News and Events - Debra Wingo

According to Freddie Mac, the national average commitment rate for a 30-year, conventional, fixed-rate mortgage fell to a record low 4.56 percent in July from 4.74 percent in June; the rate was 5.22 percent in July 2009. Last week, Freddie Mac reported the 30-year fixed was down to 4.42 percent.

The national median existing-home price for all housing types was $182,600 in July, up 0.7 percent from a year ago. Distressed home sales are unchanged from June, accounting for 32 percent of transactions in July; they were 31 percent in July 2009.

“Thanks to the home buyer tax credit, home values have been stable for the past 18 months despite heavy job losses,” Yun said. “Over the short term, high supply in relation to demand clearly favors buyers. However, given that home values are back in line relative to income, and from very low new-home construction, there is not likely to be any measurable change in home prices going forward.

Source: NAR

Aug. 6, 2010 (back to top)

Low U.S. home prices, high loonie make it a good time to be a Canadian snowbird.

TORONTO – Aug. 6, 2010 – Mary and Ron Ethier long believed a getaway home in the Florida sun would remain a retirement dream, but when a recent real estate turnaround opened the border to a growing flock of snowbirds, the couple suddenly saw an opportunity too tempting to pass up.

“We just felt with the prices that were happening down there, that it was out of our reach financially,” said Mary Ethier from her home in Pembroke, Ont. “But when their real estate market basically took a big hit and the Canadian dollar came up, we thought if we’re ever going to do it, now’s the time to get off our butts and go and do it.”

The couple, too busy with their lawn-care franchise to enjoy Ontario summers, toured homes in the Fort Myers, Fla., area in the fall of 2007 and made a lowball offer, expecting to negotiate, but instead found their deal accepted.

By January, they owned a condo in a gated community, a property foreclosed upon when the U.S. housing bubble burst and home prices began to plummet and many American homeowners realized they could no longer pay their mortgages.

The loonie has since risen to hover around parity while U.S. home prices have stagnated, creating new financial incentives for Canadians to act fast and scoop up American real estate deals.

“It’s a once in a lifetime opportunity for Canadians,” says Mark Dziedzic, a Canadian Realtor with Cross Border Realty and a snowbird himself.

The Sun Belt states of Texas, Arizona, California and Florida are favorites, while there are also deals to be had in Nevada and Georgia. The average price of a home in Phoenix, Ariz., is US$144,600, compared to $432,253 in Toronto.

“People are buying $40,000 to $50,000 condos in Phoenix right now. Condos (in Toronto) are selling for $400,000 to $500,000,” Dziedzic said. Taxes, condo fees and closing costs are also generally less expensive in the U.S., he added.

Prices in most U.S. regions have steadied after falling for three years, but a high number of foreclosures persist, lowering prices, especially in Florida and Nevada, said Bank of Montreal mortgage specialist Laura Parsons.

“This is the time to buy if you’re going to,” she said.

“I think you’ve got to look at this as a long-term investment because you’re getting such a deal. You’re going to have to hang on to it for a while,” and ride out any further downturns before the market picks up again, she said.

There is a fine balance between rushing to buy and waiting for lower prices. Economists predict the U.S. housing market will remain soft, but it’s futile to make decisions based on where a currency or a housing market is going.

“I don’t think you need to rush down and get a place, but the good stuff in the lower price range ... those are moving. The good ones come up and they’re sold,” Dziedzic said.

Buying real estate in the U.S. is becoming easier for Canadians as more snowbirds snap up getaway homes. But experts caution that the buying process, which takes about three to four months, is a different beast.

June 30, 2010 (back to top)

Top 10 fastest growing U.S. counties.

WASHINGTON – June 28, 2010 – The fastest-growing counties in the country, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, are mostly in suburban areas outside of urban centers. The report calculates changes as of July 1, 2009, the most recent data available.

The census numbers govern the distribution of more than $400 billion in federal money each year.

10 fastest-growing counties

1. Kendall County, Ill. (Chicago), 92.1 percent
2. Pinal County, Ariz. (Phoenix), 89.7 percent
3. Rockwall County, Texas (Dallas), 88.9 percent
4. Flagler County, Fla. (Jacksonville), 83.9 percent
5. Loudon County, Va. (Washington, D.C.), 77.6 percent
6. Forsyth County, Ga. (Atlanta), 77.4 percent
7. Lincoln County, S.D. (Sioux Falls), 70.7 percent
8. Paulding County, Ga. (Atlanta), 67.4 percent
9. Williamson County, Texas (Austin), 64.3 percent
10. Douglas County, Colo. (Denver), 64 percent

Source: CNNMoney.com, Les Christie (06/16/2010)

© Copyright 2010 INFORMATION, INC. Bethesda, MD (301) 215-4688

April 14, 2010 (back to top)

UF survey: Florida land values continued fall in 2009.

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – April 6, 2010 – The steep decline in the state’s rural land values continued in 2009, but may level off later this year, according to the annual Florida Land Value Survey from the University of Florida’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences.

After years of price growth spurred by a population boom between 2002 and 2006, some areas of Florida lost as much as half their value in 2008.

The survey, which does not evaluate urban land values, sought to determine average rural land values as of May 2009. Results show that farmland in North Florida dropped between 3 and 17 percent in value from 2008, while areas in South Florida dropped between 10 and 31 percent.

The exception to this drop in value is wooded farmland, which experienced a marginal increase of just over 1 percent, although it’s not clear what contributed to this rise.

The value of pasture lands rose 22 percent, but this was interpreted as a market correction to a disproportional devaluation in 2008, says Rodney Clouser, the UF professor of food and resource economics who coordinated the survey.

The value of some transitional land – rural areas outside of cities that may be converted to housing or other nonagricultural use – actually rose more than 4 percent in North Florida in 2009. However, transitional land in South Florida fell by nearly 46 percent.

These findings fall within the range predicted by the 2009 survey, Clouser says, which may bode well for next year. Survey responses from individuals involved in the Florida real estate market predict that, although land values will continue to drop in 2010, the decline will be much less severe than that of 2008 and 2009, likely around only 6 or 7 percent.

“The steepest decline is likely over, but it will most likely be a few more years before we see an overall increase in values,” Clouser says. “Even after the bigger economic picture improves, there will be a surplus of land in Florida that will need to be sold before the values begin to go up again.”

The report can be viewed at http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/FE833.