Florida's home median prices continue to rise in June

Planet Realtor News Item: "Florida's home median prices continue to rise in June
ORLANDO, Fla., -- July 25, 2005 -- A continuing tight supply of homes available for sale, low mortgage rates and high demand impacted Florida's housing market in June, helping to push the statewide median price of existing single-family homes up 31 percent to $248,700; a year ago, it was $189,200, according to the Florida Association of Realtors� (FAR). "

Greenspan heightens warning on risky mortgages

Greenspan heightens warning on risky mortgages: "Greenspan heightens warning on risky mortgages
WASHINGTON -- July 21, 2005 -- Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan cautioned yesterday that certain types of increasingly popular, risky home mortgages could be 'disastrous' for some borrowers betting on ever-rising house prices.
'There's potential for individual disaster there,' Greenspan told the House Financial Services Committee. It was his strongest warning yet about the potential pitfalls for consumers and lenders in the nation's red-hot housing market.
Greenspan also warned lenders to 'fully appreciate the risk that some households may have trouble meeting monthly payments as interest rates and the macroeconomic climate change.'
Greenspan discussed the housing market while delivering an upbeat assessment of the overall economy in his semiannual report to Congress. Employment, retail spending and business investment have all risen in recent months, he noted.
'The U.S. economy has remained on a firm footing, and inflation continues to be well contained. Moreover, the prospects are favorable for a continuation of those trends,' he said."

Planet Realtor News Item

Planet Realtor News Item: "NEW YORK -- July 20, 2005 -- The Federal Reserve won't use monetary or regulatory policy to cool housing prices and prevent the popping of what some commentators say is a housing bubble, Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan told Rep. Jim Saxton (R-N.J.) in a letter.

'The regulatory system is not designed to influence or control asset bubbles, but rather to ensure that bubbles, should they develop, do not lead to unsafe lending practices,' Greenspan says in the letter.

Saxton, chair of the Joint Economic Committee of Congress, questioned whether recent guidance about risky mortgage products could be considered 'regulatory suasion' and an alternative to higher interest rates as a means of tightening control of the market.

Greenspan says no. Only signs 'that some banks were not appropriately managing risks in the home-equity area' triggered the Fed to offer a warning to lenders about interest-only home-equity loans."

Planet Realtor News Item

Planet Realtor News Item: "DESTIN, Fla. -- July 18, 2005 --With about 1,000 people per day moving to Florida, growth management issues such as traffic congestion, longer commutes, crowded schools and sprawling developments are affecting cities all across the Sunshine State. In future years, analysts predict the crowding will worsen, which means that Florida residents likely face adjustments in their way of life.

Whether it's having time to spend with family and friends or being able to live in a single-family home with a yard, something's got to give, say many state officials, planners and environmentalists."

Florida Homes Have International Appeal, Says Florida Association of Realtors Study

Florida Association of Realtors :: Media Center: "Florida Homes Have International Appeal, Says Florida Association of Realtors�� Study
ORLANDO, Fla., July 14, 2005 -- International buyers are major players in the Florida residential real estate market, accounting for 15 percent of total home sales, according to a new joint study conducted for the Florida Association of Realtors� (FAR) by the National Association of Realtors (NAR). For a long time, anecdotal evidence from Realtors� has suggested that international buyers play a sizable role in Florida home sales, but this study marks the first attempt to quantify the trend.
Of the 986 Realtors who participated in the 2005 Profile of International Home Buyers in Florida survey, 87 percent reported that they did at least one home sale transaction with international buyers in the previous 12 months (between May 2004 and May 2005). Two thirds -- 66 percent -- of those Realtors who brokered foreign-buyer purchases noted that one to four of all their transactions were with international clients. Altogether, the Realtors surveyed closed 1,844 home sale transactions to non-U.S. buyers. "

SURVEY SAYS: MORE THAN IT'S WORTH

July 12, 2005: Reports indicate that some Florida homebuyers are actually willing to pay more than a home's appraised value; so far, FAR's members agree. In a recent Planet Realtor survey, more than 48 percent of respondents said that at least a few of their transactions involved purchase prices above appraised value. And slightly more than 32 percent of respondents said that over half their deals involved a selling price above appraised value.

Jacksonville's Financial News and Daily Record

Jacksonville's Financial News and Daily Record: "A strong labor market, continued low mortgage rates and a growing economy set the stage for a 7 percent increase in existing single-family home sales in Florida in May, with a total of 24,069 homes sold statewide compared to last year�s level of 22,496 homes sold, according to the Florida Association of Realtors.
�Sales of existing single-family homes across Florida are maintaining a healthy pace,� said David Scott, executive director of the Dr. Phillips Institute for the Study of American Business Activity and professor of finance at the University of Central Florida (UCF). �Such sales rates are sustainable in an expanding national economy and Florida posts some of the strongest business conditions indicators in the U.S. Florida�s labor market, for example, is one of the firmest in the country.�"

Mortgage rates at lowest level in a year

Mortgage rates at lowest level in a year: "WASHINGTON -- July 1, 2005 -- Rates on 30-year mortgages sank this week to their lowest level in more than a year, offering a dose of welcome news to prospective home buyers who still face soaring home prices in many markets.

Freddie Mac, in its weekly survey, reported that for the week ending June 30, rates on 30-year, fixed rate mortgages dropped to 5.53 percent, down from 5.57 percent last week. This week's rate was the lowest since early April 2004, when rates on 30-year mortgages averaged 5.52 percent, a spokeswoman for the mortgage giant said."