blog/web-journal

Median single-family existing-home prices rose in about 20 percent of the 149 markets tracked by the National Association of REALTORS® in fourth-quarter 2011 compared to the same quarter in the previous year, and Florida and Texas are home to nine of the 29 metros with positive growth.

Nationally, the U.S. median single-family existing-home price fell 4.2 percent year over year in fourth-quarter 2011, to $163,500. Real estate owned (REO) and short-sale properties accounted for 30 percent of home sales in fourth-quarter 2011, down from 34 percent in fourth-quarter 2010, the association also reported.

The median price rose 25.6 percent year over year in the fourth quarter in the Cape Coral-Fort Myers, Fla., metro area, to $108,000 — it was the highest increase among the 149 metros featured in NAR’s latest report, released today.

Continued here:

If you feel like doing something a bit different this weekend, why not visit the 45th Annual Osceola Art Festival?.  Taking place on February 11th and 12th from 10AM to 5PM at Valencia’s Osceola Campus with 150+  artists, live  entertainment and festival food.

Details here:  www.ocfta.com

Publix Super Markets is expected to take 50,500 SF of space in the Water Tower Shoppes retail center on the front entrance to Celebration on U.S. Highway 92 with the expectation of opening in October of this year.  Look for a total renovation of this retail center as well.

Throughout the latest housing boom, remodels were all about big and bold. Now there is less emphasis on luxury and appearances-for-appearances sake. Take advantage of this trend with a focus on practicality in any remodeling project.  It will make the home more competitive at resale and will stretch the dollar cost further.

- The Orlando Sentinel, 2012 -

Look for the same in 2012 as in 2011 for the new-home market. There will be a gradual increase in housing starts in Prime locations.  Builders have been holding their prices on A- or B- sites and in some cases even raising them as reported by Metrostudy Inc., a regional research firm.

Good news as well from the Orlando Regional Realtor Association. In its core market (ending November) the active listing inventory had fallen to 10,000 available units, down from 15,000 at the beginning of 2011.

As of the middle of last month, 62 percent of condo, townhouse and villa sales involved distressed properties, with half of the single family homes sales falling into this category in the core Orlando market.

- ORRA -

An interesting old saying about the general make up of HOA memberships (plus or minus a 5 percent margin of error) is that 80 percent of the members do not care, 5 percent do care yet do not help, 10 percent are the workers, and 5 percent are the trouble makers.

(Sound familiar?)

Perhaps this is why many boards become complacent because the majority of members are not active in the affairs of the association.

- R. White, Community Living/Orlando Sentinel -

Who pays to fix roads and drainage defects in a community: HOA or developer?

The Florida Supreme Court is scheduled to hear legal arguments on the question during the course of this week.  A lower court previously ruled it was the HOA’s responsibility.  However, last year Florida’s Fifth District court of Appeal ruled differently.   In the next several months there will be a defining decision rendered. 

Whichever way the decision goes, it will prove costly for one side or the other.

Home Affordable Refinance Program

Beginning today homeowners that are upside down in their properties have the opportunity to apply for a new updated version of the Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac refinance program.  This will help a large number of home owners that are underwater with their mortgages, who stayed employed and continued making their payments.

Home owners that have missed mortgage payments in the past six months do not qualify.

This is one of the first new programs that will not require an appraisal for the purposes of valuing the property.

Expect the process to take some time though.  Since it is a start up program, the ‘window’ to approval could be up to 4-6 months.

How to apply?  Contact your mortgage lender, or any lender approved to do business with Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac and ask for an application.

Pool pump, faucet or bathroom fixture dripping?  Interesting to note how much water can be lost over the course of a year.

A drip a second will waste up to 1,661 gallons over the course of this period.

- Energy Star.gov -