News

ORLANDO, Fla., July 22, 2010 – Sales of existing homes in Florida rose 15 percent in June, marking 22 consecutive months that sales activity has increased in the year-to-year comparison, according to the latest housing data released by Florida Realtors®.

A total of 18,038 single-family existing homes sold statewide last month compared to 15,732 homes sold in June 2009, according to Florida Realtors. June’s statewide existing home sales increased 7.7 percent over statewide sales activity in May. Meanwhile, last month’s statewide existing-home median price of $143,400 was 2.1 percent higher than May’s statewide existing-home median price of $140,400. It marks the fourth month in a row that the statewide existing-home median price has increased over the previous month’s median.

Fifteen of Florida’s metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs) reported higher existing home sales in June, while 16 MSAs posted increased existing condo sales. A majority of the state’s MSAs have reported increased sales for 24 consecutive months.

Florida’s median sales price for existing homes last month was $143,400; a year ago, it was $147,700 for a decrease of 3 percent. The median is the midpoint; half the homes sold for more, half for less.

The national median sales price for existing single-family homes in May 2010 was $179,400, up 2.7 percent from a year earlier, according to the National Association of Realtors® (NAR). In California, the statewide median resales price was $324,430 in May; in Massachusetts, it was $299,000; in Maryland, it was $249,177; and in New York, it was $194,900.

More jobs are key to the continued recovery of the housing market, according to NAR’s latest industry outlook. “If jobs come back as expected, the pace of home sales should pick up later this year and reach a sustainable level of activity given very favorable affordability conditions,” said NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun. “We’ll also keep a close eye on market conditions on the Gulf Coast.”

In Florida’s year-to-year comparison for condos, 6,916 units sold statewide last month compared to 5,215 units in June 2009 for an increase of 33 percent. The statewide existing condo median sales price last month was $95,000; in June 2009 it was $112,800 for a 16 percent decrease. The national median existing condo price was $181,300 in May, according to NAR.

The interest rate for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 4.74 percent in June, down from the 5.42 percent averaged during June 2009, according to Freddie Mac. Florida Realtors’ sales figures reflect closings, which typically occur 30 to 90 days after sales contracts are written.

Among the state’s larger markets, the Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater MSA reported a total of 3,226 homes sold in June compared to 2,848 homes a year earlier for a 13 percent increase. The market’s existing home median sales price was $138,400; a year earlier it was $139,400 for a decrease of 1 percent. A total of 912 condos sold in the MSA in June compared to 671 units sold in June 2009 for an increase of 36 percent. The existing condo median price was $99,100; a year earlier, it was $113,300 for a decrease of 13 percent.

© 2010 FLORIDA ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS®

What can you get for $50,000?

BY DON MANLEY •  June 28, 2009

Single-family options abound today in a price range that was virtually nonexistent at the housing market’s 2005 peak — $50,000 to $100,000.

Everything from unlived in, recent-vintage, pool homes to decades-old dwellings situated along a canal can be had. And thanks to the explosion of foreclosures and short sales, they can be found throughout Lee County, although most are located in the two communities hit hardest by real estate speculation: Lehigh Acres and Cape Coral.

Getting two or even three times more value for the dollar is common today, compared to 2005 when the median price for single-family homes in the county hit its all-time high of $322,300.

This is the seventh and final installment of the News-Press’ look at how much home can be purchased today at certain price points, as compared to four years ago. The series started with an overview and has encompassed six different price points, starting with $1 million.

Homes that would have fetched $200,000 to $225,000 in 2005 can now be had for $50,000 to $75,000, said a Realtor in Lehigh Acres.

The pickings and accommodations would have been far slimmer back in 2005.

Spending $50,000 to $100,000 in 2005 “would have bought you a little cottage or a very tiny condo,” probably in Lehigh, North Fort Myers or in a rural area, said Barb Cain in Fort Myers.

Today, it’s possible to double the living area square footage, she said. “It’s (price per square foot) just half of what it was three or four years ago. In fact, some are even 60 percent,” Cain added.

One of her listings, in Estero’s gated Island Club development, helps illustrate the market’s transformation.

The two-bedroom, two-bathroom home with 1,557 square feet of living area is available at the short-sale price of $100,000, down from the $170,000 sought when it hit the market about one year ago. That same home sold for $249,000 in February 2005.

In Lehigh Acres, a closing was held June 17 on a home in the Meadows at Mirror Lakes subdivision. The three-bedroom, two-bathroom home, with central water and sewer service and a screened-in patio and spa, was listed for $117,900 and sold for $100,000.

The development offers amenities, such as tennis courts and a picnic area, and sits across Milwaukee Boulevard from the Mirror Lakes Golf Club and near Mirror Lakes Elementary School.

“That house, back in ’05, probably would have sold for close to $200,000,” said the listing agent, Richard Minnig of Realty World C. Bagans.

Lehigh is rife with three-bedroom, two-bathroom homes, with two-car garages and about 1,400 square feet of living area, built by First Home Builders of Florida during the housing boom, he said. Those homes, Minnig said, sold for about $250,000 in 2005 and now sell for about $60,000.

The company also built many similar homes in Cape Coral.

Just $50,000 bought a four-bedroom pool home with a fenced-in backyard in the Villas neighborhood in south Fort Myers last month. Built in 1961, the foreclosed home was appraised at about $85,000 this year and would probably have fetched $185,000 to $190,000 at the market’s peak, said the listing agent,  in Cape Coral.

She and other Realtors said the market for homes in this price range has been white hot in 2009. For example, slightly more than 1,700 such homes have sold in Cape Coral alone so far this year.