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Updates from February, 2012
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Michael Saunders & Company Web Stats and Market Leader YTD 2011
Beth Ward
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Florida Sales Report November 2011 Exisiting Condominiums
MSC Marketing
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Florida Sales Report for November 2011 for Single Family Existing Homes
MSC Marketing
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Florida Sales Report – 3rd Quarter 2011 Single-Family, Existing Homes
MSC Marketing
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Florida Leads Top 10 Cities for Home List Price Increases
MSC Marketing
FLORIDA MARKETS DOMINATE TOP-TEN LIST OF HOUSING MARKETS THAT HAVE SEEN THE GREATEST INCREASE IN MEDIAN LIST PRICE
A top-ten list of the U.S. housing markets that experienced the greatest year-over-year increase in median list price—just released by the National Association of REALTORS®—turns out to be all but completely dominated by Florida markets.
Only three non-Florida markets broke into the ranking, the first appearing at #6. The top five are Ft. Myers-Cape Coral, Miami, Naples, Sarasota-Bradenton and Punta Gorda. The other Florida markets included on the list are Lakeland-Winter Haven and Daytona Beach.
Published: Friday, November 4, 2011 at 12:54 p.m.
Florida communities, including Sarasota-Bradenton and Charlotte County-North Port, dominated a list of the 10 cities that have seen the largest percentage increase in median list prices when comparing September with a year earlier.
The list from the National Association of Realtors speaks to the lack of available properties on the low end of the market; to the growing number of high-end owners getting off the fence and trying to sell; and perhaps to seller’s confidence about what they can get for their homes.
Sarasota-Bradenton was No. 4 on the ratings, culled from 4 million listings on more than 900 multiple listing services around the country. The median list price during September was $233,0000, 16.5 percent higher than a year ago.
Charlotte County-North Port was $169,000, up 14 percent from a year ago.
Other markets up in Florida include Fort Myers-Cape Coral, whose 34.5 percent increase put it at No. 1; Miami, with 25.6 percent increase at No. 2; Naples, at No. 3; Lakeland-Winter Haven, at No. 7; and Daytona Beach, at No. 9.
The other non-Florida communities were Shreveport-Bosier City, La.; Fort Wayne, Ind.; and Boise City, Idaho.
Nationally, the median list price has risen 1.6 percent to $190,000, the NAR reported.
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Port Charlotte named one of The 10 Best Places to Retire in 2012 by U.S. News & World Report
MSC Marketing
These cities will meet your retirement lifestyle needs and suit your budget
Better weather, affordable housing, and plenty of interesting things to do are just a few reasons people move to a new place when they retire. Whether you want to spend your golden years watching the sun set over the water or taking on a second career, we’ve identified an ideal place. Using data from Onboard Informatics, U.S. News selected 10 key attributes that many people look for in a retirement spot, along with a city that excels in meeting each need. Here are 10 excellent places to retire in 2012.
Pleasant year-round weather: Flagstaff, Ariz.
Flagstaff’s high altitude and low humidity generally lead to a pleasant four-season climate throughout most of the year. To select a place with great year-round weather, we used National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration data to find places with the most sunny days. Among the sunniest cities, we looked for places where the temperature seldom rises above 90 degrees. The sun shines in Flagstaff an average of 78 percent of the year, according to NOAA data, but unlike most other sunny climates, the temperature only rises above 90 degrees an average of three days per year. Flagstaff can receive a significant amount of snow in the winter, but the prolific sunshine often quickly melts accumulation. “There is a lot of sunshine and no extremes of temperature,” says Karen Haskins, 71, a retiree who moved to Flagstaff from Amherst, N.H., in 2007. “Summer and early fall are really pleasant. Winters are cold and you do get snow, but because of the intensity of the sun, it melts quickly.”
Affordable mountain town: Boone, N.C.
Pricey Aspen and Vail may be beyond your budget, but that doesn’t mean you can’t spend your retirement years appreciating spectacular mountain views or making runs on the slopes. Nestled in the Blue Ridge Mountains, Boone boasts three nearby ski resorts as well as trails for cross country skiing, winter hiking, and snowshoeing. Residents of this small town of 14,000 also have access to one of the country’s most scenic roads, the Blue Ridge Parkway. A bonus: Boone provides residents with a free local bus service, AppalCART, and access to many of the amenities at Appalachian State University. In 2010, the median home sale price was $215,250.
Water views on a budget: Traverse City, Mich.
Dream of retiring to a lake house? The Traverse City area offers more than 180 miles of Lake Michigan shoreline and 149 large lakes measuring 10 acres or more. Residents can climb the high sand dunes and lounge on the freshwater beaches at the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, or take a ferry out to the Manitou Islands. There are also plenty of opportunities for boating on the twin Grand Traverse Bays. Housing prices in this lakeside city average a reasonable $155,715.
Greenest place to retire: Walnut Creek, Calif.
Retirees make up more than a quarter of the population of Walnut Creek, which combines the amenities of a city with abundant access to the wilderness. Downtown is filled with high-end shops, fine dining, and organic eateries, as well as the Lesher Center for the Arts. The city also has 22 city parks and 2,704 acres of open space. “There’s a great amount of open space available,” says Joe Stadum, a resident of Walnut Creek’s large 55-and-older gated community, Rossmoor. He enjoys hiking with the Rossmoor Trails Club, which counts more than 200 members. “You can drive or ride your bicycle or run and hike. It’s a great asset.” Residents may choose to drive up to the summit of 3,849-foot Mount Diablo or travel to nearby San Francisco. But life in the Bay Area doesn’t come cheap. The median home price is $411,000.
A college town for retirees: Ithaca, N.Y.
College towns like Ithaca can be an ideal place to retire. For a median home price of just $176,500, retirees can take classes at Cornell University or Ithaca College and attend speeches, concerts, and sporting events. They can also spend their days hiking to the more than 100 waterfalls and gorges within 10 miles of downtown or sampling the wares of the Cayuga Lake Wine Trail. Don Wilson, 65, a retired cardiologist from Rockford, Ill., bicycles throughout the Finger Lakes region three times a week. “The rural roads in the Finger Lakes region have so little traffic that you can ride three or four abreast on a bicycle in continuous conversation, learning from each other,” he says. Wilson has also developed an interest in paleontology, and is taking a course on the subject at Cornell University and conducting research on fossils at the Museum of the Earth. “I think that university towns tend to attract interesting organizations, like the Museum of the Earth, and interesting people who may or may not be connected with the college.”
Place to launch a second career: Lincoln, Neb.
Clague Hodgson, 65, retired early from a faculty position at the Creighton University School of Medicine and founded his own biotech company, Nature Technology Corporation, in 1998. His Lincoln-based business now employs eight people who investigate the use of DNA as a medicine. Hodgson says the city’s low unemployment rate and proximity to the University of Nebraska–Lincoln make it an excellent place to launch a second career. “The University of Nebraska Technology Park really takes a lot of the weight off your shoulders,” he says. “For an entrepreneur, remaining affiliated with the university is a good source of information, the library is very helpful, and occasionally we collaborate with researchers there.” Nebraska’s state capitol had an unemployment rate of just 3.5 percent in 2010, among the lowest in the country. According to Onboard Informatics data, the city has added more than 15,000 jobs since 2000, many of which are in fields known to hire older workers, including government, higher education, and healthcare.
Best mix of affordability and amenities: Pittsburgh, Pa.
Pittsburgh has a low cost of living coupled with a wide variety of amenities that retirees will need as they age. The median home sale price was $97,900 in 2010, which is unusual for a city with a large university and top-notch hospitals. Senior citizens age 65 and older with proper identification are entitled to ride Port Authority buses and trains for free. You’ll just have to decide whether you want season tickets to the ballet, symphony, or Steelers games, assuming all three won’t fit into your retirement budget.
Best place for affordable housing: Port Charlotte, Fla.
Port Charlotte home prices were battered by the housing bust, which could mean bargains for retirees new to the area. The median home sale price was a shockingly low $59,950 in 2010. And many of these homes are located along canals and waterways. “There are a tremendous number of houses on the water, and everybody’s got their boats in their backyard,” says retiree Chris Zwirner, 78. “All the people who live on water essentially have access to the Gulf of Mexico, and from there you can go around the world.” The Charlotte Harbor Preserve State Park spans 42,000 acres, including 70 miles of shoreline along the Charlotte Harbor. An added bonus: Florida has no state income tax.
Best place for single retirees: Pittsfield, Mass.
Dating is increasingly becoming a part of the retirement years. And Pittsfield is the only metro area where the majority of the 55-and-older population (52 percent) is single, according to Census Bureau data. Carol Scott, 60, an event planner who has been widowed for three years, likes to connect with new people online and has arranged five in-person dates so far this year. “I usually like to meet for a coffee or a drink,” she says. “If we find we enjoy each other’s company, perhaps it runs over into dinner.” But even if you move to Pittsfield, we can’t guarantee that dating will be easy. There are nearly twice as many single women (14,237) age 55 and older as single men (7,869). “A lot of my women friends are single,” says Scott. “And while I have met some very nice people, I have not met someone I am interested in pursuing.”
Best place for recreation and culture: Santa Fe, N.M.
At more than 400 years old, Santa Fe is the country’s oldest state capital. The city is known for its unique culture and art galleries, including the New Mexico Museum of Art and Institute of American Indian Arts. “Santa Fe has a character that is unlike other cities,” says Karen Ralston, 67, a retired director of marketing for a publisher. She moved to Santa Fe in 2006. “The cultural mix that we get here—the Anglo culture and the Indian culture and the Hispanic culture—blends very beautifully here. We really love that mix,” she says. An art history minor in college, Ralston rediscovered that interest by volunteering at the Georgia O’Keeffe Museum and the Center for Contemporary Arts. The creations of artists worldwide are also celebrated at a variety of annual festivals and markets, such as the Native Treasures Indian Arts Festival and the Santa Fe International Folk Art Market.
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Michael Saunders & Company Year-to-Date Website and Market Leader Stats, September 2011
Beth Ward
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Trendgraphix Market Report August 2011
MSC Marketing
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15 Cities Where Listing Prices Are Rebounding
MSC Marketing
Daily Real Estate News | Friday, September 23, 2011By Melissa Dittmann Tracey, REALTOR® Magazine Daily News
Prices are rising in Florida: Florida cities have had the largest year-over-year increases in average list prices, according to the latest real estate data from Realtor.com. Florida cities make up 9 of the top 10 places for highest year-over-year list price spikes, based off of August data of 2.2 million listings in 146 markets.Nationwide, the average list price is $320,325, up 2.36 percent year-over-year.
Here are the top 15 cities boasting the highest percentage of year-over-year increases in average list prices.
1. Miami
Average list price: $640,332
Year-over-year increase: 27.4%2. Fort Myers-Cape Coral, Fla.
Average list price: $443,570
Year-over-year increase: 26.27%3. Central-Fla.-RSA
Average list price: $405,809
Year-over-year increase: 19.41%4. Punta Gorda, Fla.
Average list price: $267,066
Year-over-year increase: 16.37%5. Macon, Ga.
Average list price: $193,520
Year-over-year increase: 15.98%6. Sarasota-Bradenton, Fla.
Average list price: $466,785
Year-over-year increase: 15.86%7. Naples, Fla.
Average list price: $713,087
Year-over-year increase: 15.13%8. West Palm Beach-Boca Raton, Fla.
Average list price: $591,895
Year-over-year increase: 14.68%9. Ocala, Fla.
Average list price: $193,360
Year-over-year increase: 12.07%10. Lakeland-Winter Haven, Fla.
Average list price: $181,409
Year-over-year increase: 11.48%11. Oralndo, Fla.
Average list price: $319,419
Year-over-year increase: 10.56%12. Portland-Vancouver, Ore.-Wash.
Average list price: $314,537
Year-over-year increase: 10.52%13. Boise City, Idaho
Average list price: $212,588
Year-over-year increase: 10.43%14. Springfield, Illinois
Average list price: $174,537
Year-over-year increase: 9.12%15. Shreveport-Bossier City, La.
Average list price: $211,414
Year-over-year increase: 8.34%Read More:
August Existing-Home Sales Leap Despite Headwindshttp://realtormag.realtor.org/daily-news/2011/09/23/15-cities-where-listing-prices-are-rebounding
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Soaring Prices Suggest a Florida Phenomenon
MSC Marketing
The numbers leap off the page.
Sev
en of the top ten markets in the nation whose media list prices are up year over year are Florida markets. According to the latest data from Realtor.com, the world’s largest real estate site, Florida single family home and condo prices are zooming at the same time that the rest of the nation is still recovering from the first quarter’s double dip.August median prices in Fort Myers are up 33 percent from 2010. Miami is up 24 percent, Punta Gorda 20 percent, Sarasota-Bradenton 10 percent, Daytona 9.3 percent and Lakeland-Winter Haven 8.8 percent. Compared those increases to the national average increase for median list prices from all 146 metros tracked by Realtor.com: .46 percent.
These amazing year over year numbers are not simply the result of being compared to prices during the August 2010 nose dive following the end of the tax credit. They are the real thing. A handful of Florida markets have been leading the Realtor.com hit parade since the end of the first quarter.
With a high saturation of condos, resort, retirement and second homes, these markets were devastated by a combination of foreclosures evaporating demand. Massive inventories of distress sales and slow absorption drove prices to peak lows.
Florida has a long way to go to get healthy. The median property in a number of Florida markets has lost half its value or more since 2006. The peak to trough price differential in many Florida markets is over 50 percent, among the greatest in the nation, according to Case-Shiller. In Miami, for example, prices fell over 50 percent and didn’t trough until the double dip in the first quarter of this year. Prices in Fort Lauderdale fell from 2006 at least 46 percent to 2010. Naples fell 52 percent. Tampa, 43 percent. Orlando, 51 percent.
It makes sense that at some point bargain prices like these in prime Florida markets will attract investors, both foreign and domestic, and there have been bargains indeed. In Vero Beach, for example, the discount on foreclosures reached 53 percent in the second quarter; state-wide the media discount was 40 percent according to RealtyTrac. By all accounts that seems to be the case. In several markets, notably Orlando, Sarasota, Lakeland and Miami, demand has been strong enough to bring supply and demand into close enough balance to reduce median time for listings in inventory by five to 25 percent.
Why then are markets like Jacksonville, Tampa and Orlando, where prices fell nearly as much as South Florida markets, not participating in the renaissance? Discounts, deals and demand—such as it is—don’t tell the whole story.
The answer is fewer foreclosures, and in turn, reduced inventory. What differentiates markets like Fort Myers and Miami from Tampa and Orlando not just geography by a significant decline in foreclosure filings in South Florida that began early this year and reached 60 percent year to year decline in foreclosure activity in July and August.
Miami-Dade County recorded 3,352 foreclosure-related actions in August, a 61 percent decrease from a year ago. Broward County had 2,806 foreclosure actions, a 63 percent decrease, while Palm Beach County recorded 2,035 foreclosure-related actions, a 66 percent decline, according to
During the second quarter of 2011, foreclosure actions plunged by 51 percent in the tri-county South Florida region compared to the same three-month period in 2010, according to a new report from CondoVultures.com, a site listing condos.
Fewer filings means fewer REOs are being listed, which has contributed to the significant reductions in inventories shared by all of the markets were pries are zooming. Almost all have reduced their inventories in the past 12 months, some dramatically. Since last year inventories of condos and single family homes are down 41 percent in Fort Myers, 47 percent in Miami, 32 percent in Punta Gorda, 33 percent in Sarasota, 32 percent in Daytona and 38 percent in Lakeland.
How long will the Florida phenomenon last? Will double digit price increases discourage bargain hunters and encourage local owners to list their properties and dilute the inventory vacuum that has been behind the price? Is the foreclosure fall off a result of servicer processing delays rather than fewer defaults?
Perhaps Bank of America answered that question when it doubled its foreclosure filings in South Florida in August. With a default rate well into the double digits, Florida still ranks number one in defaults. Until the larger economic picture improves, it’s hard to believe the Florida price phenomenon will last much longer.
“Florida, particularly South Florida, is still in a real estate crisis and experts predict it will take a couple of years for Florida to win its battle over this downturn…Looks like there are going to be lots and lots of good bargains here in beautiful South Florida for those with the wherewithal to purchase them,” says Florida real estate attorney Rosa Eckstein Schechter.
http://rismedia.com/2011-09-19/soaring-prices-suggest-a-florida-phenomenon/
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