Miami Homes Listings

 

Buyer and seller real estate services, including finding homes, listing homes for sale, market analysis and property evaluation for Miami and Fort Lauderdale. 

The South Florida Real Estate Market is HOT!!! With the influx of cash buyers from abroad the South Florida Housing is seeing a recovery that few could have predicted.New Condo Towers are joining the South Florida Skyline and with new projects to come like the Health District and the Riverside reface along with the Miami Design District and Biscayne will make of Miami the magnet for investors the city needed to sell the inventory left behind due to the 2008 crisis. 

Good Times are coming to Miami, by 2020 the whole Miami Skyline will look way different as we see today. Are you ready to capitalize on that? Please, visit our page http://MiamiHomesListings.com and learn what's available to you today

Home Sales, Inventories Reach a Turning Point? | Realtor Magazine

Home Sales, Inventories Reach a Turning Point?

DAILY REAL ESTATE NEWS | FRIDAY, MAY 23, 2014

Existing-home sales posted the first rise of the year in April as inventory levels of for-sale homes also showed improvement, the National Association of REALTORS® reports.

Existing-home sales rose 1.3 percent in April compared to March, reaching a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.65 million last month. Still, home sales are 6.8 percent below the 4.99 million-unit pace set in April 2013, NAR reports.

“Some growth was inevitable after subpar housing activity in the first quarter, but improved inventory is expanding choices and sales should generally trend upward from this point,” says Lawrence Yun, NAR’s chief economist. “Annual home sales, however, due to a sluggish first quarter will likely be lower than last year.”

An Overview of Key Indicators

Inventory levels: Housing inventories soared 16.8 percent in April, reaching a 5.9-month supply at the current sales pace. That is up from a 5.1-month supply in March. Unsold inventory is 6.5 percent higher than a year ago. “We’ll continue to see a balancing act between housing inventory and price growth, which remains stronger than normal simply because there have not been enough sellers in many areas,” Yun says. “More inventory and increased new-home construction will help to foster healthy market conditions.”

Home prices: The median existing-home price was $201,700 in April – 5.2 percent higher than year ago levels. “Current price data suggests a trend of slower growth, which bodes well for preserving favorable affordability conditions in much of the country,” Yun says.

Distressed sales: The decrease continues in distressed homes, which includes foreclosures and short sales. Distressed homes accounted for 15 percent of April sales, down from 18 percent a year ago, NAR reports. Broken out, in April, 10 percent of sales were foreclosures and 5 percent were short sales.

Time on the market: For the fourth consecutive month, homes sold faster. Four out of 10 homes nationwide sold in less than a month in April. The median time on the market for all homes was 48 days in April, down from 55 days in March. 

By Region

Across the U.S., here’s how existing-home sales and prices fared in April:

• Northeast: unchanged in April compared to March, holding at an annual rate of 600,000, but down 6.3 percent compared to year ago levels. Median price: $244,000, down 0.4 percent from a year ago.
• Midwest: dropped 1 percent in April to a 1.03 million pace, and are 9.6 percent below year ago levels. Median price: $157,200, which is 5.8 percent higher than April 2013 levels.
• South: rose 1 percent to an annual level of 1.94 million in April, but remain 3.5 percent below year ago levels. Median price: $173,200, up 3.2 percent from April 2013 levels.
• West: rose 4.9 percent to a 1.08 million pace in April, but are 10 percent below year ago levels. Median price: $291,200, up 9.7 percent from April 2013.

Source: National Association of REALTORS®

Miami EB-5 | EB-5 South Florida

Miami receives EB-5 designation

The program will facilitate foreign investment in South Florida

May 21, 2014 03:45PM

« PREVIOUS NEXT »

• Print
•   Tweet  

Mayor Tomas Regalado

Miami has received an EB-5 Regional Center for Foreign Investment designation, making it easier for foreigners – especially Chinese investors — to park their millions in South Florida.

Mayor Tomas Regalado said the approval by the U.S. Customs and Immigration Service is a “tremendous vote of confidence” and would help position Miami as a hub, according to the Daily Business Review.

The program allows the city to assist foreign nationals who inject capital in to the U.S. economy by granting them special immigration status. To be accepted into the program, investors must spend at least $500,000 and prove in two years that they created 10 jobs. [DBR] – Christopher Cameron

Tags: eb-5

Housing Affordability Slips, But Not Everywhere | Realtor Magazine

Housing Affordability Slips, But Not Everywhere

DAILY REAL ESTATE NEWS | WEDNESDAY, MAY 21, 2014

Housing affordability continued to fall across the country as the median price of single-family homes rose due to a continued lack of housing inventory, according to the latest National Association of REALTORS® Housing Affordability Index. The median single-family home price was $198,200 in March, up 7.4 percent from year-ago levels.

What’s more, mortgage rates are higher than last year. Income levels rose 2.1 percent from last year.

“An increase in inventory along with price stabilization will improve affordability,” according to NAR’s Economists’ Outlook blog.

Affordability is down in all regions across the country, but the West saw the biggest drops in affordability due to a 12.5 percent price gain.

Still, more than 63 percent of homes sold in the first three months of the year were affordable to buyers earning the U.S. median income of $63,900, according to a new analysis by the National Association of Home Builders. In some markets, the income needed to qualify is a fraction of that.

The following housing markets are known as the most affordable markets in the nation for a median-priced home, where buyers need less than $21,000 in income to qualify for a mortgage when putting 5 percent down.

• Youngstown-Warren-Boardman, Ohio-Pa.; $14,894 (income needed to qualify when putting 5% down)
• Decatur, Ill.: $16,046
• Toledo, Ohio: $16,623
• Rockford, Ill.: $16,853
• Cumberland, Md.-W.Va.: $18,767
• South Bend-Mishawaka, Ind.: $19,758
• Dayton, Ohio: $21,649
• Canton-Massillon, Ohio: $21,741
• Fort Wayne, Ind.: $21,787
• Fond du Lac, Wis.: $21,810

Meanwhile, the least affordable markets were San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, Calif. (where a buyer would need an income of $186,285 to qualify), followed by San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, Calif. ($156,728); Honolulu ($154,999); and Anaheim-Santa Ana-Irvine, Calif. ($154,423).

Source: “Latest Housing Affordability Index Data,” National Association of REALTORS® Economists’ Outlook Blog (May 20, 2014) and  “Where it Takes $185k to Get a Loan,” Bankrate.com (May 14, 2014)

Mortgage Giant Tweaks 5 Projections for Housing in 2014 | Realtor Magazine

Mortgage Giant Tweaks 5 Projections for Housing in 2014

DAILY REAL ESTATE NEWS | WEDNESDAY, MAY 21, 2014

Regular supply and demand forces continue to produce unexpected results in the housing recovery, according to Freddie Mac’s U.S. Economic and Housing Market Outlook for May.

“The housing recovery is struggling to shift into a higher gear, and obviously there are various imbalances holding this back from happening, but at the heart of the matter it comes down to jobs,” says Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac’s chief economist. “Housing needs stronger, and just as important, sustained levels of job creation to get the housing engine firing on all cylinders. April’s jobs numbers were encouraging, and nothing will solve the supply and demand factors faster than keeping employment growth going.”

As such, Freddie Mac revised its housing forecast and lowered several indicators.

“While we still see an improving trajectory for the housing market, we're pushing it out a few months from our earlier forecast because we expect GDP growth to pick up in the final three quarters of the year from what was clearly a dismal first quarter reading,” Nothaft notes.

The mortgage giant’s latest report showed the following projections for the market for 2014:

1. New-home construction: Starts on new homes are expected to rise by 18 percent this year.

2. Home prices: Appreciation is expected to moderate to an annual growth of 5 percent this year.

3. Sales: New and existing home sales are expected to hold at 5.5 million, the same as 2013. The inventory of homes for sale remains low in many housing markets across the country.

4. Household formation: Net household formation continues to rise, but the overall levels remain lower than what is expected, Freddie Mac notes. “Stronger job and income growth are necessary to support additional household formation,” Freddie notes.

5. Mortgage rates: The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage is expected to gradually inch higher and end the year around 4.6 percent. “We expect fixed rates to rise gradually during the second half of the year in part as a result of the Federal Reserve’s ‘tapering’ of net MBS acquisitions,” according to Freddie Mac’s report.

Source: Freddie Mac

Only 30% of Condo Buildings are FHA Approved | Realtor Magazine

Only 30% of Condo Buildings are FHA Approved

DAILY REAL ESTATE NEWS | THURSDAY, MAY 15, 2014

The Orange County Association of REALTORS® has launched an educational campaign encouraging condominium homeowner associations to get FHA- and VA-certified in order to attract more qualified buyers to their building.

Nationally, only about 30 percent of condos are approved for FHA financing, and even fewer are VA-approved, said Rita Tayenaka, broker-owner of Coast to Canyon Real Estate in Mission Viejo, Calif.

Tayenaka, who is a member of NAR’s Federal Financing and Housing Policy Committee, presented a video produced by OCAR at the REALTOR® Party Conference & Trade Expo in Washington, D.C., Wednesday. A condo project that receives FHA or VA approval is more likely to attract a larger pool of qualified buyers, she said.

Although the video is branded for California, Tayenaka said it is relevant nationwide. Since 2010, HOAs have been required to prove their viability to receive FHA or VA approval and must renew their certification every two years.

FHA and VA Condominium Project Approval - OCAR from OCAR on Vimeo.

If you have questions, OCAR is willing to help. E-mail questions to FHA.VA.info@ocar.org

—By Erica Christoffer, REALTOR® Magazine

11 Markets Where Cash Deals Make Up 50% of Sales | Realtor Magazine

11 Markets Where Cash Deals Make Up 50% of Sales

DAILY REAL ESTATE NEWS | TUESDAY, MAY 13, 2014

Cash is king in Florida home sales, according to RealtyTrac’s latest report, “U.S. Institutional Investor & Cash Sales Report.” The state boasts the highest number of metros where cash deals comprise more than half of sales.

Nationwide, cash sales are on the upswing, despite a slowdown in investor activity and a dwindling supply of foreclosures on the market. The National Association of REALTORS® reported last week that all-cash purchases made up 33 percent of transactions in the first quarter, up from 31 percent a year ago.  

According to RealtyTrac’s report, the following metros saw the most cash sales in the first quarter, amounting to more than half of all of their sales.

1. Cape Coral-Fort Myers, Fla.: 73.6%
2. Miami: 67.1%
3. Sarasota, Fla.: 65.1%
4. Palm Bay, Fla.: 64.1%
5. Lakeland, Fla.: 61.8%
6. New York: 57%
7. Columbia, S.C.: 56.1%
8. Memphis, Tenn.: 54.9%
9. Detroit: 53.5%
10. Atlanta: 53.2%
11. Las Vegas: 52.2%

Source: RealtyTrac