile light rail system from Volusia County to Osceola County.  Last but not least is the new found housing affordability in Central Florida.  One positive result of the bursted national housing bubble.

Are you looking for an Orlando investment villa? Please use our complimentary Orlando Area MLS Search