Florida Real Estate, Tourism and Immigration News

Quick update from our colleagues at MONEYCORPS in the UK today:

UK Growth Alert

                                         Actual        Expected       Previous

GDP quarterly (Q1)       0.3%            0.3%           0.2%
GDP annual (Q1)             -0.2%          -0.2%         -3.1%

It always takes a while for the Office for National Statistics to piece together its picture of overall economic performance. That is why it undertakes the cumbersome assessment of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) only every quarter, not every month. Evidence of the task’s complexity was clear when the ONS had to postpone the release of the data because it could not reconcile the numbers.

Today’s figures eventually showed what investors had been expecting all along; the UK economy grew by 0.3% in the first three months of the year. But they also contained a surprise. Earlier estimates for the peak-to-trough decline in GDP had put the figure at -6.2%. Today’s revision updated that figure to -6.4%. There was also confirmation that, in volume terms, the 4.9% fall in calendar 2009 was a record annual drop.

Whilst this data represents just about the most backward-looking statistics in the book (in that they relate to a period that ended more than three months ago) they are the most up-to-date and accurate measure of overall economic performance that is available. Investors therefore set great store by them. They also tend to be optimistic that successive revisions will show an improving picture. In that respect, today’s numbers were a disappointment, prompting a knee-jerk sell-off for the pound.

Very quickly, however, reality kicked in and the pound set off higher. Other than that figure relating to the 2008-09 recession overall, the numbers were no worse than analysts had predicted and were better than the equivalent statistics for the euro zone (subject to revision). From here on in, the questions will centre on the impact of Chancellor Osborne’s austerity budget. Will it, as some fear, derail what is clearly a fragile recovery?

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Regards,

Bill Cowie
www.BritishHomesGroup.com

U.K. house prices unexpectedly jumped in May by the most since 2002, adding to signs the worst of the recession is over, a report by Halifax showed.

Home values rose 2.6 percent from the previous month to an average of £158,565 pounds ($260,000), the division of Lloyds Banking Group Plc said in a statement in London today. Economists predicted a 1 percent drop, according to the median of 12 forecasts in a Bloomberg News survey. From a year earlier, prices fell 13.7 percent.

Services industries expanded for the first time in a year in May and consumer confidence rose to a six-month high, reports yesterday showed, in further evidence the economy is emerging from its slump. The Bank of England said today it will continue spending 125 billion pounds in newly printed money to bolster lending as it kept the benchmark interest rate at a record low.

“The Halifax data are bound to heighten speculation that the housing market is turning,” said Howard Archer, chief European economist at IHS Global Insight in London. “We believe that the pickup in actual house purchases is likely to be gradual and fitful for some time to come given ongoing tight credit conditions.”

The monthly increase was the first in four months, Halifax said. In the three months through May, prices fell 16.3 percent from a year earlier.

“There are some tentative indications of a possible stabilization in activity, albeit at a low level,” Nitesh Patel, an economist at Halifax, said in the statement. “House sales remain substantially below their long term average and market conditions are expected to remain difficult.”

The Bank of England today left the benchmark interest rate at 0.5 percent at its monthly decision and said they would keep the total amount of money that they want to spend on assets to aid the economy under review.

Davenport, Florida…

A troubled developer in the Four Corners area near Walt Disney World, sued by British investors after the vacation homes for which they paid thousands weren’t built, has now sought protection from its creditors in bankruptcy court.

Tierra del Sol Resort Inc. filed a Chapter 11 petition this week in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Orlando, seeking a chance to restructure so it can resume construction and pay off its debts. The company owes creditors a total of $184 million.

“The goal is to restart construction,” said bankruptcy lawyer Scott Shuker, who filed the petition for the Orlando-based resort company.

Construction ceased last summer at Tierra del Sol, a development that was supposed to total nearly 1,000 condominium units and town homes off U.S. Highway 27, just west of the ChampionsGate resort. The developer ran out of money.

Tierra del Sol officials last year blamed the cash shortfall on the housing slump, an expansion of the resort’s water park, and the costs of filing plan modifications with Polk County government.

Once construction restarts, Shuker said, the company would finish building the units and sell them to repay creditors. If it can secure a loan, the company intends to build the 100,000-square-foot clubhouse, with restaurants and shops, featured in its original plans. Shuker said the resort would be fully built in three to four years.

So far, only 96 town houses have been completed and prepared for occupancy. Of the 972 units planned for the site, 370 have purchase contracts but haven’t gone to closings.

The project’s first phase — five Mediterranean-style buildings with six floors and 1,200- to 1,500-square-foot condos — was initially to be ready by the summer of 2006. When it missed that deadline, Tierra del Sol started to send buyers letters asking for contract extensions — and more money to finish the construction.

“They started calling and trying to get me to sign another contract and pay double the price,” said Tom DeNapoli, who said he paid a $27,000 deposit for a four-bedroom town house supposed to be completed in 2005. He asked for his deposit back but never got it.

“It certainly negated any other investment opportunity I might have had,” said DeNapoli, 46, who lives in Easton, Mass.

If the project doesn’t get back on its feet, Shuker said, those who paid deposits will not get their money back.

David and Sandra Clayton of the Netherlands are among the would-be owners who reached a settlement with the company late last year after filing a lawsuit. They have received about $100,000 so far of $330,000 they’re owed, said their lawyer, Matt Firestone.

“It’s not good for my clients,” Firestone said of the bankruptcy filing. “As unsecured creditors, they stand to obtain little if any of these funds from the bankruptcy.”

The Chapter 11 filing protects the company for now from current and future lawsuits. Affiliated companies that are part of the bankruptcy filing include TDS Amenities Inc., TDS Clubhouse Inc., Tierra del Sol Owners Association Inc., Costa Blanca I Real Estate LLC, Costa Blanca II Real Estate LLC and Costa Blanca III Real Estate LLC.

If the homes eventually are built and sold at their listed prices, Tierra del Sol’s assets would total $188 million, Shuker said. The company’s largest creditors include banks, investment groups and numerous home buyers, many of whom paid deposits of more than $100,000. Many of those disappointed buyers are from the United Kingdom, where the company had heavily advertised the resort. The development also drew buyers from throughout the U.S. and Latin America, including Colombia and Venezuela.

Kennedy Funding of New York and Stanford Fund of California are owed $28 million each. Tierra del Sol Resort’s parent company, American Leisure Group, reportedly received loans from R.Allen Stanford, a Texas financier accused of an $8 billion fraud by federal regulators.

Tierra del Sol is actually a subsidiary of American Leisure Holdings Inc., which is owned by American Leisure Real Estate Group.

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Enquire About this property: More Information

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According to a recent article on Forbes.com, buyers are returning to the British property market.

Low interest rates, great property prices and a general feeling that the bottom is reached or very close, is motivating action before sales prices start to climb.

In a recent survey of the sector, the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors said buyer enthusiasm increased for the fifth straight month in March, with London picking up particularly sharply.

This pickup in inquiries is feeding through into sales, RICS said, even though they remain at historically low levels.

“Buyer interest is starting to gain real momentum but will remain frustrated while mortgage finance is scarce,” said Ian Perry, a spokesman at RICS.

The RICS survey adds to the evidence that the British housing market may have bottomed out. The Nationwide building society said house prices actually increased in March for the first time since October 2007, while the Bank of England revealed that the number of mortgages approved in February rose by 19 percent to their highest level since May 2008.

Read the full article here…

http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2009/04/15/ap6291961.html

UPDATED APRIL 16TH 2009 – THIS PROPERTY HAS SOLD.

DEAL OF THE WEEK 

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Bank owned move-in condition! Spacious 2 story, family size kitchen with abundance of cabinets and counterspace, pantry, separate breakfast area. Family room opens to kitchen with glass slider opening to patio area. Large master suite with walkin closets, garden tub w/large shower, double vanities. Bonus room is ideal for office or children’s play room. All bedrooms on 2nd floor. Close to shopping.

Enquire About this property: More Information

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Economic Recovery in the UK beggining the end of this year?

According to a recent article in the Financial Times the UK economy should begin to recover by the end of this year. The huge monetary and fiscal provisions, combined with sharp falls in commodity prices, will help boost household and business spending, a senior Bank of England official predicted.

Spencer Dale, chief economist at the Bank and a member of its rate-setting monetary policy committee, made the remarks at a meeting of the Association of British Insurers, a group whose members have been hit by the sharp fall in stock markets and the crunch in credit markets.

“As we go through 2009, I believe it is most likely that the pace at which output is contracting will ease and that we will see some signs of recovery by around the turn of this year,” Mr Dale told the group.

He went on to say that the causes of the current recession were different from previous recessions and that its actual path was not known. “There is huge uncertainty about the precise form and timing of the recovery and so this central path should be treated with a healthy degree of scepticism.”

Mr Dale said the Bank would keep in place its unconventional exercise of monetary policy (known as quantitative easing) until it became apparent that it had succeeded in bringing inflation back to its annual 2 per cent medium-term target.

More on Florida’s current “buyers market” (from today’s Property Wire):

Excessive Supply In Florida Real Estate Presents Opportunities For Investors

Published on: Tuesday, January 26, 2010

Written by: Property Wire

Excess inventory devastated Florida’s real estate market in 2009, bringing housing construction nearly to a halt and creating a buyer’s market of premium properties selling for as little as 50% of 2005 prices. Foreign investors and cash buyers capitalizing on the dollar’s decline will find Florida properties a particularly promising investment in 2010, with the added perk of bountiful sunshine, recreation and entertainment. See the following article from Property Wire for more on this.

Florida is set to be one of the bargain hotspots of 2010 for real estate investors with some properties selling for as little as $47 a square foot, according to a new report.

As the global recession eases and the recovery begins, experts are forecasting that investor confidence will flow back into the US real estate market and national house price declines are predicted to improve by the middle of the year.

New home sales should post an increase of around 20% from the very low levels seen in 2009, according to the report from Winkworth International.

It points out that few real estate markets have suffered more than Florida where oversupply has been a major factor in driving down prices. Foreclosures and a glut of unsold condominiums have especially contributed to slowing down the Florida housing market.

Florida’s loss can be a UK buyer’s gain, according to Charles Peerless, director, Winkworth International. ‘With low prices on a wide range of top quality luxury homes and condominiums in world class developments, combined with a favorable exchange rate and low interest rates, buyers who seek sun, golf and wide ranging lifestyle attractions can now buy a home here for about half what they would have paid in 2005,’ he explained.

Sean Snaith, economics professor and forecaster for the University of Central Florida in Orlando, agrees. ‘For international buyers, 2010 will be a great time to buy in Florida. The imbalance of supply and demand puts the buyer in the driving seat. Large inventory, pricing power and the continuing weakness of the dollar when compared to other currencies mean awesome deals in the housing sector,’ he said.

‘All this means that there has seldom been a better time to get into the Florida property market. According to most local experts, prices have nowhere to go but up and a home in Florida bought at today’s bargain prices should prove to be a laudable investment five years from now,’ added Peerless.

New home construction in Florida suffered more than expected. In the second quarter of 2009 housing starts fell to an annual rate of 35,352, an 88% decline in starts from peak to trough.

There are some pockets of Florida that have been affected more substantially by the downturn than others which now offer excellent opportunities to investors in high quality new developments, Peerless points out. In Orlando, buyers can pay $140 per square foot down from $250 in 2006 and in Sarasota prices that were $350 per square foot are now as low as $47.

He added that this region of Florida enjoys relatively uncongested areas, is sophisticated, less crowded than the east coast. Sarasota was recently highlighted on NBC as the top place in the whole of the US to buy a home and is known for its fine restaurants, beaches, theaters, arts, shops and lifestyle. Prices are at 2002/2003 levels and there has been little or no new construction in the area for four years, so high quality inventory is being snapped up.

The report predicts that central Florida with attractions like Universal Studios and Disney World should experience a quicker comeback than most other areas in Florida. While south Florida is described as the place to buy a condominium. There are sales being made well below construction cost. The major reason for the decline in the Miami condo market is the difficulty in getting finance which tends to be more available on houses. As such, condos offer an excellent opportunity for cash buyers, the report says.

Prices are discounted in North West Florida and are around 2005 levels. ‘Buyers get so much more for their money in Florida than in Europe. Spacious high specification properties, spectacular golf communities, high future capital growth predicted, excellent transportation and, of course, the ever popular Florida lifestyle including sunshine, beaches, golf, cruises, theme parks, shopping and dining,’ it concludes.
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For more information contact info@britishhomesgroup.com or Telephone (407) 396-9914

Is American misfortune British Luck?  It would seem so at the moment – the perfect storm has combined to allow British investors interested in Florida real estate an incredible opportunity.  A weak dollar, a crash in Orlando home prices and rapidly increasing oil prices make Orlando real estate purchases a bargain for foreign investors.  For some Orlando real estate sellers, foreign investment is a welcome phenomena.  This injection of overseas buyers is helping to keep many of the Florida markets alive and will ultimately aid in tipping the US real estate scales back to health.

Lee Weaver of British Homes Group was recently interviewed by Hot Property Overseas.  Weaver notes that 2008 business at British Homes Group is up threefold as compared to the last half of 07 thanks to British investors.  His advice for UK real estate buyers?

"One thing UK buyers of US property should do is familiarize themselves with the buying process, which is quite different from the UK’s solicitor-based one."

Weaver notes some basic differences:

• Typically you don’t need a solicitor, instead you have a closing or title company
• The American MLS System is different from the British system in that agents share the data and split commissions acting as an incentive to show prospective buyers a wider range of properties
• The lending culture in the US is different, home loans bought through mortgage brokers often get sold to other financial institutions – often times you don’t know who owns the loan

Lee believes the window of opportunity is still open but narrowing – those who have been thinking about getting into the Florida market should not wait to investigate!

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

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Recently four representatives from the Florida Association of Realtors visited London with a message for British second home buyers – the Florida market has some incredible real estate steals.  According to Tallahasse-based Florida Association of Realtors Vice President, John Sebree,

"The British are extremely important to the Florida real estate market.  We’re here to tell people that prices in Florida have never been lower and that there’s a huge inventory to choose from."

Right now Britons have very strong buying power with the offset of the pound to weak dollar.  This is the second British trade mission initiated by Florida Realtors in the last four months.  They are meeting with media outlets to pitch Florida real estate stories as well as trying to forge trade and referral relationships with British real estate companies.  The group is also focused on working with the US government to help loosen visa restrictions prohibiting foreigners from living in Florida second homes for longer than six months of the year.

Some Brits are concerned about the high property taxes in Florida, but as compared to several other US states the taxes are relatively low.  Insurance is also higher than anyone would like, but has stabilized in past years.   

According to the group, "buying in Florida is pretty much a no-brainer"! 

We agree!  The Orlando real estate team at British Homes Group is unique in that they employ British and American professionals who are experts in both UK and US property purchase and financing procedures.  Through co-brokerage arrangements and the availability of the Florida Property Multilist, they have access to one of the largest property databases available in Florida.

The British home loan division can also help the British home buyer with access to fixed and flexible mortgages in a variety of currencies.

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

Orlando Area MLS Search