Selling a Tampa Home and Buying Another?

So you are thinking of selling your home but want to ensure that you will have somewhere to move to afterwards? Not too long ago, you could sell your old Tampa home and buy the new one on the same day. Given that the Tampa real estate market has changed from that time three years ago, here are some things to keep in mind as you negotiate the sale of one house with the purchase of another.

Time it right
Fall and spring are the best times for homes to move and you want to consider the season of the year when buying and selling. Read more

Tampa Water Restriction Rule in Effect

So far in 2008, the City of Tampa Water Enforcement Office has written more than 800 water use citations, 355 in the month of May alone. Current outdoor water use restrictions in Tampa, including limits on irrigation to one day per week, have been in effect since May 4, 2006, under Emergency Water Use Restriction Ordinance 2006-104.

Despite sporadic rainfall, the level and flow in the Hillsborough River – Tampa’s primary drinking water source – are still below normal levels. Continued conservation of potable water is needed to ensure adequate water supplies are available.

For those of you who may have forgotten or those new to the area, here is a quick summary of some of the provisions Read more

Florida’s Sales Stats for Jan 08

Among the state’s larger markets, the Tampa Bay real estate market reported 1,235 existing homes sold last December compared to 1,627 homes sold a year ago for a 24 percent decrease. The market’s median sales price for homes was $187,100; it was $220,100 in January 2007 for a 15 percent decrease. A total of 333 existing condos changed hands in the area last December, down 12 percent from the 378 condos sold the previous year. The existing condo median sales price in January was $159,500; a year ago, it was $183,600 for a 13 percent decrease.

The mortgage credit crunch and a sluggish economy continued to affect the sales pace of existing homes and condominiums in Florida in January. Statewide, sales of existing single-family homes totaled 6,737 last month while 9,360 homes sold in January 2007 for a decrease of 28 percent in the year-to-year comparison, according to the Florida Association of Realtors (FAR).

Florida’s median sales price for existing single-family homes last month was $208,600; a year ago, it was $242,700 for a 14 percent decrease. The median is the midpoint; half the homes sold for more, half for less. In January 2003, the statewide median sales price for single-family homes was $142,900, an increase of about 46 percent over the five-year-period, according to FAR records.

The national median sales price for existing single-family homes in December 2007 was $206,500, down 6.5 percent from a year earlier, according to NAR. In California, the statewide median resales price was $475,460 in December; in Massachusetts, it was $323,000; in Maryland, it was $291,622; and in New York, it was $222,646.

Sales of existing condominiums in Florida also decreased last month, with a total of 2,252 condos sold statewide compared to 3,227 in January 2007 for a 30 percent decline, according to FAR. The statewide median sales price for condos last month was $190,200, down 11 percent from January 2007’s condo median price of $213,900. NAR reported the national median existing condo price was $222,200 in December 2007.

Click on the link to see the statistics of Existing Single Family Homes in Florida and Existing Condos in Florida.

Central Bank Ready To Cut Rates

Looking to buy a home in Tampa?  Stay informed on the latest mortgage trends.  Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke said in a speech Thursday that the central bank is prepared to continue lowering interest rates in order to help keep the economy on track.

“We stand ready to take substantive additional action as needed to support growth and to provide adequate insurance against downside risks,” Bernanke said in prepared remarks before the Women in Housing and Finance and Exchequer Club in Washington, D.C.

Stocks, which had been trading lower before the speech, rebounded on the news as Wall Street interpreted Bernanke’s comments to mean that there is now an increased likelihood the Fed will lower its key federal funds rate by a half of a percentage point, to 3.75 percent, at the conclusion of its two-day meeting on January 30.
To that end, investors are pricing in an 86 percent chance that the Fed will lower rates by a half-point on January 30, according to federal funds futures listed on the Chicago Board of Trade.

Florida’s Home Sales Slower in Oct 07

Disruptions in the mortgage market and tightening credit continued to impact Florida’s housing sector in October. Statewide, sales of existing single-family homes totaled 9,165 last month while 12,846 homes sold in October 2006 for a decrease of 29 percent in the year-to-year comparison, according to the Florida Association of Realtors® (FAR).

While the latest market outlook from the National Association of Realtors’® (NAR) expects conditions for the mortgage industry to improve in the coming months, it predicts that the impact of the credit crunch will continue to be felt through the end of this year, leaving home sales fairly flat. Keeping the current housing market in perspective, 2007 will be the fifth highest year on record for existing-home sales, according to NAR Senior Economist Lawrence Yun. “It appears raw inventories are stabilizing, but the housing supply is a bit inflated now because the sales pace does not reflect underlying market conditions – sales were dampened by the mortgage cancellations,” he says.

Florida’s median sales price for existing single-family homes last month was $222,100; a year ago, it was $242,700 for an 8 percent decrease. The median is the midpoint; half the homes sold for more, half for less. In October 2002, the statewide median sales price for single-family homes was $140,900, for an increase of 57.6 percent over the five-year-period, according to FAR records.