Florida Housing market Thread (real estate, rental, job)

[kshe95girl]

latest report, just heard on WFTV out of Orlando that sales are down 50% in Marion County from last November........ now will someone please admit we are in trouble??? The local gov't sure wont admit it!

[JPURTHE1]

Thanks Wildstyle for your help. I agree, I pay my total due at the end of the month for the same reasons. My only debt right now is a $106,000.00 loan on a 28 year loan as I moved to Florida in 2005. Bad time I know but it was worse for my wife and I in N.J.
My wife had a 2 1/2 commute to NYC everyday and with a baby girl she could not even get to spend time with her. Between a 2300.00 mortgage & taxes and 1000.00 monthly for (3 days a week) of baby sitting. We were paying just for my wife to work. I mean I made about 80,000.00 and my wife about 45,000.00 yearly so by no means were we poor. We lived in Monmouth county and loved it.
Just could not even think about having another child (could not afford it).
So we decided that moving to Florida would allow mommy to be home for awhile until we were ready for her to go back. Now we are expecting our second child (boy) in January and as soon as they are both in school wifey wants to go back to work.
We were lucky since my payscale came with me to Florida and only lost my wifes benefits and salary. We lowered out mortage to 670.00 monthly and 2300.00 yearly on taxes. I mean that is a hugh savings. Could I have waited to purchase a home, in hindsight yes but hey I was ignorant to the world around me. We want to live in a better area in florida for the children's education but not sure if we can afford it since selling may not be an option with the market the way it is. I hope to try and cut into the mortgage some more and hope to save for a downpayment on another home. May rent this one out and try my luck somewhere else.
Have not decided where yet, between Martin county (have a sister in law there) and Orange or Seminole County. I want the best school system but it looks like private may be the only option for us. I see some deals but I am waiting to see it all pan out. I agree with many that say wait till the prices of homes have stopped bleeding or at least going in an upward trend. But how long do you wait to move with children in mind and their education?

Scary stuff and wish all the best for the 2008 year!!!

[Wild Style]

Just a FYI for anyone interested. Do not believe a damn thing the national realtors association puts out there. They have been lying about this entire mess from day one. Now they put out that home sales are up by 4%. Do not take my word for it though. Just go back to 2006 and start looking at all the things they have said to date and then look at what was happening on the ground, you will see a sharp contrast.

Originally Posted by kshe95girl

latest report, just heard on WFTV out of Orlando that sales are down 50% in Marion County from last November........ now will someone please admit we are in trouble??? The local gov't sure wont admit it!

[kshe95girl]

Originally Posted by Wild Style

Just a FYI for anyone interested. Do not believe a damn thing the national realtors association puts out there. They have been lying about this entire mess from day one. Now they put out that home sales are up by 4%. Do not take my word for it though. Just go back to 2006 and start looking at all the things they have said to date and then look at what was happening on the ground, you will see a sharp contrast.

Judging from my own experiences this past year, I would say that there is a bit of trouble in paradise..... my own business is down about 35%. What I do for a living is directly linked to home sales, I am an interior designer. Every furniture store, appliance store, flooring, etc., linked to the building trade has told me that business is down quite a bit...... this is all personal observation, but I know 2 builders here that just went belly-up, I am sure this mess is far from over.

[Floridamom]

Hey Wild Style, I agree with you but they find the smallest thing to write something good on. For example: Just because 25 homes sold in November 2006 then 26 sold in November 2007 that is a 4% increase. But most of the homes sold were probably to investors for rentals or new retirees. We saw something saying that 600 people a day were leaving Florida. That's a lot. We had a house in Citrus County and it took a year to sell. It was a nice house but not elaborate.

[Mike Peterson]

Originally Posted by Floridamom

Hey Wild Style, I agree with you but they find the smallest thing to write something good on. For example: Just because 25 homes sold in November 2006 then 26 sold in November 2007 that is a 4% increase. But most of the homes sold were probably to investors for rentals or new retirees. We saw something saying that 600 people a day were leaving Florida. That's a lot. We had a house in Citrus County and it took a year to sell. It was a nice house but not elaborate.

So if there is an increase in sales it should not be reported?

Should only decreases in sales be reported?

You are just guessing who bought the homes and posting your guess. If I guess that sales are going to go up 5000% next month and post that does it add to the discussion at all. Probably not.

Florida population is increasing so even if you saw that 600 people per day were leaving Florida, there are even more coming in.

[CJFlorida]

Originally Posted by Mike Peterson

So if there is an increase in sales it should not be reported?

That 4% is actually 0.4%.

The National Association of Realtors reported Monday that sales of existing single-family homes, condominiums and townhouses rose 0.4 percent in November from October, to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5 million units. Even with the small increase, the pace of sales was still the second-lowest on record going back to 1999. The lowest pace — 4.98 million — was registered in October.“There’s little reason to pop open any champagne corks,” said Michael Larson, a real-estate analyst at Weiss Research Inc.

To be sure, sales are down 20 percent from November 2006, underscoring the problems plaguing the housing sector.

Home prices continued to sink.
The median price of a home sold last month was $210,200. That marked a 3.3 percent drop from a year ago. It was the fifth biggest annual decline on record. The median price is where half sell for more and half sell for less.

[Jammie]

Originally Posted by Mike Peterson

So if there is an increase in sales it should not be reported?

Should only decreases in sales be reported?

You are just guessing who bought the homes and posting your guess. If I guess that sales are going to go up 5000% next month and post that does it add to the discussion at all. Probably not.

Florida population is increasing so even if you saw that 600 people per day were leaving Florida, there are even more coming in.

Just curious~where are all these people living? I've also seen stats that show Fla. is still gaining a bit in population. Nothing like it has in the past, but still gaining. You can check nearly every area of Fla. and there are thousands of houses and condos for sale. So if the people leaving are being replaced with even more people, where is everyone living? Are the replacements from the continental U.S. where it's generally one family per home?

[CJFlorida]

Originally Posted by Wild Style

Just a FYI for anyone interested. Do not believe a damn thing the national realtors association puts out there. They have been lying about this entire mess from day one. Now they put out that home sales are up by 4%. Do not take my word for it though. Just go back to 2006 and start looking at all the things they have said to date and then look at what was happening on the ground, you will see a sharp contrast.

Sadder than that, it is 0.4%, not 4%.

[Mike Peterson]

Originally Posted by Jammie

Just curious~where are all these people living? I've also seen stats that show Fla. is still gaining a bit in population. Nothing like it has in the past, but still gaining. You can check nearly every area of Fla. and there are thousands of houses and condos for sale. So if the people leaving are being replaced with even more people, where is everyone living? Are the replacements from the continental U.S. where it's generally one family per home?

The new construction through out the state, even in areas that 5 years ago did not have much of anything, has been ridiculous.
There is more than enough housing for the incoming populous.