Tampa Bay area home price slide slows

Tampa Bay home prices fell 2.1 percent in April and are down 20.4 percent since April 2007, according to the Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller home price index released today. But that's an improvement. They fell 3.36 percent in March. The index shows Tampa Bay area prices peaked in July 2006.

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Housing rescue plan passes key Senate test

A massive foreclosure rescue bill cleared a key Senate test Tuesday by an overwhelming margin, with Democrats and Republicans both eager to claim election-year credit for helping hard-pressed homeowners. The mortgage aid plan would let the Federal Housing Administration back $300 billion in new, cheaper home loans for an estimated 400,000 distressed borrowers who otherwise would be considered too financially risky to qualify for government-insured, fixed-rate loans. An 83-9 vote put the plan on track for Senate passage as early as Wednesday, but President Bush is threatening a veto, and Democrats are fighting each other over key details. Those challenges will probably delay any final deal until mid-July.

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US home prices tumble in April at record rate

No matter who's measuring, the results are the same: Housing prices are tumbling at the sharpest rates ever with a bottom still at least a year away, economists say. Both the Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller home price indices and the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight index on Tuesday reported record year-over-year declines in April, a sobering signal that the housing slump not only is deepening, but also engulfing markets once above water. The last holdout in the Case-Shiller index, Charlotte, N.C., finally succumbed to the national housing downturn, with prices slipping 0.1 percent from a year ago. No city in the Case-Shiller 20-city index appreciated in April, the first time that's happened since its inception in 2000. Las Vegas and Miami again posted the largest declines, each losing nearly 27 percent. Much of the pricing pressure comes from foreclosures and so-called short sales, in which a lender accepts an offer less than the value of the mortgage. These distressed sales can be discounted by 20 percent to 50 percent, forcing home sellers to slash their listing prices to compete.

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State foreclosures to go online July 1

Starting July 1, Florida's clerks of courts will be allowed to perform home foreclosures online, rather than in person. And at least one company, Fort Lauderdale-based Realauction, will be standing by with the software to make that happen. The vendor already works with 17 Florida counties, including Pinellas and Hillsborough, selling certificates for delinquent taxes online. The company is now offering RealForeclose, a dedicated Web site that allows multiple foreclosure sales to be conducted continuously, with bidders participating online.

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Portability fails to heat housing market

Gov. Charlie Crist stood before hundreds of Realtors in Orlando last summer and predicted fantastic things about the property tax cuts on the January ballot. "Florida's going to have a sonic boom when this happens," he said, using rhetoric he would repeat again and again over the next several months. "You're going to be busier than you've been in your life. Get ready, get your rest, make sure your license is up to date." Five months after the vote, Florida is still waiting for the sonic boom. Sales data, interviews and anecdotal evidence all suggest Amendment 1 has fallen far short of the systemic cure Crist predicted.

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Tampa Bay among most affordable areas for retirees

The Tampa Bay area grabbed fifth place on a list of the most affordable places to retire in the United States. Fortune magazine said the real estate slump has given formerly high-flying locales more down-to-earth prices. Miami led the list, followed by Las Vegas, Phoenix, San Diego and Tampa. The region's median home sales price has fallen about 25 percent from its 2006 peak. "Tampa, with its more blue-collar feel, offers the same brand of South Florida living at a far more affordable price," the magazine said. Fortune also praised Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater as a prime "rebound" market. "Its relatively strong local economy, coupled with the fact that the bust hit here earlier than in some other markets, means that the downside may have largely played itself out," the article said.

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Websites About Floods and Flood Insurance

With two mouse clicks, a homeowner - or homebuyer thinking about making an offer - can find a property's potential risk from flooding. FEMA keeps a record of every address in America at http://www.floodsmart.gov. For a floodplain map, go to http://msc.fema.gov. To apply for flood assistance or get more information, visit FEMA's Web site at http://www.fema.gov.

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Trump Tower Tampa developers file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy

Harried by creditors and lashed by lawsuits, the developers of Trump Tower Tampa have sought the haven of Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Though SimDag-Robel LLC has yet to give up on building the 52-story condo tower, the bankruptcy all but ensures the luxury skyscraper is a long shot. Bankruptcy papers filed Tuesday mention debts of up to $50-million spread among more than 200 creditors. Among the biggest: Colonial Bank, which holds a $3.2-million mortgage on the building lot at 111 S Ashley Drive, and New York tycoon Donald Trump, owed more than $1-million in overdue licensing fees from SimDag. SimDag bankruptcy attorney Jeffrey Warren said clients Jody Simon and Frank Dagostino will try to maximize the value of the lot for creditors. They include dozens of condo buyers who placed 20 percent deposits on units costing from $700,000 to $6-million.

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News Of Stronger Inflation Raises Mortgage Rates

The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) averaged 6.42 percent with an average 0.7 point for the week ending June 19, 2008, up from last week when it averaged 6.32 percent. Last year at this time, the 30-year FRM averaged 6.69 percent. The last time the 30-year FRM was this high was the week ending September 27, 2007, when it averaged 6.42 percent.

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Rising mortgage rates add to housing woes

Rising mortgage rates, reflecting higher inflation, are starting to compound the US housing market's woes. Since March, mortgage rates have climbed as much as a full percentage point. For someone borrowing, say, $400,000, that could tack an extra $320 onto the monthly payment. The implications of rising mortgage rates are not good, say economists and mortgage industry specialists. With the housing market still very weak, higher mortgage rates will act like a brake on any recovery in the sector. A hobbled housing market, moreover, means the economy as a whole will remain weak.

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Housing Market Won't Bottom Out Until Builders Cut Prices Significantly

New and existing home sales peaked in July and September of 2005, respectively. It took a while for home builders to catch the drift: Starts didn't top out until January 2006, leaving a huge inventory of unsold homes in their wake. Single-family starts, which are the most sensitive to changes in interest rates, are down 63 percent from the January 2006 peak, easily topping the 38 percent peak-to-trough decline in 1973-1975 and 57 percent 1984-1991 dive, and vying for first place with the 65 percent plunge in 1977-1981.

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Housing starts and building permits decline in May

The Census Bureau reported this morning that May housing starts fell by 3.3 percent compared to April numbers. Privately-owned housing starts in May were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 975,000 compared to the revised April estimate of 1,008,000. Compared to May 2007, starts declined 32.1 percent. Single-family housing starts in May were at a rate of 674,000, or 1.0 percent below the April figure of 681,000. The May rate for units in buildings with five units or more was 280,000. Building permits – an indicator of future starts – also declined in May. Privately-owned housing units authorized by building permits in May were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 969,000, which is 1.3 percent below the revised April rate of 982,000 and 36.3 percent below the revised May 2007 estimate. Single-family building permit authorizations in May were at a rate of 623,000, or 4.0 percent below the April figure of 649,000. Authorizations of units in buildings with five units or more were at a rate of 314,000 in May.

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Cay Club Condo Auction Results

Three years ago the condos sold for about $500,000. Last weekend they were lucky if they collected half that much. Financially troubled Clearwater Cay Club Resort & Marina auctioned off 19 bayfront condominiums and 10 boat slips for a total of $3.8-million last weekend at the Hilton St. Petersburg Bayfront. The sale drew 62 registered bidders in a crowd of 200. In all, 26 condos and 20 boats slips were up for auction, with winners coming from Florida, New York, Massachusetts, Great Britain and Canada. Cay Club is a defendant in a lawsuit from angry buyers who accuse developers of running a Ponzi scheme involving overpriced units. Developers insist they were the victims of the slumping housing market.

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Changes Proposed For Good Faith Estimate

HUD has proposed a comprehensive overhaul of the process of applying for a mortgage. And the agency predicts that simplifying the Good Faith Estimate to help borrowers better understand the terms of their loan could save home buyers $670 on every mortgage loan on average, or $1.2 billion a year. HUD’s new four-page Good Faith Estimate includes a summary of loan terms, interest rate and monthly payment. More importantly, it explains whether the interest rate and principal balance can increase, by how much, and if there is a penalty if the borrower pays off the loan early. Lenders would be required to provide this estimate before borrowers file a loan application, thereby allowing borrowers to compare rates and fees more easily.

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Tampa Bay's unpaid property taxes soar

More Tampa Bay property owners than ever before failed to pay their real estate taxes this year. The surge is unprecedented, officials say, and the reasons are clear: a slumping real estate market, stagnant wages, growing unemployment and the rising cost of energy, goods and services. In Florida, tax bills are mailed out in November. They become delinquent if not paid by April 1. Around the end of April, tax collectors advertise the unpaid accounts for auction, which take place by June 1.

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May Third Highest Month For Foreclosures In Tampa

Economists long predicted that May would be rough for foreclosures because of all the adjustable-rate mortgages due to reset. Numbers released Friday by RealtyTrac bear out at least part of that dire prediction. While Tampa Bay area foreclosure filings in May totaled 4,773 — third to the 5,904 in August and 4,787 in September — the year-over-year increase in mortgage defaults was smaller than it has been for months. Foreclosures increased 29 percent from May 2007 to May 2008. Compare that to the 120 percent rise from April 2007 to April 2008 and the 93 percent jump from March to March. By counting multiple foreclosure filings on single properties, RealtyTrac tends to exaggerate mortgage defaults. And only 1,100 of the 4,773 local cases in May involved imminent confiscation of a home. Most of the rest represented homeowners several months behind on mortgage payments. The Tampa Bay area reported one of every 271 households in some stage of foreclosure. That's better than the state average of one for every 228 households. Worst hit were Cape Coral-Fort Myers and Port St. Lucie-Fort Pierce, which placed in the top 10 nationally. The Tampa Bay area ranked 35th.

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Square-footage formula shows housing bottom beckons

Here's a little numerical quiz: 155, 124, 97. It's not the Pick 3 Lottery. The first represents Pinellas County, where homes sell for an average of $155 per square foot. The second is Hillsborough County, where homes go for $124 per square foot. Pasco County's homes sell for $97 per square foot. Land scarcity and amenities account for most of the price differences. Pinellas is built out and boasts the beaches. Hillsborough's South Tampa-to-Carrollwood core oozes exclusivity. And Pasco has built its reputation as an affordable bedroom community built atop cheap land. Based on market trends, Pasco's price floor is supposedly $93 per square foot. Since it's $97 today, Pasco should reach its floor in October. Pinellas buyers can support a square foot price of $144, $11 less than today's price which is predicted to bottom out in November. That leaves Hillsborough in the problem column. A price floor of $105 per square foot is justified, well below today's $124. Trends suggest prices won't hit bottom until March 2010.

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Fixed Rate Mortgages Jump To Highest Level In Eight Months

The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) averaged 6.32 percent with an average 0.7 point for the week ending June 12, 2008, up from last week when it averaged 6.09 percent. Last year at this time, the 30-year FRM averaged 6.74 percent. The last time the 30-year FRM was higher was the week ending October 25, 2007, when it averaged 6.33 percent.

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US foreclosure filings surge 48 percent in May

The number of U.S. homeowners swept up in the housing crisis rose further last month, with foreclosure filings up nearly 50 percent compared with a year earlier, a foreclosure listing company said Friday. Nationwide, 261,255 homes received at least one foreclosure-related filing in May, up 48 percent from 176,137 in the same month last year and up 7 percent from April, RealtyTrac Inc. said. One in every 483 U.S. households received a foreclosure filing in May, the highest number since RealtyTrac started the report in 2005 and the second-straight monthly record. Foreclosure filings increased from a year earlier in all but 10 states. Nevada, California, Arizona, Florida and Michigan had the highest statewide foreclosure rates. Metropolitan areas in California and Florida accounted for nine of the top 10 areas with the highest rate of foreclosure. That list was led by Stockton, Calif. and the Cape Coral-Fort Myers area in Florida.

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Trinity Area Housing Has Held Value, Appraiser Says

While the housing market is still trying to pull out of a steep nosedive, the value of houses in this portion of southwestern Pasco County has weathered the housing crisis better than many areas. "The higher priced homes have held their values better," Pasco Property Appraiser Mike Wells said. "But across the board, everything has gone down some." And values likely will fall some more in 2009, before a recovery starts in 2010, Wells is projecting. That's when Medical Center of Trinity is scheduled to open. Some are residents hope the hospital will boost the area out of economic doldrums. The $218 million facility with 236 private-room beds will replace Community Hospital of New Port Richey. "I don't think it matters what income level it is," Commissioner Ann Hildebrand commented. All home values have been impacted, she said.

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Kiplinger Personal Finance Magazine Selects 10 Best US Cities To Live, Work and Play

Here are the cities selected:

1. Houston
2. Raleigh, N.C.
3. Omaha, Neb.
4. Boise, Idaho
5. Colorado Springs, Colo.
6. Austin, Texas
7. Fayetteville, Ark.
8. Sacramento, Calif.
9. Des Moines, Iowa
10. Provo, Utah

Please remind me to cancel my subscription to Kiplinger Personal Finance Magazine!

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Pending Sales Up 6.3% in April

A modest gain in the level of home sales is possible over the next couple months, and an improvement is forecast for the second half of this year as more buyers are able to access affordable mortgages, according to the latest forecast by the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS®. The Pending Home Sales Index, a forward-looking indicator based on contracts signed in April, rose 6.3 percent to 88.2 from a reading of 83.0 in March. It’s the highest index since last October, but remains 13.1 percent lower than April 2007, when it stood at 101.5.

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Tax Credit Would Get Buyers Off Fence

A temporary tax credit would be the best incentive to move hesitant home buyers into the market, the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® told Congress on Thursday. NAR said the tactic has been successful before; A 1975 temporary tax credit helped to “clear an over-supply of newly constructed homes during an economic downturn.” Testifying for NAR before the House Committee on Small Business, Jim Helsel, NAR treasurer, said there are “three critical features for an optimal home buyer tax credit.”

* The credit should apply to all residential real estate — not solely foreclosed properties.
* It should be temporary and only apply for a short period of time.
* It should provide higher income limits than those the House has imposed, particularly for single individuals.

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Is It Better To Buy Or Rent

The case for renting has been simple enough. House prices rose so high in the first half of this decade that you could often get more for your money by renting. You could also avoid having a large part of your net worth tied up in a speculative bubble. Most of the time, the decision whether to rent or buy should be based above all on life circumstances. Do you expect to move again in a couple years? Or is there a good chance that you’re ready to settle in — and stop worrying about real estate for a while?

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Average Prices For Homes In Florida From 2000 to 2007

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Shadow Supply Of Real Estate May Push Back Housing Revival

Bank-owned homes typically don't show up in headline figures, nor do ailing borrowers who are still in their homes or owners who want to sell but are waiting in hopes the market will improve. Yet this shadow supply of real and potential homes for sale is large and growing, pushing back a housing recovery, industry figures say. Officially, 4.55 million existing homes were for sale in April, says the National Association of Realtors. At the current low sales pace, it would take 11.2 months to clear that inventory, well above the 3.6 months at the start of 2005. That hefty supply reflects what's found on traditional multiple listings services. But a lot more lurks. A record 2.47% of all home loans were in the foreclosure process at the end of the first quarter vs. 1.28% a year earlier, the Mortgage Bankers Association said Thursday. Beyond that, 6.35% of all loans on one-to-four-unit residential properties are behind on payments. That's the highest delinquency rate since the MBA survey began in 1979. Nearly one-quarter of subprime adjustable-rate loans were seriously delinquent.

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Homeowner Equity Declines To Lowest Level In 60 Years

The equity Americans have in their most important asset - their home - has dropped to its lowest level since the end of World War II. Homeowners' portion of equity slipped to 46.2 percent in the first quarter from a revised 47.5 percent in the previous quarter. That was the fifth quarter in a row below the 50 percent mark, the Federal Reserve said Thursday. The total dollar value of equity also fell for the fourth straight quarter to $9.12 trillion from $9.52 trillion in the fourth quarter, while Americans' total mortgage debt rose to $10.6 trillion from $10.53 trillion.

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Housing Inventories Decline Slightly in May

Housing inventories in major metropolitan areas declined 0.3 percent in May, according to figures compiled by ZipRealty Inc. The data covers residential listings in local multiple-listing services in the 29 areas where Zip operates. The decline confirms that the supply of homes on the market is no longer soaring, although it remains above the four- or five-month level typical at the beginning of this decade. One in seven of the homes for sale are owned by financial institutions, according to an estimate from First American CoreLogic.

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Florida hit hard by foreclosure pain

Florida and fellow housing sufferer California continue to drive up the national average of foreclosures. In the first three months of this year, Florida held 8 percent of outstanding loans but accounted for 15 percent of foreclosure starts, according to a report released Thursday by the Mortgage Bankers Association. Subprime adjustable-rate mortgages represent 6 percent of outstanding loans but 39 percent of new foreclosure cases. The Sunshine State reported 77,000 foreclosure starts in the first quarter of this year. Home equity: The equity Americans have in their homes has dropped to its lowest level since the end of World War II — 46.2 percent in the first quarter — the Federal Reserve said.

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Long Term Mortgage Rates Almost Unchanged

The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) averaged 6.09 percent with an average 0.6 point for the week ending June 5, 2008, up very slightly from last week when it averaged 6.08 percent. Last year at this time, the 30-year FRM averaged 6.53 percent.

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Home foreclosures set record in first quarter

Home foreclosures and late payments set records over the first three months of the year and are expected to keep rising, stark signs of the housing crisis' mounting damage to homeowners and the economy. The latest snapshot of the mortgage market, released Thursday, showed that the proportion of mortgages that fell into foreclosure soared to 0.99 percent in the January-through-March period. That surpassed the previous high of 0.83 percent over the last three months in 2007. The report by the Mortgage Bankers Association also found that more homeowners slipped behind on their monthly payments. The delinquency rate jumped to 6.35 percent in the first quarter, compared with 5.82 percent for the three months earlier. Payments are considered delinquent if they are 30 or more days past due. Both the rate of new foreclosures and late payments were the highest on record going back to 1979.

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Bay area home value declines steep in first quarter

Tampa Bay area home prices put in a rather pathetic performance vs. other large metro areas in the first quarter. According to First American Corp., which sells residential mortgage data to bankers and Wall Street, Tampa homes lost 6.9 percent of their value from January to March 2008. It was the sixth-steepest drop among 34 large statistical areas monitored by First American. We moved up the list — 10th out of 34 — when it came to our year-to-year home price drop of 16.46 percent. In first-quarter home price decline, Tampa trailed Los Angeles, Cleveland, Oakland, Calif., Cape Coral-Fort Myers and Riverside, Calif.

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5 New Rules for Home Buyers

Surviving and thriving in the real estate market these days means following a whole new set of rules. Here are five imperatives for those who want to master the home-buying game.

1. Gaming the market doesn’t work. There's a chance that the home you buy today will be worth less next year. So instead of trying to time the market, drive a hard bargain for a home you really love.

2. Real winners get the lowest mortgage rate. Financing is getting more expensive. Celia Chen of Moody’s Economy.com predicts rates will hit 7 percent in mid 2009.

3. Jumbos are a big bargain. A new law temporarily allows Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae to buy mortgages as big as $729,750, which is keeping the jumbo rates down. The deal disappears at year-end.

4. Good schools count. Neighborhoods with highly rated schools are holding their value better than most, according to a recent study by real estate site Trulia.com.

5. Honesty is the best policy. Be upfront about your commission and consider letting the buyer keep any incentives offered by the sellers.

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Population Declines in Hurricane Areas

Fewer people live in hurricane-prone areas than lived there in 2000. The steepest population losses are in the coastal parishes of Louisiana, which were destroyed three years ago by Hurricane Katrina. Other parts of the coast, including stretches of Texas and the Florida Keys, also lost full-time residents over that period, though the declines were not as big. Overall coastal population from Georgia to Texas has declined about 1 percent in the last eight years. Some vulnerable areas still grew rapidly. In Lee County, around Fort Myers, Fla., more than 42,000 people moved to areas at the highest risk from hurricanes. The county has tried to limit building in some of those places, but it has not been able to overcome the appeal of ocean views.

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Belleair Bluffs house sells for record $10.25-million

What does $10-million get you? Perched on a 2-acre bluff, the house is crammed with 6 miles of wood trim among its five bedroom suites and eight bathrooms. It overlooks a 240,000-gallon swimming pool fashioned into a rocky lagoon fed by a waterfall. Japanese carp glide through a lily-padded pond. Bill McGill, chairman and president of MarineMax, the nation's largest boat and yacht dealer, built the house out of hurricane-resistant steel and concrete in 2001. He's been trying to sell it for years and listed it most recently for $16-million.

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Hillsborough County's Tax Revenue Takes Hit

The taxable value of property in Hillsborough County declined by more than 5 percent this year, good news for some taxpayers but a sign of more tough times ahead for local governments. Only a small portion of the decline comes from a slumping real estate market. The main reason for the drop is Amendment 1, which shielded $6.5 billion in property value from the tax collector. As of Jan. 1, taxable property values in the county totaled $83.35 billion, down from $88 billion the previous year. During the same period, Tampa's property values slipped from $29.62 billion to $29 billion. The figures are based on transactions in 2007 and include homesteaded and non-homesteaded residential property, commercial property and new construction.

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Hurricane Season Starts Today

The Atlantic hurricane season starts today. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) predicts an above average season with 12 to 16 storms, 6 to 9 hurricanes, and 2 to 5 major hurricanes. Click here to download the Official Hurricane Guide For Pinellas County.

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Downtown Clearwater developments take shape

Water’s Edge, on the corner of Cleveland Street and Osceola Avenue, has been under construction since 2005 and will be the tallest building downtown. Situated on Clearwater Bluff, all the units have views of the Gulf of Mexico or the Intracoastal Waterway and range from the mid $300,000s to $1.7 million.

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Inflation Worries Rise Mortgage Rates To 11 Week High

The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) averaged 6.08 percent with an average 0.6 point for the week ending May 29, 2008, up from last week when it averaged 5.98 percent. Last year at this time, the 30-year FRM averaged 6.42 percent.

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Foreclosure restricts future home financing

Homeowners going through foreclosure today may have to wait five years before they are able to get financing for a home again. That’s according to new federal guidelines from the Federal National Mortgage Association and the Federal Home Mortgage Corp., otherwise known as Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. And after those five years, a borrower would have to have a Fair Isaac Corp. (FICO) credit score of 680 and put 10 percent down, said Leslie Swart, managing partner and senior loan officer at Blue Skye Lending in Lakewood Ranch. A FICO score ranges from 300 to 850 points and factors in things like length of credit history, how timely a person is in paying his or her bills and how much an individual has in debt versus available credit, according to Bankrate.com. About 27 percent of the nation falls into the 750-799 scoring range, according to FICO. The smallest category 2 percent – has scores of 499 or less.

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Tampa socked by huge home price decline

Tampa Bay area home prices fell 19.6 percent from March 2007 to March 2008, bringing our home values back in line with what they were in February 2005, according to the S&P Case-Shiller home price index released Tuesday. Our home price decline was 7th worst among 20 cities listed on the index. Nineteen of 20 cities reported price declines. Charlotte, N.C., was the only exception. The average price decline was 14.4 percent. Once again, Tampa-St. Petersburg came off better than Miami and a slew of cities out West. Las Vegas suffered the worst price decline at 25.9 percent. Here's a list of the worst hit areas:

1. Las Vegas: -25.9 percent
2. Miami: -24.6 percent
3. Phoenix: -23 percent
4. Los Angeles: -21.7 percent
5. San Diego: -20.5 percent
6. San Francisco: -20.2 percent
7. Tampa: -19.6 percent

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Clearwater Cay Club condos going up for auction

The Clearwater Cay Club condominium complex has hired auctioneer J.P. King to sell 26 units, 20 boat slips and six adjoining commercial parcels. The on-site auction is scheduled for 10 a.m. June 14 at 2704 Via Murano. At the auction, 10 of the condos and 10 of the boat slips will go to the highest bidder without a reserve price.

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Plenty of 'For Sale' signs but actual sales lagging

Like spring flowers, the "For Sale" signs are sprouting in front yards all over the country. But anxious sellers are facing the most brutal environment in decades, with a slumping economy, falling home prices and rising mortgage foreclosures. And even the faint promise of better days ahead might not come true, given all the headwinds the housing industry is facing at the moment. The devastation is certainly a far cry from the boom years from 2001 to 2005 when sales of new and existing homes were setting records for five straight years. During that time, home prices were soaring, luring thousands of investors into the market, hoping to buy homes and flip them for quick profit. Hardest hit are the states where sales boomed the most: California, Florida, Nevada, Arizona and parts of the Northeast.

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Latest South Florida Area Home Sales

Here are statistics for south Florida markets showing single family home sales from April 2008 compared to April 2007:

Tampa-St. Petersburg: Sales, -8 percent, Price change, -16 percent

Fort Myers: Sales, +41 percent, Price change: -29 percent

Punta Gorda: Sales, +6 percent, Price change, -27 percent

Fort Pierce: Sales, +34 percent, Price change, -34 percent

West Palm Beach: Sales, 0 percent, Price change, -17

Sarasota: Sales, +5 percent, Price change, -11 percent

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House market seems to stabilize

After free falling for more than two years, west Florida homes sales appear to be bottoming out. April's housing activity presented a cautiously optimistic picture: Sales are stabilizing as home sellers cut prices to entice buyers. Here's some evidence:

• Sales were up from April 2007 to April 2008 in some of the worst hit markets south of the Tampa Bay area. Sarasota, Punta Gorda and Fort Myers/Cape Coral all reported rising sales vs. a year earlier.

• Tampa Bay area single-family home sales slipped 8 percent year to year, but Hillsborough and Citrus counties both reported little or no decline. Although Pinellas County Realtors said sales were down 10.7 percent, condo sales were higher than they've been since June 2007.

• Pending sales, homes under contract waiting to close, were up in April in every county in the Tampa Bay area compared to a year earlier.

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April Tampa Area Home Sales Down 8%, Prices Decline 16%

Among the state’s larger markets, the Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) reported 2,087 existing homes sold last month compared to 2,257 homes sold a year ago for a 8 percent decrease. The market's median sales price for homes was $176,000; it was $209,700 in April 2007 for a 16 percent decrease. A total of 508 existing condos changed hands in the MSA last month, down 7 percent from the 549 condos sold the previous year. The existing condo median sales price in April was $152,300; a year ago, it was $170,400 for a 11 percent decrease.

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The Evidence Points Toward Recession

The economic downturn rivals the recession in 2001, according to the Deloitte Research Leading Index of Consumer Spending. "This significant drop in the index gives us empirical data of what many have long suspected," says Carl Steidtmann, chief economist with Deloitte Research and author of the monthly index. "The current economic downturn is as significant as anything we have seen since the last recession." The firm also reported these findings - Real Home Prices: The fall in house prices intensified, the company believes, and contends the home market shows no sign of bottoming out, with residential spending falling 26.7 percent in the first quarter of 2008. vs. the first quarter of 2007

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Long Term Rates Slip On Weak Economic News

The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) averaged 5.98 percent with an average 0.5 point for the week ending May 22, 2008, down from last week when it averaged 6.01 percent. Last year at this time, the 30-year FRM averaged 6.37 percent.

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Caladesi named best beach

For years an also-ran, Caladesi Island State Park in northern Pinellas County won the distinction as America's top beach for 2008 by coastal expert Stephen P. Leatherman, otherwise known as Dr. Beach. Leatherman called the 3-mile-long island off the coast of Dunedin his "favorite getaway beach" during an announcement live on MSNBC from the local beach this morning. He called the sand "white as it can be'' and lauded the crystal clear water. Caladesi has been in the top six of Leatherman's America's Best Beaches List since 1997 and was No. 2 for the last two years. Pinellas' Fort De Soto Park's North Beach won top honors in 2005. The park also was named as the best U.S. beach by the travel Web site TripAdvisor.com this year. Having two top-ranked beaches is "a definite distinction no community in North America can claim," said D.T. Minich, Pinellas tourism director. "To have have two number one beaches in one community is unprecedented."

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Gov't home price index posts largest drop in 17-year history

U.S. home prices posted their sharpest first-quarter decline since the government began tracking the data 17 years ago. The Washington-based Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight said Thursday that home prices fell 3.1 percent in the first quarter compared with last year. The index also fell 1.7 percent from the fourth quarter of 2007 to the first quarter of 2008, the largest quarterly price drop on record. Prices fell in 43 states, with California and Nevada showing the biggest declines. Home prices dropped by more than 8 percent in those states. The government index is calculated by tracking mortgage loans of $417,000 or less that are bought or backed by the government-sponsored mortgage-finance companies Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Legislation enacted in February temporarily raised the limit to as much as $729,750 in high-cost areas. The government index focuses on less expensive properties and includes fewer houses bought with risky home loans that have gone sour over the past year.

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Majority of Tampa-St. Pete residents can afford typical home

The two-year attrition in home sales and prices has made housing affordable for a majority of Tampa Bay area households. According to the National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Opportunity Index, 60 percent of Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater households can afford the median priced home of $167,000. The index says the median family income here is $56,500. That places us almost perfectly in the middle of the pack nationally. We ranked 114th out of 223 metro areas. The most affordable region was Kokomo, Indiana, where 95 percent of families can afford the median home price of $88,000.

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