Vacation Homes on Sale With prices down and sales plummeting, you have room to dicker for your dream getaway. By Jeffrey R. Kosnett, Senior Editor Jessica Anderson, Staff Writer From Kiplinger's Personal Finance magazine, August 2008
I just wanted to give everyone a quick update of what is going on in Panama City. They are making huge strides in changing the city and are well on their way. I think that within a 5 year period this place will be completely different.
There's something for everyone in this Panhandle town where white "sugar sand" beaches along the Gulf of Mexico give way to inland attractions, including six championship golf courses and an active restaurant and nightlife scene. Prices for beachfront property run the gamut from $100,000 for a one-bedroom condo, to $2 million-plus for single-family homes of five bedrooms or more, according to vacation rental site HomeAway.com.
REAL ESTATE AND FLORIDA HAVE been a toxic combination for the past three years. So it's no surprise that shares of St. Joe (ticker: JOE), a land developer based in Jacksonville, have taken a big hit. After peaking in the mid-80s nearly three years ago, they headed south as soon as the Sunshine State's realty market fell apart. At around 40 last week, the stock had lost more than half its value since mid-2005.
Banks are definitely starting to show that they are learning in our area. They've finally started accepting offers instead of holding out for months. I think they are just trying to clear out this mess as soon as possible and move past it. These short sales and foreclosures are moving right now. Soon there won't be any more and the buyers will be stuck negotiating with sellers who aren't in a bind.
Stocks surged Tuesday, with the Dow jumping close to 400 points on the first day of the new quarter, as investors cheered signs that the companies hit hardest by the credit market crisis seem to be working through the problems.
The Dow Jones industrial average (INDU) rose 391 points or 3.2%. It was the Dow's third best day of the year on a point and percentage basis.
These statistics are for sales of single family homes in Destin through Inlet Beach.
I think we will see a large jump in closings for April. The market has been buzzing for the last month. Every Realtor I speak with has actually been working lately!
Home Sales Rise for First Time in 7 Months 3/2008-
Boosted by a record decline in prices, the U.S. housing market showed signs of stability in February, with sales of existing home rising modestly for the first time in seven months, the National Association of Realtors reported Monday. Resales of U.S. homes and condos rose 2.9% to a seasonally adjusted annualized rate of 5.03 million, ahead of the 4.85 million pace expected by economists surveyed by MarketWatch.
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- The Federal Reserve slashed a key interest rate by three-quarters of apercentage point Tuesday, in the central bank's continued effort to restore confidence in the economy and battered financial markets.
A recent list of year-end mortgage foreclosure rates in 100 top metropolitan areas drew a lot of attention. Released by RealtyTrac, a company that compiles data on home foreclosures, the list showed the number of foreclosure filings in each metro area, the percentage of homes being foreclosed and the percentage change from the previous year.
It looks like the housing market may have hit bottom, setting the stage for a mild housing recovery to begin prior to year-end 2008, according to a new study by SMR Research Corp. The market's recovery is likely to be gradual, with house prices merely firming up or increasing slightly, rather than returning to the strong growth seen from 2002 to mid-2006, the firm said.
Three years ago, while writing for Fortune's sister publication Money, I embarked on what seemed like an oxymoronic (or maybe just moronic) quest: to find affordable beach houses at a time of real estate insanity. Beachfront prices were soaring, which made my mission - finding vacation getaways right on the ocean for less than $500,000 - seem like a long shot.
Wow, what a difference all the pre-construction sales of the past made. The condo market remains pretty flat at this point and won't turn until after detached homes do. It could be a while before the stability is back in the condo market, but there are some hurting sellers out there.
Here is the sales and inventory history for detached homes between Destin and Inlet Beach. Let me know if you need any further information.
We are slightly ahead of 2007 in total sales for January and February although the prices are down considerably. The next two months will be a good guide as to what will happen through the summer.
Here are the statistics for condos between Destin and Inlet Beach. In 2007 they closed a pre-construction building so the numbers are skewed. I stated this last year and I stand by the fact that the condo market will take longer to recover. In my opinion it will be in this order; single family homes, condos, followed by raw land. The market is headed in the right direction and we should all be excited about that!
Here is the Sales and Inventory history for January, 2008. This includes all single family homes between Destin and Inlet Beach. In my 2008 forecast I said that January would be a key indicator as to where we are headed this year.
Mortgage application volume skyrocketed for the second consecutive week, rising 28.4 percent during the week ending Jan. 11, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association's weekly application survey.
2007 seemed like it was just a blink of an eye and 2008 is now upon us. We are all pretty familiar with why we've had a weaker Real Estate market over the past two years so I won't go into all of that again. Let me run down the market stats so we can look at where this market is headed in the future....
Question: At some point I plan to buy a house in the $250,000 to $400,000 range. I have generally good credit and plan to make a down payment of 20 percent or more.
But given the instability in the housing sector and generally tightening credit landscape, I'm wondering whether I should buy now or wait several months, maybe even a year, to see where the market settles. What do you think? - Daniel Akers....
What a difference a day makes for mortgage giant Freddie Mac.
The stock surged 14% on November 28, to $29.42, its largest one-day gain in 19 years. Freddie jumped on news that it will have no problem raising $6 billion of capital in a preferred.....
During the housing boom, new-home builders were like the hosts with the hottest invitation in town. They could raise prices with every newly opened phase of a development and display a "take it or leave it" attitude toward buyers. Now, amid the downturn, homebuilders are the hosts everyone avoids. In July, new-home sales nationwide were down 10% from the previous year, and the National Association of Home Builders expects them to continue falling until the second half of 2008...
We at Kiplinger's Personal Finance magazine believe housing prices nationally will bottom out in 2008, but the recovery for housing markets will be slow. While lenders and loan servicers, the federal government and consumer credit counselors work out a plan to relieve some homeowners facing unaffordable rate adjustments on their subprime ARMs, home values continue to slide...
St. Joe Picked as Top 10 Stock for 2008 (12/2007)-
We'll say this for the U.S. economy: It can take a punch.
Consider the blows it has absorbed just this year. The worst real estate crash since the Great Depression. Pow! Oil prices up from $50 to $90 a barrel since last January. Bam! A subprime mortgage mess metastasizing into a full-blown credit crisis, with banks swallowing billions in losses and cutting back on loans. Baff!
NAR: Worst is over - existing-home sales to trend up in 2008
WASHINGTON - Dec. 11, 2007 - Existing-home sales are projected to trend up in 2008, with pending home sales showing a slight near-term rise, according to the latest forecast by the National Association of Realtors (NAR). However, a recovery for new-home sales is unlikely before 2009....
The St. Joe Company announced today that it intends to significantly accelerate its value creation process in Northwest Florida and is restructuring the company to accomplish that objective. The restructured JOE is designed to increase its financial flexibility and strengthen its balance sheet. To improve its financial performance the company intends to:
Real estate investor Matthew Martinez is the point man for a private equity group that plans to invest $200 million in Florida condo developments.
But recent forecasts show many housing markets in the Sunshine State are looking at double-digit drops in home prices. What is he thinking?
"The smart money is thinking about buying there right now," says Martinez. "It may be six to 12 months early, but it's a good time to be searching for deals."
No Hurricanes Means a Drop in Insurance Rates (10/2007)-
Two years of unexpectedly quiet hurricane activity in the US have caused a dramatic drop in insurance premiums that, experts say, could spark consolidation amongst brokers and underwriters. Brokers are predicting cover for hurricanes in the will tumble by at least 10pc in 2008....
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- The delinquency rate for mortgage borrowers spiked higher in the second quarter and the number of homes entering the foreclosure process hit a record high, according to a report released Thursday.
Deliquencies hit 5.12 percent of all outstanding mortgages, up from 4.39 percent a year ago, the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) said in a quarterly survey....
The prices of existing and new homes are expected to bounce back next year after a dreary 2007, a real estate trade group said Wednesday.
The National Association of Realtors also said it expects existing-home sales to rise to nearly 6.4 million in 2008, up from the 2007 estimate of more than 6.1 million. Nearly 6.5 million existing homes were sold in 2006, the association said....
Paulson: Housing slump likely near end The Associated Press, Martin Crutsinger (AP Economics Writer)
WASHINGTON - June 21, 2007 - The major slump in the housing market is nearing an end and should not have a significant impact on the overall economy, Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said Wednesday.....
It seems impossible to get a clear look at the housing situation these days. Where there is hope there is despair, if good news there is bad, existing home sales plummet while new home sales climb toward recovery, ying begets yang. And in that spirit, The National Association of Realtors ( NAR ) just released its annual report on the sales of what we will call "additional homes," that is vacation residences and residential investment properties ......
You'll find no better experts on the real estate boom and bust than Joyce and Louis Bertulfo. Between 2004 and 2006 the couple successfully navigated a hot San Jose housing market, buying and selling two homes for a profit. By the time they relocated to Tampa with their three children this January, however, the winds had shifted. The pace of home sales in the area had fallen by 40 percent from a year earlier. Prices were already softening......
6. Destin, Florida Amid the high-rises, the outlandishly themed minigolf courses, and all the other resort-town enticements that have proliferated in the past couple of decades....
Panama City Ranked #1 Family Destination for Spring Break (4/2007)-
Best for Families
Panama City, Fla. is located on the panhandle of northwest Florida on beautiful St. Andrews Bay and the Gulf of Mexico. Panama City is known as a popular tourist location year ......
Destin Family Beach Guide" is from the April 2007 issue of Southern Living. Because prices, dates, and other specifics are subject to change, please check all .....
University of Florida Study, the Time is Now! (3/2007)-
GAINESVILLE , Fla. - March 9, 2007 - Hopeful homebuyers in Florida should act now: The price is right as the state's single-family residential housing market bottoms out, according to a University of Florida study released today.
As spring arrives, home sellers and buyers are dredging up tools and tactics that have lain dormant ever since the housing boom shifted the balance of power to the sellers' side. Now, with lots of homes to choose from, buyers are calling the shots in many markets. Bids are calmly offered for less than the asking price, and contingencies for inspections, financing and even appraisals are once again appearing in contracts.....
The growth of Panama City Beach has of late been compared to that of its southern cousin, Miami Beach. Known as the "million dollar sandbar," Miami Beach in the 1930s was born of fantasy andspeculation, designed for fun and profit. A morphing of modern architecture and movieland fantasy......
Should You Start Out with a High Asking Price (1/2007)-
Because of the change in real estate market conditions, more sellers are competing for fewer buyers. So once again, it seemed important to challenge a long-standing "myth" of real estate.
"The initial listing price isn't that important because the price can always be adjusted down later."
Florida Panhandle; No longer the "Redneck Riviera" (1/2007)-
Florida Panhandle: No Longer the "Redneck Riviera"
by Lew Sichelman
Once the province of vacationers and second-home owners from Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia and elsewhere in the Deep South, the strip of the Florida Gulf Coast that stretches from Panama City Beach to Destin and once known as the "Redneck Riviera" is now worthy of another, if less familiar moniker, the Emerald Coast.
Nowadays, you're just as likely to see a Mercedes as a pickup. Cadillac Escalades and Lexis RX330 SUVs are as prevalent as........
On a road trip across Florida, Karrie Jacobs goes in search of the authentic amid New Urbanist experiments in postmodern nostalgia.
The idealistic notion that contemporary small towns ought to be "small" and "townlike"—rather than sections of strip mall-riven suburban sprawl—took off in Florida in the 1980’s and 90’s with the founding of Seaside and Celebration, and continues today.....
Panama City Ranked the #1 Place to Invest (2/2007)-
(Business 2.0 Magazine) -- True, America is littered with "for sale" signs these days. And many cities haven't bottomed out yet, and may not for some time. But all the fear and loathing about a housing slump obscures the fact that the end of one cycle marks the start of another.
So it is again this time: Believe it or not, there are housing markets that economists predict will yield returns as high as 72 percent over the next five years - if you can stomach the notion of buying now and not letting go. We asked researchers at Moody's Economy.com to crunch the latest forecast data and identify which cities will see the highest appreciation between now and 2011.
The tiny hamlet of Seagrove Beach in Walton County, Florida, was established in 1946 and has been the vacation destination for generations of returning families.
Seagrove Beach gets its name from the oak trees that once lined the shore and is a scenic area rich in history. If you're looking for a truly private sanctuary away from the crowds, but not too far from many attractions, you can find it in Seagrove Beach. The town is situated between the hot spots of Panama City and Destin in the Florida panhandle.....
PANAMA CITY BEACH, Fla. - It will be either a major boon or a boondoggle, depending on who's talking.
But one thing is certain - a proposed new Panama City-Bay County International Airport could within two years change how metro Atlantans think about getting to the sugar-white sands of the Florida Panhandle....
