Real Estate Market Condition - Taking Longer To Sell (Jacksonville: for sale, insurance)

cakeprincess · 06-10-2006, 01:35 PM

We put our house up for sale on April and yet, no one buy our house. It is getting worse now because of less showing. We switched to a different agency and still, nothing change. I thought maybe there's something wrong with my house, but I realized there aren't anything wrong with it after I did an extensive research on my neighborhood.

My neighborhood area are having trouble selling houses, too. Some reduced their prices, some don't. I'm trying to figure out why it's happening? I asked my agent and they said it's because of the interest rate is going up, is it?

What other reason why the market is so slow right now? Is summer the bad time to sell? How about after summer? I'm really, really nervous because I need to sell my house before September - that's when the money is due on our new house or else it'll sell it to public.

Weloveantiques · 06-10-2006, 02:15 PM

I really don't think the interest rate increase is the reason, rates are still below 7%. I think there was so much talk of the housing bubble by the media that it scared off alot of buyers and investors. Alot of the Florida market was driven by investors and they have left the scene. Leaving only the true buyers that want to live in your house and they seem to have a "wait and see" attitude, there is no urgency for them to make offers. The days of your house being worth 400K and you putting it on the market for 450K and selling it right away are over for now. The only houses seling now are those priced to sell. Right now is the best time to sell, kids are out of school. My advice is get a good realtor, ask them what you need to do to get your house sold (repairs, price, etc) explain the needs you have with your timeframe. Your Realtor may not tell you what you want to hear.

suzmyers · 06-10-2006, 05:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Weloveantiques

I really don't think the interest rate increase is the reason, rates are still below 7%. I think there was so much talk of the housing bubble by the media that it scared off alot of buyers and investors. Alot of the Florida market was driven by investors and they have left the scene. Leaving only the true buyers that want to live in your house and they seem to have a "wait and see" attitude, there is no urgency for them to make offers. The days of your house being worth 400K and you putting it on the market for 450K and selling it right away are over for now. The only houses seling now are those priced to sell. Right now is the best time to sell, kids are out of school. My advice is get a good realtor, ask them what you need to do to get your house sold (repairs, price, etc) explain the needs you have with your timeframe. Your Realtor may not tell you what you want to hear.

I agree, it is definitely a buyers market right now. Sales are still hot in my area, but they are declining in the next town over. I would light a fire under my realtor too. She can ask where is the home listed? Is it on the net? Magazines? etc.
Most of the rates around here are around 6.50%. Not bad considering prime is sitting at a wopping 8.0%

Candler Homes · 06-10-2006, 05:34 PM

Sales have slowed as quite a few investors are dumping properties to cash out. Rates actually fell slightly this week, and the overflux of inventory should begin to shake out later this year. 2006 apparently is still on track to being the 3rd highest home sales year, regardless of the slow down.

cakeprincess · 06-10-2006, 08:54 PM

I see. So summer and summer end are the best time of the year? Do you have any idea on what is the best way to attract the buyers? Which advertisement type is the best way to do it? My house is not too far from Daytona 500 racetrack (15 mins) and I thought maybe the racefans would be interesting to buy my house. Also, the river and beach is only 10 mins away. I only paid $300 a year for taxes.

Dee2e · 06-11-2006, 06:17 PM

From the Orlando Realtor Regional Association:
Orlando home sales overall still topping 2005 levels

(May 19, 2006 – Orlando, FL) The inventory of single-family existing homes available for purchase in the Orlando area continued its upward march in April, reaching 16,036 in anticipation of the summer selling season according the Orlando Regional Realtor® Association. Last year, during the apex of the 2005 red-hot real estate market that saw many buyers unable to secure a home, only 2,947 homes were listed in the area’s Multiple Listing Service.

The number of homes purchased during April of 2006 were down compared to April of last year at 2,407 to 2,557, respectively (a difference of 5.9 percent).

“Even though sales for the month of April were down a fraction,” explains ORRA President Beverly Pindling, ABR, CRS, GRI, “ overall year-to-date figures place 2006 slightly ahead of 2005. With economists predicting the national housing market to be the third-best ever (below 2005 and 2004), by comparison this confirms that Orlando remains a very strong local market.”

According to the ORRA Roth Report, the median home price in April rose by 13.76 percent over April of 2005 to $248,000. The average mortgage interest rate in April climbed to 6.27 percent.

A breakdown of sales shows that of the 2,407 total homes changing hands in the Orlando area during April, 1,705 were single-family; 446 were condos; and 212 were townhomes/villas/duplexes.

Sales of existing homes within the Orlando MSA (Lake, Orange, Osceola, and Seminole counties) to date this year are up by 1.6 percent over this time in 2005. All together, a total of 11,462 homes in the MSA have been sold by Realtors® in 2006. When compared to April of 2005, however, all four counties in April saw sales decline: Lake County by 25.7 percent, Osceola county by 15.2 percent, Orange by 3.3 percent, and Seminole by 2.4 percent.

BucsFan76 · 06-11-2006, 06:22 PM

Interest rate and higher insurance rates are the main reason, added to an overheated national market where Florida is hotter than most places. Bottom line is the "average" family finds it harder to get into a house even with small gains in interest rates/insurance costs...the prices simply can't keep going up as they have the past 3-4 years. So a "market correction" is coming. Sellers will have to get rid of the notion of last year's prices, although smaller appreciation (about 2% per month) of home prices is possible after this "level off/cool off" period. The way to sell your house quickly is use the internet, brochures, etc to find sq foot cost houses are selling for and undercut them. Then also compare if yours is nicer or not as nice. Next, what incentives can you add at no out of pocket cost to you (maybe offer to pay some closing costs [will reduce money back to you if you have equity]). So...only way to sell your house quicky is to make yours a better deal, and you will see most all houses leveling off/selling prices coming down a bit. Not sure how "locked" you are into that "townhouse" but may want to rethink it too. Worse thing to happen is for you to sell lower and buy at an "old" (higher) value.

cakeprincess · 06-11-2006, 06:29 PM

Well, comparing to my neighborhood, my house got a nice appeal up front, everything remodeled inside, and great neighborhood. My house was priced at $159k and has been reduced to $154k; still no buyer. What puzzled me the most is that several houses in my neighborhood were sold quickly - one is priced $155k and the other one is $139K. We checked out both of these houses and it was in the worst condition I've ever seen in my life. It looks terrible and uncomfortable to live in (no central air/heat, dirty carpet, outdated, etc). We couldn't understand why people bought those houses in that kind of condition and spend a fortune to fix it up? They would be better off to buy our house and save money. I'm still scratching my head and couldn't figure out why don't they buy our house??

Grass Is Greener · 06-11-2006, 09:22 PM

cakeprincess have you checked your asking price against zillow.com? sometimes the site is a little off in the appraisal but a lot of times is pretty accurate.

Candler Homes · 06-12-2006, 06:15 AM

I just spoke with an appraiser yesterday, and she said she is absolutely swamped with business here in Jacksonville. 3 appraisals / day. We did just sell a 932 sqft house in 5 weeks. Had the original contract in one day, fell through after 3 weeks, and had a second a week later. The appraiser also mentioned the high end was starting to move a lot brisker as well.

As far as rising interest rates, they actually fell last week back to 6.62. I think that the over-influx of investor inventory is finally starting to shake out and the market is moving back to normal.