Have you been out to look at homes lately? It’s slim pickin’s out there! I have several buyers looking for a home and can’t find anything suitable. The quantity of inventory at affordable price levels has been falling steadly.
Another interesting thing happening lately is the quantity of offers sellers are receiving on homes that are well-priced and in move-in condition. My CPA is looking for a home in the Clearwater area. He put an offer on a bank-owned home for $40,000 over the asking price and didn’t get it. He was beat by someone who offered $50k over the asking price AND there were 18 offers!
I wrote a contract on a bank-owned condo on the penthouse floor in Feather Sound. Our offer was full-priced, and we were beat! The seller’s agent said he got 7 or 8 offers on it, and it went for well over the asking price.
Makes me curious about what is going to happen to home prices soon with all this activity and bidding wars.

The Tampa Bay area is the fifth best area to buy a home in the country, according to Fortune magazine.

Even with the glut of foreclosures in the bay area, Fortune said, it’s now cheaper to own a home than to rent the same house in 28 out of 54 major markets. Tampa Bay is tucked between Cleveland (fourth) and Las Vegas (sixth) on the Top 10 list. Orlando placed second and Jacksonville seventh. Atlanta topped the list.

As the main reasons for buying now, the magazine cites the historic drop in new construction since the housing market peaked in 2006, and the nationwide decline of 30 percent in home prices. Prices in some of the hardest-hit regions recorded declines of more the 50 percent.

Retiring baby boomers flocking to Florida again will help resurrect the housing market, Fortune said. The Sunshine State learned a lesson about overbuilding during the boom, Fortune said. Just look at all the large subdivisions still vacant or partially constructed.

That inventory won’t sit empty for long. But the magazine warns that the bay area still ranks ninth in the nation in foreclosures. Still, the area has more sunshine and sand compared to Cleveland.

Times staff

[Last modified: Apr 26, 2011 11:18 AM

Have you noticed apartments being built all around Tampa? There are over 500 units being built within 2 miles of my house. I believe office leasing still has a long way to go, but residential commercial property sales and construction are heating up. The rental market here is pretty hot, too. I have several clients who have had a tough time finding an affordable house to rent in a decent neighborhood. There has been competition for homes for rent in the $2000+ price range.

I had my first investor/second home condo buying tour last weekend. It had a good response. Beachwalk condos represent a good value and cash flow position now. They originally sold for $200k to $286k, now they are $40k to $90K. The higher end of the price range has a bay view.
According to USA Today, investors are buying around the country now. And most are buying with cash.
Tampa home sales are up again for Feb 2010 over Feb 2009. The tax credits are helping to stabilize prices.

We just had the best October since 2005 in the Tampa Area. Buyers are scooping up homes to use their $8,000 tax credit.

photo credit: LancerEI know most people think it’s a buyer’s market, but the market in Tampa is changing again.  Houses under $150k are moving quickly.  Homes over $400k are even moving if they are priced right for the number of square feet.
I have an appointment to show houses on Monday to some great buyers in the $400k price range and 3 out of 5 of the homes they selected had contracts written on them in the last 2 days!
A bank REO listing I got last month for $103K got 12 contracts on it in 3 days.  I scheduled an open house for it 2 days after I listed it and buyers were waiting for me to get there.  I haven’t seen that for 3 years.
If you are thinking about buying your first house and are still waiting to start looking, you may miss the boat.  The closer we get to the November 30th cut off date for the $8,000 tax credit, the less affordable inventory that will be available.

 

If your property is easy to show and you price it to be the least expensive property for sale in the subdivision by several thousands below its value, you will get so much traffic through it that will produce several offers.  Usually the property goes for more than you would normally have gotten if you priced it at its true value. 

 

When people see a deal, they can�t resist and start getting competitive.  This works especially well with anything that is in the price range of first time home buyers.

 

There was an article today in the Florida Association of Realtors email talking about this same thing. 

 

Bidding wars break out on low-priced homes

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. � July 21, 2009 � Bidding wars are returning to South Florida�s housing market, as investors and first-time buyers compete for homes and condominiums listed at $200,000 or less.

The race for properties is reminiscent of the boom years from 2000 to 2005, when multiple offers on all types of dwellings helped push prices to record highs.

Back then, a dearth of properties for sale had buyers rushing to scoop up anything they could find, for fear that prices would keep rising. Now, frustrated with a bloated inventory of foreclosed homes in disrepair, buyers go to great lengths when they spot a house or condo in pristine condition.

�When they find a good listing, people are pouncing,� said Terry Story, a real estate agent for Coldwell Banker in Broward and Palm Beach counties.

Agents say the heated competition has been building in recent months, a result of low mortgage rates and the $8,000 tax credit for first-time buyers that expires Nov. 30.

Steady sales increases during the past year gradually have worked off the inventory of available homes. Real estate agents are convinced that the overall market has hit bottom or is close to one.

Housing market researchers have a different take.

Because of mounting job losses and the lingering recession, the bidding wars are mostly confined to homes offered at deeply discounted prices. Also, housing experts say, the market needs more than investors and first-time buyers taking the plunge for a rebound to occur.

Analysts don�t expect across-the-board price increases soon and predict that prices in Broward and Palm Beach counties will keep falling, albeit at a slower rate, through this year and into 2010.

The bidding wars �are a good sign, but I don�t think it�s the sign that we�re at the bottom,� said Brad Hunter, a housing analyst with Metrostudy, a market research firm with an office in West Palm Beach.

Rising unemployment is sure to lead to more foreclosures and property sales later this year, which almost certainly will lower prices, Hunter and other analysts say.

Some observers suspect that lenders are holding back the supply of foreclosed homes, promoting bidding wars to increase prices now before the flood of new listings further depresses prices.

Banks dispute that notion. They say they�re overwhelmed with foreclosures and try to market them for sale as quickly as possible.

�The longer we hold them, the more money it costs us,� said Nancy Norris, a spokeswoman for banking giant Chase.

The bidding wars in South Florida are giving sellers more leverage after three years of buyers calling the shots.

Investor Greg Bales bought a three-bedroom home in Lauderdale Lakes three months ago for $65,000 � $1,900 less than what it sold for in 1985.

Bales, 41, beefed up the curb appeal with a new paint job, trees and other landscaping. Inside, he installed laminate floors, granite countertops, new kitchen appliances and an alarm system.

He put the home back on the market July 10 for $139,900 and fielded 10 offers, three for more than the asking price.

He selected a bid from a first-time buyer for $145,000, and the deal is expected to be complete next month.

�We would have had a bunch more offers, but my real estate agent told the people it really wasn�t worth their time if they weren�t submitting a full-price offer,� Bales said.

Eric Cormier of Philadelphia is searching for a small home for his sister-in-law in Delray Beach. He offered $120,000 cash for a house listed for $152,000, only to be out-bid by a few thousand dollars.

Another home he considered received four offers in one day.

�I was surprised,� said Cormier, 47. �I thought there was a fire sale going on in Florida.�

In some cases, first-time buyers are losing homes because sellers prefer dealing with cash investors who don�t have to fiddle with financing.

Meanwhile, some real estate agents are creating �drama pricing� � listing properties for far less than the market value to attract bidders and drive up the eventual selling price.

�It�s like �Ta-da�,� said Douglas Rill, an agent for Century 21 America�s Choice in West Palm Beach. �It creates so much of a buzz that it results in a bidding war.�

Drama pricing typically happens with short sales. Those homes aren�t as much in demand because buyers know that it can take months for the deals to close. In a short sale, a lender accepts less than what�s owed on the mortgage and forgives the remaining debt.

Tony Thomas, 44, is looking for a home in the $200,000 range in central Palm Beach County. He made three offers, only to be told each time that another buyer out-bid him.

His agent, Liz Golub, told him to �run like a bunny� to make strong offers as soon as properties come on the market. The strategy paid off recently when the owner of a home near Lantana accepted his offer. But because it�s a short sale, the bank must approve the deal, and that could take months.

�It�s frustrating,� Thomas said. �I have not seen the benefits of this buyer�s market right now.�