Realtors: home prices to rise 4 percent in 2010 | realtors, rise, diego - Business - Northwest Florida Daily News

Realtors: home prices to rise 4 percent in 2010 | realtors, rise, diego - Business - Northwest Florida Daily News

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Price predictions for 2010 included in this article.

gchmama

Getting a Mortgage in 2010 - 10 Things to Know - Yahoo! News

Getting a Mortgage in 2010, 10 Things to Know.Yahoo! News

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This is a fairly good synopsis of where mortgage rates and lender behaviors are headed. Arguably, most of this information is speculative and no one knows exactly how mortgage terms will pan out but this is a good read for those interested in buying a home this year.

gchmama

Gulf Coast Homeseekers - December 2009

U.S. Supreme Court digs into Florida beach case | McClatchy

U.S. Supreme Court digs into Florida beach case | McClatchy

This will be an interesting case to follow as it could change property laws along the gulf. We'll be watching to see how it turns out.

gchmama

October 09 MSA Stats

I'm taking a bit of a different approach on the stats this month. We are now reporting the 10th month of '09. I believe we can all agree the number of housing units sold is up from last year. Now, I'm going to report averages just to see if we can find evidence of stabilization.

For example, in the Ft. Walton beach MSA, the average condo sales this year to date is 69.2. In October, 94 units were sold. I anticipate that average increasing somewhat as sales level off. However, FWB single family housing average sold this year is 213.8 and October 2009 sales are 251. Once could argue that market as a bit more stable but we cannot dismiss the impact of the First Time Homebuyer's Credit.

Pensacola numbers in the condo market appear much more stabilized. October condo units sold were 41, the average this year has been 42.6. In single family, same market, number of units sold in October was 311, the average so for this year has been 280.1.

Now, let's talk price. This time last year compared to now in the single family FWB market shows a negligible change of +1%. Condo market prices are down 4% from October 08. Conversely, the condo market in Pensacola has seen a 64% increase in price as compared to last year. However, their single family housing values are down 9% from 2008.

What does all of this mean? It's hard to tell right now since many external factors are still affecting our market. The extra tax credit extension will promote more sales in our area, it will be months before we can tell if the market has become "normal". Most of our realtors say they've had an increase in sales this season.

Keeping you informed...

gchmama

Home sales up locally | counties, three, home - News - Northwest Florida Daily News

Home sales up locally | counties, three, home - News - Northwest Florida Daily News

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Although I haven't seen stats yet from the Florida Association of Realtors, this local paper is reporting that sales were up in 3 of our counties. I'll post the actual stats when FAR releases them next week.

Still, it is nice to see an upward trend and what appears to be a market returning to normal.

gchmama

While not a scorcher, summer ends well, ECAR stats show | last, stats, summer - Business - Northwest Florida Daily News

While not a scorcher, summer ends well, ECAR stats show | last, stats, summer - Business - Northwest Florida Daily News

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Thought we'd share some stats from another area newspaper just to offer more perspective on stats. The Emerald Coast Association of Realtors covers the areas around Destin, FL.

gchmama