July 14, 2008
Miami Real Estate group says public awareness of credit scores has improved but still poor
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Americans can save billions of dollars annually on credit card and other interest payments by raising their credit scores, but many consumers still don’t know enough about the complex numerical values that represent their credit risk.
Although awareness of credit scores has increased in the past year, it remains poor, the Consumer Federation of America and Seattle-based bank Washington Mutual Inc. found in an annual survey released Thursday.
The scores, which generally range from 200 to 800, play an increasingly important role in consumers’ finances.
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They are used by banks and insurance companies to determine rates for mortgage loans, credit cards, auto loans and other financing. Utilities, landlords and employers also are increasingly checking credit scores.
Washington Mutual estimates that consumers could reduce credit card finance charges by $105 annually if they boosted their credit scores by 30 points. If all consumers did so, total annual savings would reach $28 billion since financial institutions offer lower interest rates to consumers with better scores.
One way to raise a credit score is to avoid charging above the maximum limit on a credit card, or coming close to the limit, the study said.
But credit card issuers, including banks such as WaMu, have recently cut limits on many cards as financial institutions seek to reduce their credit risks. That can hurt credit scores because they are based partly on the amount a consumer has on a card compared to its overall limit.
If a consumer has charged $4,000 on a card with a $10,000 limit, their so-called “utilization rate” is 40 percent. But if a card issuer reduces the limit to $5,000, that bumps a consumer’s utilization rate up to 80 percent.
The Consumer Federation recommends credit card users keep their utilization rates below 50 percent, said Stephen Brobeck, executive director of the group.
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Anthony Vuoto, president of WaMu’s card services unit, downplayed the impact of banks’ reduction of credit limits, saying it likely affects only a “small minority” of consumers who already have a “credit blemish” that caused the bank to lower the limits.
To improve their credit scores, consumers should also avoid opening multiple new accounts quickly, and pay off debt rather than moving it around, the study said.
Brobeck said the good news is that “most Americans know why credit scores rise and fall.”
Two-thirds of consumers know that paying off a large credit card balance improves credit scores, up from 62 percent in 2007, and almost 80 percent know that missing a monthly credit card payment reduces their score, compared with 71 percent, the survey found.
But less than a third of Americans understand that a credit score reflects the risk that a consumer won’t pay back a loan, the report said. Many Americans believe it reflects other factors, such as overall financial resources, and most also wrongly believe that demographic factors like income, age and education affect their score, Brobeck said.
Another positive sign is that 49 percent of Americans have obtained their credit score in the past two years, up from 42 percent in 2007, according to the survey of 1,000 adults nationwide.
The scores are compiled by three credit reporting bureaus – Equifax Inc., TransUnion LLC and Experian Group – and consumers can obtain a free copy of their credit report from all three once a year. But Americans must pay about $15 to see the actual scores.
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Posted by South Florida Realtor at 09:58 AM
Rates on 30-year mortgages rise, other rates mixed
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WASHINGTON – Rates on 30-year mortgages edged up this week, while rates on other home loans were a mixed bag.
Freddie Mac, the mortgage company, reported Thursday that 30-year fixed-rate mortgages averaged 6.37 percent this week. That was up from 6.35 percent last week.
Rates on 15-year fixed-rate mortgages, a popular choice for refinancing, dipped to 5.91 percent this week, compared with 5.92 percent last week.
Meanwhile, five-year adjustable-rate mortgages rose to 5.82 percent this week, up from 5.78 percent last week. Rates on one-year adjustable-rate mortgages held steady at 5.17 percent, unchanged from the previous week.
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Earlier this week, there were fresh signs that the painful housing slump was likely to drag on. The National Association of Realtors’ pending home sales index slipped 4.7 percent in May to the third-lowest reading on record.
“Pending home sales fell more than expected,” said Freddie Mac’s chief economist Frank Nothaft.
Home foreclosures have hit record highs as sagging home values have left some borrowers owning more on their mortgages than their homes are worth. With more empty homes being dumped on an already glutted market, prices are being pulled lower. Buyers, however, have become harder to find as credit has gotten harder to secure.
Congress is moving ahead on a package to help distressed homeowners. It would allow the Federal Housing Administration to provide them with more affordable, fixed-rate mortgages.
The mortgage rates do not include add-on fees known as points. The nationwide fee for 30-year, 15-year and five-year mortgages all averaged 0.6 point this week. The fee on one-year mortgages averaged 0.5 point.
A year ago, rates on 30-year mortgages stood at 6.73 percent, 15-year mortgage rates averaged 6.39 percent, five-year adjustable-rate mortgages were at 6.35 percent and one-year adjustable-rate mortgages averaged 5.71 percent.
On the Net: Freddie Mac: http://Freddiemac.com
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Posted by South Florida Realtor at 09:48 AM
July 01, 2008
10 best places for house bargains. (800) 819-5466 Aventura, Florida
AVENTURA - HOMES .COM Fla. – The best place to get a bargain on a home is an area where there is healthy job growth and more houses available than people to buy them.
These are markets “where you have high inventories but pliable borrowers, with lenders willing to deal,” says Anthony Sanders, a professor of finance at Arizona State University.
Forbes magazine went looking for markets where the damage from risky lending hasn’t been as dramatic as in some parts of the country and where employment growth will burn off an over-abundance of inventory quickly.
Here are the magazine’s 10 best cities for bargain house hunters.
1. Salt Lake City, Utah. Developers have gotten ahead of the demand, but the city is adding jobs more quickly than practically any place else in the country.
2. Raleigh, N.C. Another place where building got ahead of the curve, but the economy is expanding quickly.
3. Orlando, Fla. This part of the state had fewer speculators than Miami and Tampa, and it’s adding jobs faster than those cities as well.
4. Charlotte, N.C. The financial industry is moving here, adding jobs, but the inventory of unsold homes is still significant.
5. Phoenix. This city had a high foreclosure rate, but the economy is growing and people are still moving here in large numbers.
6. Seattle. The city’s port has profited from the weak dollar, but the housing price growth has slowed.
7. Las Vegas. This market was hit hard by foreclosures, but the growing economy makes the huge inventory less toxic than it is many places.
8. Jacksonville, Fla. The foreclosure rate is slower than the rest of the Florida cities, making the large inventory likely to improve.
9. Richmond, Va. There is only one foreclosure per 1,103 households here (compared to 1 in 33 in Detroit). Still, there are plenty of homes on the market.
10. Houston. Homes in Houston have long been a bargain. While there have been plenty of foreclosures, the population and the economy are expanding.
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Posted by South Florida Realtor at 11:01 AM
September 04, 2007
Home Insurance: What Does "Insured" Mean To Me & My Miami Property?
The kids are back in school and now it's time for you to do your home work.
If you have not updated your home inventory and estimated value of your possessions for more than 12 months, you may be in trouble if faced with a "final exam" -- an insurance claim.
Simply paying property insurance premiums on time is not enough. To ensure your possessions, shelter, financial well-being and your home-based business, if you have one, are safe and secure, you should actually read your insurance policy or go over the details with your insurer's representative.
The contract between you and the insurer -- your policy -- must accurately estimate full value and must include relevant details of what you own, which usages are involved and what replacement would cost. If you carry too little insurance or if changes in use would disqualify some or all of a claim, that's your problem because the insurance industry considers it your responsibility to arrange correct coverage for your property and lifestyle.
From a consumer perspective, "The Best" insurance brokers and agents may be those who contact clients annually to ensure coverage reflects property value increases, renovations, new acquisitions and extended usage like a start-up home-based business, a new equipment-intense hobby or the inclusion of foster children.
If you are on your own with this annual up-date, tie the inventory review to a seasonal shift associated with "buying sprees" like back to school or Christmas. Include taxes in your listing. Minimum contents coverage is usually calculated as a percentage of building value. If the value of your possessions exceeds the insurer's calculated percent, then additional coverage may be required to protect the new home theatre, latest diamond ring or "had-to-have" golf clubs.
To up date the building's replacement value, contact your insurance representative. "Insured value" does not include land value, often a considerable portion of market value.
The Insurance Bureau of Canada (IBC), the national trade association of the private property and casualty insurance industry representing more than 90 percent of non-government home, car and business insurance, provides consumers with details on their responsibilities and rights. Armed with accurate information on what to expect, you are well prepared to ask the right questions whether you are searching for a new insurer or renewing a policy. Not convinced there's value in learning more? Did you know ... ?
Decide on Agent vs Broker: "Agents" work for one insurer and can only offer that insurer's policy types and features to consumers. You must fit this insurer's criteria for "insurable" or find your own alternative supplier. "Brokers" each represent a small range of insurance companies, ideally chosen to provide the most useful range of products and options for the client base served by that broker. When shopping around, ask each broker which criteria they use in selecting companies and how their business is distributed between the insurers. If one insurance company drops you, the broker will attempt to switch you to another insurer.
Compare beyond price: IBC Consumer Information Officer Don Stewart provides an example: "Coverage matters. All policies are not the same as companies can enhance their policies or not enhance them. For example, all companies will insure to estimated replacement cost. Most will add 'sleep at night' enhancement—guaranteed replacement cost." Steward goes on to explain that some insurers will pay all the replacement cost even if it exceeds the insured level while others will cap over-payment to a percentage, perhaps 20 percent.
Read the fine print: "People should always read their policy so they know what they are covered for because it's better to know before than after," said Stewart. For instance, policies do cover wind damage—something blowing off or onto your house—but a tree falling on a home can add complications beyond the damage. The policy may include payment to have your tree taken off the building, but not off the property. If the tree belonged to a neighbour, your insurance covers the damage to your home. If the tree was known to be in dangerous condition and the neighbour did nothing about this, your insurance company may go after the neighbour's. Let the insurers fight this out rather than taking on the tree owner yourself since any resulting settlement from your neighbour will be based on depreciated value whereas your insurer will pay you replacement value.
Hidden Secrets May Cost You: Owners of older homes may have knob-and-tube or aluminum wiring within the walls without knowing it. If the house burned down and one of these deficiencies was discovered later, the policy would still stand. However, if your insurer inspects your property at any point and finds a "red flag" like an oil tank or knob-and-tube wiring, you could be given notice to modernize or face having your policy cancelled. Switching insurers could trigger a similar situation. Once you sign up, an insurance inspector may discover a condition the insurer will not cover and you'll have to fix the situation, or find an insurer who will overlook it.
It's For The Unaffordable, Not Home Maintenance: IBC explains that home insurance is there to protect you from having to pay out a huge amount at once, often at the very worst time emotionally. "Auto insurance is claims rated and it is affected by claims," said Stewart, comparing insurers' reactions to a claim. "In home insurance, you would lose the discount for being without a claim. Where you run into a problem with home insurance is two or three claims in two or three years. When you have a claim and it goes on record, the amount does not matter. Frequency does....Home insurance is not a maintenance contract...legally you can claim all kinds of things, but insurers don't like this so they will drop you, and others will not want you."
Insurance is an integral part of the price of real estate ownership. If property insurance lapses, existing mortgages are in default and may become due and payable. New financing may not be possible. The accompanying loss of millions in personal liability coverage places you at risk from law suits. Consider insurance premiums, insurer-driven renovations and continuing property modernization as basic ownership costs.
"Welfare is society's problem, not insurance," said Stewart. "They are there to try and make a profit. If you can't afford to keep a house, you'd better sell it ... . A lot of insurance companies do charity on the side, but not in business. GM does not reduce the price because you cannot afford it."
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Posted by South Florida Realtor at 10:56 PM
FHA to step in, finance at-risk loans
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Some homeowners with risky “subprime” adjustable-rate mortgages will be able to refinance before they lose their home to foreclosure, with the help of steps President Bush will announce today, senior administration officials said Thursday night.
An estimated 80,000 homeowners with bruised credit and subprime ARMs they can no longer afford will be able to refinance loans, which the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) would insure.
The move marks a historic expansion of the role of the FHA, a Depression-era agency that has traditionally served low- and moderate-income families and first-time buyers, but not delinquent borrowers. Nearly 16 percent of subprime borrowers are behind on their ARMs, and an estimated 2 million subprime ARMs totaling about $600 billion will reset to higher rates through the end of next year.
To qualify for the new benefit, homeowners would have to prove they paid their loan on time before it reset to a higher rate and must have at least 3 percent equity in the home.
The program, which doesn’t need congressional approval, should take effect early next year.
Under current rules, the maximum loan the FHA can guarantee is $202,000 in most states and up to $362,000 in high-cost states such as California and New York.
The officials said Bush will also call on Congress to pass his proposal to overhaul the FHA, in part by raising those loan limits to $262,000 in most states and $417,000 in pricier areas. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to speak on the record.
Bush also wants the FHA to be able to help other risky borrowers, beyond the 80,000, by broadening its lending criteria. To compensate for the added risk that the borrowers might default, the FHA would charge them higher premiums on the loans. Also, he wants to eliminate the 3 percent downpayment requirement, though borrowers would have to pay at least some of the closing costs to secure the loan.
The senior officials avoided using the word “bailout,” but the plan is sure to incite critics.
“If you’re going to help someone to refinance, you’re going to bail out the person who financed him in the first place,” Peter Wallison of the American Enterprise Institute said Thursday night. “This will only cause the problem to arise again.”
Wallison said the lenders who provided the financing in many of these cases likely knew that the borrowers couldn’t meet the financial obligations of the loan.
“If we’re going to allow (lenders) to be refinanced out, what we’re doing is saving them from their own greed. ... It might be good politics, but it’s very bad policy.”
In another bold step, Bush will propose a temporary change in tax law. It would let homeowners avoid taxes on forgiven debt if a lender agrees to alter the terms of a loan.
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Posted by South Florida Realtor at 02:17 PM
May 09, 2007
Todays News Updates
The last time our “Prime Rate” was as high as it is now was February of 2001. At that time it was 8.5%. Today’s prime rate is 8.25% and over the past 6 years, it has grown to this level via increases set forth by the current and previous Fed Chairmen.
Tomorrow, we will see if the Fed will leave the rates as they stand now or, begin cutting them. According to many prognosticators, it is too early for the Fed to cut rates now. However, they did change their stance and communication last month by insinuating cuts would be forthcoming if the economy continued to show slowness. As we had seen last week, we did have a sluggish employment report. This statistic clearly would show a cut is necessary and, our economy is in fact, slowing. But has it slowed enough to cut rates?
Certainly, from the last 3 weeks of a hot stock market, our real estate industry has slowed significantly and cuts are needed. We also need more tax relief and more insurance relief. However, there are many great deals in the market and interest rates are still extremely good. The “par” rate for a typical 30 year mortgage is still in the very low 6% range. I am also closing many interest only loans in the 6.5% range too.
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Posted by South Florida Realtor at 03:46 PM
April 23, 2007
Miami Real Estate News Of The Week. 800-819-5466
Fueled by surging energy prices, the closely watched Consumer Price Index (CPI) shot up 0.6% in March, the biggest increase since a similar rise in April 2006. However, core inflation -- which excludes volatile energy and food prices -- rose 0.1% in March, the smallest increase in three months, and better than the 0.2% rise Wall Street had expected. Inflation for the first quarter of 2007 was 4.7%, far above the 2.5% increase for all of 2006.
The Conference Board said its Index of Leading Economic Indicators climbed a tepid 0.1% to 137.4 in March, as analysts had expected. The latest reading reverses two straight months of declines. The index is designed to forecast economic activity over the next three to six months.
Retail sales rose 0.7% in March, up from a 0.5% gain in February. It was the best showing since a 1.1% rise in December, the Commerce Department reported April 16. Analysts had predicted a 0.8% increase.
Construction of new homes edged up 0.8% in March, the second straight monthly rise, the Commerce Department reported April 17. Applications for new building permits also rose by 0.8% in March, the first advance in three months, providing a glimmer of hope that the worst of the housing downturn might be over.
For the week ending April 19, interest rates on 30-year and 15-year fixed-rate mortgages declined, remaining well below year-ago levels, Freddie Mac said April 19.
This week look for updates on existing and new home sales on April 25.
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Posted by South Florida Realtor at 02:46 PM
November 14, 2006
Housing slump may be nearing end, industry economist says
Saying that “the worst may be over,” the housing industry’s chief economist said Friday that home prices must continue to come down in some regions before the real estate slump plays out.
“We need a price decline, we were overbloated,” particularly on the West Coast, David Lereah, chief economist for the National Association of Realtors, told attendees at his organization’s annual meeting here on Friday.
“In 2007, it will be a flat year, maybe 1 percent (sales) drop, and that’s it,” he said. “After 2007, we’ll be back to expansion again,” Lereah said.
But Steve Murray, a Littleton, Colo., industry consultant who followed Lereah on the podium at the convention, which drew an estimated 30,000 people, said he was less optimistic about the speed of the market’s recovery.
“Lereah said we’re at the bottom (of the slump), but in most markets we are going to slide some more,” Murray said. Citing interviews with executives at more than 100 large real estate firms, he said the pending sales data could be falsely reassuring.
“The fall-through rate (of contracted home sales) has gone from single to double digits,” Murray said the executives reported. “Buyers can’t sell their existing homes.”
“People who think this thing is going to turn around in six months are out of their minds,” Murray said in an interview before his speech.
Lereah forecast that 2006 sales will end up about 9 percent lower than in 2005, a record year. He anticipates sales of 6.47 million units, declining to 6.43 million next year. Prices nationwide will be down by about 2 percent, year over year, and will inch up by 1.5 percent in 2007, he said.
New-home sales will decline this year by 16.8 percent, to 1.07 million units, and will sink 8.7 percent further next year, to 975,000, he said.
Lereah said inventory is stabilizing, citing his trade group’s data on pending sales - homes that have gone under contract.
“It appears that inventory has peaked,” said Lereah, who now estimates a 7.3-month supply of available homes nationwide.
“We were hovering near 4 to 5 months’ (supply of homes fore sale) during the boom, and in some areas, such as Orange County, Calif., we were measuring it in weeks, not months.”
But Lereah said the national picture is positive. “I’m optimistic for 74 percent of the country,” where local markets are, at worst, flat. “The other 26 percent are in for some rough times.”
Struggling the most would be California, Southern Florida, Arizona, Nevada, and metro Washington, D.C., he said, where sellers particularly need to lower their prices.
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Posted by South Florida Realtor at 11:11 AM
Governor-appointed task force to present 50 property insurance fixes
Strengthening homes, continuing state support for Floridians’ insurance needs and eliminating an arbitrary method of deciding who qualifies for wind coverage were among 50 recommendations in the first report from a governor-appointed task force to solve the state’s property insurance woes.
The 115-page report – the product of seven meetings around the state since August with the public, legislators and industry experts – will be presented to the governor Wednesday in Tallahassee.
Much of the report focused on how state-created Citizens Property Insurance Corp., Florida’s insurer of last resort, operates.
One of the committee’s recommendations is to do away with the windpool boundary designations in the state that determine if homeowners can get wind insurance through Citizens.
“While certainly intended to create valid pockets of wind risk areas in the state, the 2004-2005 hurricane losses illustrate the boundaries are arbitrary and antiquated,” the report states.
Locally, state Rep. Bill Galvano, R-Bradenton, has crusaded against the disparity between the windpool boundaries in Manatee and Sarasota counties.
“That’s a good thing. That’s exactly what I stood up on the House floor and said several months ago – that they (wind boundaries) are arbitrary,” Galvano said. “That’s something that had to be addressed if any further bill was going to be meaningful.”
In Manatee County, the windpool only includes a section of the barrier islands 1,000 feet from the Gulf of Mexico, while Sarasota County’s windpool encompasses the city of Sarasota and extends eastward in the vicinity of Interstate 75 at some points.
The committee also recommended that commercial policies in Citizens be transferred to the recently created commercial joint underwriting association or a new state entity for commercial risk assumption.
John Laurie, a Bradenton insurance agent who served on a technical board advising the committee, feels the proposed revisions to Citizens are important.
“That’s big, because, as you know, people are paying assessments today for people who had property insured through Citizens, but (the former) were ineligible to get access to that very same safety net,” Laurie said. “That was unfair and needed to be corrected.”
A recommendation to increase funding for the state’s Hurricane Catastrophe Fund, which currently has about $15 billion to pay damages, is also significant, Laurie said.
“The CAT fund is the most efficient vehicle to allow us to have more availability and affordability in insurance coverage,” Laurie said. “So that’s a home run that the committee hit and I’m glad they made that recommendation.”
Other recommendations by the committee include:
• Expand the state’s My Safe Florida Home program that offers free home inspections and matching grants up to $5,000 for property owners who invest in storm shutters, roof tie-downs and other reinforcement features. Also, make clear what discounts on premiums policyholders can receive for investing in such features.
• Require insurers to offer dwelling limits for wind coverage that would only cover the outstanding balance of the mortgage.
• Seek federal funding for windstorm analysis and studies that is equivalent to the federal funding in place for earthquake data.
• Do away with a recently passed provision that residents of Florida must be homestead property owners in order to obtain policies through Citizens.
Though the move by the Legislature was to ensure that year-round residents didn’t shoulder the burden for insurance costs of snowbirds with winter homes, many believed the move would send the wrong message to people looking to invest in the state of Florida.
The committee, chaired by Lt. Gov. Toni Jennings, will continue to meet and discuss solutions through May 15.
What happens now largely depends on the governor.
Many are waiting for Bush to call a special session of the Legislature to put ideas into action to solve the problem of soaring insurance premiums and rampant policy cancellations in the wake of the past two storm years.
“It’s been reported widely that the governor is seriously considering calling the Legislature into special session in December,” said Florida Office of Insurance Regulation spokesman Bob Lotane. “I think the proposals that are generated by the committee will have a lot of weight in what the governor decides to do.”
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Posted by South Florida Realtor at 11:06 AM
November 10, 2006
Allstate reduces rate increase request
Allstate Floridian Insurance, the state’s third largest home insurer, is lowering its proposed rate increase in the face of resistance from state regulators.
The company said Tuesday that it was still seeking a rate increase, but one that would average just under 20 percent statewide instead of nearly 25 percent.
Another Allstate company, Allstate Floridians Indemnity, made a similar move, notifying state regulators that it will seek a 26.4 percent increase on average rather than the 31.6 percent average increase it initially proposed.
Company officials said Allstate had originally included the cost of reinsurance for some policies that it now plans to shift to another company as it seeks to reduce some of its exposure.
If approved by the state Office of Insurance Regulation, the new rates would take effect around the end of the year.
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Posted by South Florida Realtor at 10:09 AM
September 03, 2006
Mortgage rates dip to lowest level since early April
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Sept, 2006 -- Rates on 30-year mortgages fell for a sixth consecutive week, providing homebuyers with more relief from an earlier rise in rates.
Mortgage giant Freddie Mac said Thursday that 30-year, fixed-rate mortgages dipped to 6.44 percent this week, down from 6.48 percent last week.
That was the lowest level for 30-year mortgages since they averaged 6.43 percent the first week in April.
Mortgage rates hit a four-year high of 6.80 percent the week of July 20, before beginning a sustained decline as financial markets became more convinced that a slowing economy would keep inflation under control.
"Mortgage rates continued to drift lower this week in large part because of the cooling in the housing market and in consumer confidence, thus giving financial markets reason to believe that economic growth will moderate and inflation will remain in check," said Frank Nothaft, chief economist at Freddie Mac.
Sales of both new and existing homes set records for five consecutive years through 2005 as buyers reacted to the lowest mortgage rates in more than four decades.
But sales activity has slowed this year with many analysts forecasting a decline in both new and existing home sales of around 10 percent.
The Federal Reserve at its last meeting on Aug. 8 left interest rates unchanged, breaking a two-year period of rate increases. Many private economists believe the central bank may be finished raising rates as long as inflation pressures remain reasonable.
Rates on 15-year, fixed-rate mortgages, a popular choice for refinancing, averaged 6.14 percent this week, down from 6.18 percent last week.
For one-year adjustable-rate mortgages, rates dipped to 5.59 percent, down from 5.60 percent last week.
Rates on five-year adjustable-rate mortgages fell to 6.11 percent this week, down from 6.14 percent last week.
The mortgage rates do not include add-on fees known as points. Thirty-year mortgages and 15-year mortgages both carried a nationwide average fee of 0.4 point. One-year ARMS carried a nationwide average fee of 0.7 point while five-year ARMs carried a fee of 0.5 point.
A year ago, 30-year mortgages averaged 5.71 percent, 15-year mortgages stood at 5.32 percent, one-year ARMs were at 4.48 percent and five-year ARMs averaged 5.30 percent.
Posted by South Florida Realtor at 11:38 PM
May 19, 2006
Housing cool-down is 'orderly,' Fed chief says
WASHINGTON -- May 19, 2006 -- Confirming what home buyers suspected and real estate sales figures have indicated for months, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke said yesterday that the U.S. housing market was showing clear signs of cooling off.
Bernanke said the slowdown is "moderate" and "orderly" and pointed to the overall strength of the economy.
"We're seeing slowing in sales, slowing in starts. There also seem to be signs that prices are not rising as quickly as they have been for the past few years," Bernanke said in response to questions after a speech in Chicago, Bloomberg News reported.
His comments came as Freddie Mac announced that the average rate on a 30-year, fixed mortgage hit 6.6 percent this week, the highest in almost four years. Rising long-term rates have contributed to the housing industry's slowdown. The Commerce Department this week said construction of new homes fell 7.4 percent in April, to an annualized pace of 1.85 million homes. It was the third straight monthly decline.
Analysts were divided about Bernanke's assessment. Peter Morici, an economist at the University of Maryland's Robert H. Smith School of Business, said Bernanke's comments were "right on."
Morici said he saw the rise in long-term interest rates as healthy, with the economy moving away from its dependence on the housing market and "hyper-consumption" fueled by people taking out loans against their houses. "The housing market is going to come back to earth," he said.
Economist Dean Baker of the Center for Economic Policy and Research expressed concern that rising interest rates were squeezing homeowners who took out interest-only and adjustable-rate mortgages. Even when interest rates were at historically low levels, Baker said, stretched buyers were taking out exotic loans to get into pricey homes.
Baker said a rising inventory of homes in the Washington region could fuel a double-digit price decline if interest rates climb higher. Condo prices could fall by as much as 30 percent, and prices of single-family homes could drop by as much as 15 percent, he said.
Former Fed chairman Alan Greenspan echoed Bernanke's analysis in a speech last night to the Bond Market Association in New York. "The boom is over. We can say that with some confidence," Greenspan said. But, he added, "there is no evidence that prices are going to collapse."
Greenspan predicted that the U.S. market was more likely to follow the path set by housing markets in Australia and Britain, where "prices just flattened out."
The consequences for the broader economy are not yet clear, Greenspan said. But if rising home prices and cheap home equity loans have been fueling consumer spending, as many economists think, "there is going to be some slowing of consumption," he said.
Bernanke did not address whether the Fed would pause in its campaign of raising short-term interest rates. Last week, the central bank raised its benchmark rate for the 16th consecutive time since June 2004 in response to continuing signs of inflationary pressures.
On Wednesday, the Commerce Department reported that April consumer prices rose at the highest rate in three months, leading many analysts to believe that the Fed would continue raising short-term rates. Richmond Fed President Jeffrey M. Lacker said in a speech yesterday in Norfolk that the Fed is less likely to suspend its interest-rate increases in light of higher consumer prices.
The shifting housing market has left sellers and buyers alike uncertain about their next steps.
"On the one hand, you feel like you can sit back and wait. On the other hand, you feel like you don't want to because of the interest rates," said John Booth Babcock, a transportation planner from Arlington who had considered buying but has now decided to wait. "No matter what you think the situation is, there's no comfort level."
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Copyright © 2006 washingtonpost.com, Tomoeh Murakami Tse. Staff writer Brooke A. Masters contributed to this report.
Posted by South Florida Realtor at 02:34 PM
January 06, 2006
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Posted by South Florida Realtor at 06:42 PM | TrackBack
Investors are unknown factor in 2006 real estate market
While housing and finance industry economists say they don't expect the real estate boom to turn to doom and gloom this year, they do say that the record run-up in housing prices and sales has run out of steam, and 2006 should be an above-normal year but probably won't make the record books.
There is an asterisk for these predictions: How real estate investors react to this downturn could foil the forecast and potentially be devastating for the housing market and overall economy, economists said during an economic outlook presented Thursday by the Homeownership Alliance, a national coalition of housing and finance organizations.
While housing has been an economic boost over the past several years, this year the housing market could be a slight drag on the national economy, the Homeownership Alliance economists generally agreed.
"It's difficult to follow the strongest year ever," said David Lereah, chief economist for the National Association of Realtors trade group, which has about 1.2 million members. "The boom is obviously winding down. That's what we're all saying and observing." Existing-home sales should drop about 4 percent to 5 percent this year, compared to the 2005 levels, Lereah said, and new-home sales should drop about 5 percent to 6 percent year-over-year.
Price drops are possible in some "very, very hot metro markets," he added, though "it's very difficult to know which markets they will be right now." Nationwide, though, Lereah expects home-price appreciation to be up about 6.1 percent this year, compared to a rise of 13 percent in 2005.
As for investors, Lereah said, "Investor activity is by far ... the biggest risk that the housing sector is going to face this year, because investor activity had gotten to levels that we had never seen before. And we are in uncharted territory." Speculators who bought properties to flip quickly may be left at a loss, as interest rates are rising and the market is in transition from a seller's market to a buyer's market.
David Seiders, chief economist for the National Association of Home Builders trade group, said, "I think the biggest risk would be for investors not only to stop investing, but to move those units back onto the market in large volume, and that could create a bigger problem. This is kind of new to us," he said, adding that it's a "major uncertainty" where investors would put their money if they pulled it out of the real estate market.
"All of us will be observing keenly," Lereah said. In March 2005, the Realtor trade group released a study that showed a high level of investor activity in the housing market: 23 percent of all homes purchased in 2004 were for investment, and another 13 percent were vacation homes.
Frank E. Nothaft, chief economist for Freddie Mac, said rising energy prices also have the potential to disrupt the overall economy and could potentially lead to higher-than-expected increases in the mortgage rate.
The panel of economists said they expect the Fed will soon stop its trend in raising the federal funds rate, which they expect will level off at about 4.5 percent to 5 percent this year.
There will likely be no quick solution to affordability problems in markets where home-price appreciation has outpaced income growth, though 2006 may see income growth more in-line with price gains, economists said.
Nothaft said that areas that have experienced 20 percent or more appreciation for the past several years and have also had high levels of investor activity may be at particular risk as the housing market cools. Investment activity in Las Vegas, for example, has accounted for close to 40 percent of purchase activity, he said. "What will happen in Las Vegas in the coming year? It's very hard to say."
Refinancing activity should be down about 14 percent to 15 percent this year compared to 2005, and that should lead to lower consumer spending relative to refinancing cash-outs, he said.
Nothaft also said he expects the share of adjustable-rate mortgages to tail off in 2006, from about 30 percent of the overall share in 2005 to 25 percent of the overall share, and he also expects declining activity in interest-only and other unconventional mortgage products as there is "more regulatory scrutiny and pressure on lenders."
Seiders estimated that new-home sales, which increased about 6.7 percent in 2005, should drop about 6.6 percent this year, while existing-home sales should drop about 4.8 percent this year.
David Berson, chief economist for Fannie Mae, said he predicts an 8 percent drop in new- and existing-home sales this year, with home-price appreciation of about 3 percent. Berson said his forecast is down largely because of a high level of investment activity in the real estate sector.
"Our data ... suggests that the investor share of the market has been at record levels and rising ... and the investor share has effectively doubled over the past three or four years. Investor demand is always more volatile than other housing demand," he said. Investors appeared to pull out of some markets toward the end of 2005, he said, and that trend could continue this year.
Overall, though, the housing market still looks good, he said. "It's still not a bad year for housing -- just not the record year we've had for the past couple years," he said.
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Posted by South Florida Realtor at 06:34 PM | TrackBack
December 11, 2005
Florida's home resales' median price rises in October
ORLANDO, Fla. - Home sales statistics from the Florida Association of Realtors® (FAR) show that home prices continued to rise but the number of sales fell in October, notably in southern areas directly impacted by Hurricane Wilma's march across the state. Most insurers stopped issuing new policies when the hurricane neared Florida, and, following the storm, some lenders required a re-inspection of properties before they would release mortgage money.
Despite storm problems, however, the state's median home price rose 28 percent in October to $241,000 from $188,800 in October 2004. In September 2005, the median price was $247,800. In October 2000, FAR records show the statewide median sales price was $116,100, resulting in an increase of 107 percent over the five-year-period.
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Many Realtors across the state report gains in housing supply, giving buyers a larger selection of homes to consider. Statewide, a total of 16,029 existing single-family homes sold last month compared to 16,844 homes a year ago for a decrease of 5 percent, according to FAR.
The national median existing-home price in September was $212,000, up 13.4 percent from the previous September's median price of $187,000, according to the National Association of Realtors® (NAR). In California, the statewide median resales price was $543,980 in September; in New York, the median price was $275,000; and in North Carolina, the average resales price was $208,097.
Interest rates for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 6.07 percent in October, a slight increase from the average 5.72 percent in October 2004. FAR’s sales figures reflect closings, which typically occur 30 to 90 days after sales contracts are written.
Among the state’s larger markets, the Daytona Beach metropolitan statistical area (MSA) reported that 1,037 homes sold in October for an 18 percent gain over October 2004 home sales of 881. The median home price in Daytona Beach rose 35 percent over the same time period, from $165,000 in October 2004 to $223,300 in October 2005.
Shawn M. Goepfert, president of the Daytona Beach Area Association of Realtors and owner of Ideal Realty of Volusia, says that demand for Daytona-area homes is now catching up with supply. "We started 2005 off with only about 1,000 residential listings, really robust sales and it taking only about two or three weeks to get a contract," Goepfert says. "That demand really pushed up our sales price, but in the last 30 days, our inventory has increased to about 3,000 residential listings."
Other larger MSAs with strong sales and price increases include Jacksonville, with 1,504 home sales in October for a 38 percent gain over October 2004 sales numbers; and Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, with 3,735 homes sold for an increase of 4 percent over the same time period. Prices also rose in both markets over the year. In Jacksonville, the median price rose 20 percent to $191,600; in Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater the median price rose 35 percent to $225,700.
Among the state’s smaller MSAs, Lakeland-Winter Haven posted a 24 percent gain in home sales in October, with 513 homes changing hands compared to 414 homes a year ago. The market’s median sales price rose 50 percent in October to $173,500; last year, it was $115,500.
"I think people have discovered our little secret," says Peggy Daley, treasurer of the Lakeland Association of Realtors and a Realtor with ImperiaLakes Realty Services in Lakeland. "We've got the best of everything. People are moving here in droves from South Florida, plus people from the North keep coming down and quickly realize that we're centrally located with easy access to Tampa or Orlando -- but without the traffic."
Other smaller MSAs that posted gains in the number of homes sold in October include Ocala, where 482 homes sold for a 15 percent jump; and Tallahassee, where 393 homes sold for an 18 percent increase. The median sales price in those markets also rose. In Ocala, it rose 38 percent to $159,200; and in Tallahassee, 19 percent to $172,700.
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Posted by South Florida Realtor at 09:31 PM | TrackBack
Rates on 30-year mortgages rise for the first time in three weeks
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WASHINGTON -- Rates on 30-year mortgages, which had fallen for two weeks, resumed their increases this week.
Mortgage giant Freddie Mac reported Thursday that rates on 30-year, fixed-rate mortgages averaged 6.32 percent this week, up from 6.26 percent last week.
Rates three weeks ago had hit 6.37 percent, which had been the highest level in more than two years.
Anaysts said the booming housing sector, which has been cooling a bit under the weight of rising rates, should slow further in coming months. The slowdown, however, won't be enough to stop sales of both existing and new homes from setting a fifth straight record in 2005, economists said.
Frank Nothaft, chief economist at Freddie Mac, said even with the recent increases, 30-year mortgages, by far the most popular mortgage type, so far this year have remained close to the averages set in the past two years.
"These low rates helped the housing market set records for home sales and new construction over the past three years," he said. "Looking ahead, as mortgages rates rise, housing activity will ease somewhat."
Rates on 15-year, fixed-rate mortgages, a popular choice for refinancing a home mortgage, averaged 5.87 percent this week, up from 5.81 percent last week.
One-year adjustable rate mortgages were unchanged at 5.16 percent while rates on five-year hybrid adjustable rate mortgages averaged 5.78 percent this week, up slightly from 5.76 percent last week.
The nationwide averages for mortgage rates do not include add-on fees known as points. Thirty-year and 15-year mortgages each carried a nationwide average fee of 0.6 point while one-year ARMs had a 0.8 point fee and five-year hybrid ARMs carried a fee of 0.7 point.
A year ago, 30-year mortgages averaged 5.71 percent, 15-year mortgages were at 5.14 percent and one-year ARMs averaged 4.15 percent. Freddie Mac does not have historical data on the five-year ARM which it began tracking this year.
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Posted by South Florida Realtor at 08:40 PM | TrackBack
October 29, 2005
Hurricanes, housing boom blow construction materials prices through the roof. South Florida Realtor
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- South-Florida-Realtor.Com -- Hurricane-force winds may not have hit the First Coast this season, but hurricanes Katrina, Rita -- and now, Wilma -- have blasted the costs of construction materials skyhigh.
Local contractors and material suppliers say Wilma might deal the latest blow to construction materials prices, causing a spike in costs of the basic building blocks of homes, including cement, lumber and shingles.
Expected rebuilding efforts for Katrina and Rita have already driven prices up, spurring home prices up with them. According to the National Association of Home Builders, new home prices have grown 15 percent through August since August 2003.
Cement prices were already rising at a rate of about 20 percent every six months, said Frank Taylor, a sales and marketing agent with Heidelberg Cement Group.
"Demand has been very high in the Southeast region," he said.
"Katrina, Wilma, the housing boom -- all of that is driving prices up and putting us in a shortage."
Taylor said that Florida consumes about 10 million tons of cement per year, half of which must come from outside the state due to insufficient in-state production capacity. Thus, rocketing fuel prices have also driven cement prices skyward.
Bryan Lendry, president of the Northeast Florida Builders Association, said that higher cement prices might be coming from another unlikely source -- China. Construction projects there have sucked building materials away from the United States, leaving local contractors scraping for cement. The hurricanes worsened that costly trend.
Lendry said that his own company, custom home builder Brylen Homes, has seen a 50 percent increase in the cost of plywood since the end of September. The waiting period for asphalt shingles has also grown to between two and three weeks.
"Whenever a hurricane hits, we see lumber flying off the shelves," Lendry said. "We're getting hit with repair demands in an already tight market. Now, we might wait four or five days just for concrete. That used to be unheard of."
Since Sept. 1, the price of plywood has rocketed 30 percent and the price of OSB roof sheeting, which is used in the roofs of most local homes, has soared 40 percent, said Robert Mangum, who heads purchasing for the Carolina Lumber Company in Jacksonville.
"Since Katrina, these prices went way up, and with Wilma coming, manufacturers are probably going to keep prices up," he said.
Because South Florida mainly uses plywood in roofs instead of OSB roof sheeting, Mangum expects that plywood prices will see the largest increase once rebuilding begins.
Roofing materials, which are largely petroleum-based products, have also come in high-demand.
Asphalt shingles, which are used in the construction of most roofs, cost about 5 percent more every month than they did the month before, and shingles manufacturers are having to ration some suppliers as they struggle to keep up with demand, said Kevin Snyder, sales and projects manager for BBG Contracting Group Inc. in Jacksonville.
Glen McRae, assistant manager of the Jacksonville branch of the Bradco Supply Corporation, said that he has seen the price of asphalt shingles go up about 25 percent in the last six months and that his branch is on an allocation from his manufacturers.
"People are trying to come up with alternatives but almost everything used in roofing is petroleum based," McRae said. "As you see gas prices go up, you can be sure that shingles are going up too."
McRae said that his supply line and prices had already been heavily affected by Katrina and Rita and that Wilma could cause another spike in demand and prices.
All of that might bring another headache for Katrina Hosea, owner of BeeTree Homes, a Jacksonville-based custom home builder. In the past four months, she has seen the prices that it pays for sheetrock rise 20 percent. Hosea said that she also has trouble getting dry wall and concrete for her houses.
"In my opinion, I find materials costs are extremely inflated, but a lot of the manufacturers know they can get these prices," she said.
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Posted by South Florida Realtor at 03:36 PM | TrackBack
NAR’s Home Sales Forecast Looking Stronger
The forecast for home sales has trended up as the year progressed, fueled lately by added demand resulting from the impact of recent hurricanes, according to the National Association of Realtors®.
David Lereah, NAR’s chief economist, said that at the beginning of the year it was thought that 2005 would be the second best total for both existing- and new-home sales, but by June it was apparent that another record was in the works. “Post-Katrina, our sales projections for this year have moved even higher,” Lereah said. “Short-term momentum is very strong, and our Pending Home Sales Index just set a record. In addition to the housing needs of hurricane victims, we may be seeing some ‘fence jumping’ from home buyers who are getting into the market before interests rates move higher.”
Existing-home sales are forecast to rise 4.2 percent to 7.07 million in 2005, while new-home sales are expected to increase 7.1 percent to 1.29 million. Total housing starts – single-family and multifamily – should be up 4.5 percent to 2.04 million units this year, the best showing since 1973, and single-family starts are seen at a record of 1.70 million.
“Inflationary pressures – driven by higher energy costs – have become a concern, so we anticipate two more hikes in the fed funds rate by the end of the year. In addition, long-term interest rates also are rising at a faster clip,” Lereah said. The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage is projected to reach 6.2 percent in the fourth quarter, and trend up to 6.7 percent by the end of next year.
The national median existing-home price for all housing types is forecast to increase 12.5 percent in 2005 to $208,400, while the median new-home price should rise 3.9 percent to $229,700.
NAR President Al Mansell of Salt Lake City said some easing in home sales is expected in 2006. “The rise in mortgage interest rates is likely to have a slight braking action on the housing market, and the upside of that is it would help to bring the market closer to balance between home buyers and sellers,” he said. “As a result, there should be a cooling in the rate of price growth – on balance, the overall market should continue to favor sellers with price appreciation remaining above the high end of historic norms. The investment fundamentals for housing remain solid.”
In 2006, NAR expects the median existing-home price to grow by 5.2 percent and the median new-home price to rise 7.1 percent. Historic home-price gains are 1.5 percentage points above the rate of inflation, which is seen at 2.6 percent next year.
“Although energy prices are the chief culprit in current inflation concerns, we project oil prices to settle early next year – that would cause inflation to quickly dissipate,” Lereah said. The Consumer Price Index is forecast to rise 3.5 percent for all of 2005 before easing early next year.
Inflation-adjusted disposable personal income is expected to grow by 1.4 percent for 2005. The U.S. gross domestic product (GDP) is seen at 3.5 percent for all of 2005, with GDP picking up early next year as hurricane rebuilding accelerates. The unemployment rate is projected to average 5.2 percent for the next three quarters, then decline to 5.0 percent in the second half of next year.
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Posted by South Florida Realtor at 02:59 PM | TrackBack
September 13, 2005
Study examines real estate flipping
Assign-Your-Contract.Com
ANAHEIM, Calif. -- Sept. 13, 2005 -- First American Real Estate Solutions® (RES) has released a new study examining the practice of real estate "flipping," or the reselling of residential properties for profit within 24 months of purchase. FlipYourPreConstruction.Com
The study, "Real Estate Flipping: Gold Mine, Mistake or Fraud," by Christopher Cagan, Ph.D., director of research and analytics at First American RES, examines the prevalence of -- and profits made from -- flipping residential real estate properties from 1999 through June 2005 in three of the hottest real estate markets in the country: Las Vegas, Miami and Orange County, Calif.
The study draws a distinction between legitimate flipping, which is defined as the purchase and quick resale of distressed or undervalued property for profit, vs. fraud, whereby the perpetrator uses false information in a real estate transaction to obtain unlawful profits.
Real estate prices have risen dramatically in recent years, with annual appreciations of 20 to 30 percent in some areas. The study shows that flippers obtained returns far in excess of those strong gains -- above 100 percent per year in many cases. The particularly profitable "sweet spot" of the elapsed time between purchase and flip sale is revealed through statistical analysis as being from three to six months of duration. Other key findings include disclosure of gross and adjusted rates of return for different types of flip resales and identification of specific zip codes where flipping was the most frequent and where the highest returns were obtained.
"While the market has done well overall, flippers have done even better," said Cagan. "During the past six years, flippers have exercised a level of strategic intelligence and savvy in their investments that proved to be even more profitable than the strong gains experienced by the general market.
"Among the strategies employed by purchasers who flipped properties within two years were investing in the hottest local markets; purchasing distressed, undervalued or foreclosed properties; and taking advantage of the psychology associated with a market experiencing higher than historical rates of appreciation to earn spectacular returns on their investments."
The study is derived from the pairing of the company’s analytics and its real estate transaction database. First American RES, a member of The First American Family of Companies, provides advanced property and ownership information, analytics and services.
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Posted by South Florida Realtor at 06:09 PM | TrackBack
The seller's dilemma: Is now the time?
Aventura-Homes.Com
WASHINGTON -- Sept. 13, 2005 -- Homeowners who currently are grappling with the decision of whether or not to sell must consider a number of contradictory economic indicators. While median residential prices are rising, surveys indicate that existing-home sales overall are declining.
David Lereah of the National Association of Realtors® (NAR) believes prices will continue to grow, citing the double-digit annual increases posted in 24 states and the District of Columbia during the second quarter.
An unexpected result of Hurricane Katrina, meanwhile, has been the continued lowering of mortgage rates. The more pessimistic view holds that the overall decline in the prices of new homes and sales attests to the gradual ebbing of the real estate boom. Fears of hurricanes are also spurring some owners of coastal properties to sell, driven by fears that the bottom could soon drop out. Katrina has driven up oil prices, making the transportation of construction materials more expensive.
Also, the rebuilding process will likely siphon construction workers and supplies away from other regions in the country, indicating a sustained slump in the market that has prompted some property professionals to advise their clients to wait at least a year before putting their homes up for sale, in the hope that the economy will have restabilized by then.
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Posted by South Florida Realtor at 06:07 PM | TrackBack
Senate OKs flood insurance borrowing bill
South-Florida-Realtor.Com
WASHINGTON -- Sept. 13, 2005 -- Congress agreed Monday to increase the borrowing authority of the federal program overseeing flood insurance to cope with the huge expected costs of claims from Hurricane Katrina.
The Senate, by voice vote, approved a House-passed bill that would allow the National Flood Insurance Program, a wing of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, to borrow up to $3.5 billion a year from the Treasury, up from the current ceiling of $1.5 billion. The legislation now goes to the president for his signature.
The program, established by Congress in 1968, currently covers around 4.5 million policyholders in more than 20,000 communities located in flood plains and other low-lying areas.
Participation is based on agreements between local communities and the NFIP under which the program offers protection at lower than full-risk rates in exchange for commitments from the communities that they will carry out steps to reduce flood damage risks in new structures.
The program is generally financed by premiums, but officials say it is certain that it will need substantial assistance to handle the hundreds of thousands of expected claims from Katrina. The program has paid $12.7 billion in flood insurance claims and related costs since 1969.
The bill is H.R. 3669.
On the Net:
National Flood Insurance Program: fema.gov
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Posted by South Florida Realtor at 06:03 PM | TrackBack
Hurricane worries: Is this the new normal ?
REAL ESTATE ISSUES
Home buyers, though, don't have the luxury of picking their seasons in Florida.
South Florida's housing market is in the midst of a historic building boom, with high-rise condominium buildings breaking ground at an unprecedented pace. The construction spree has many market watchers warning of a coming glut, but developers have justified their plans by citing Florida's appeal to Northeasterners, Latin Americans and Europeans eager to buy retirement homes and vacation getaways here.
Last year's hurricane barrage had market watchers worried that storm fears could halt the momentum. But the numbers didn't bear that out.
Home prices in Punta Gorda, where Hurricane Charley hit as a Category 4 storm, rose 34 percent in July, the second month of the hurricane season. Statewide they rose 33 percent.
''People thought last year's hurricane season was going to deter people from buying, and it didn't at all,'' said Bradley Hunter, South Florida director for Metrostudy, which analyzes the real estate market. ``I heard a lot of buzzing about that. There was no evidence people were deterred.''
But Hunter and other analysts said more active hurricane seasons would have them worried over a storm's more immediate impact: higher costs.
Rebuilding the Gulf Coast is expected to increase already strong demand for lumber, concrete and other building supplies nationwide -- with higher prices sure to follow. That would increase housing costs in a market where affordability and runaway prices are already major concerns.
''That's just what we need,'' Hunter said with a laugh.
Fernando Martinez, a vice president and partner at Caribe Homes, said his company tries to build houses that minimize hurricane anxiety, mainly by adding the convenience of accordion shutters. But after last year's storm season, those are hard to find.
Still, Martinez said he doubts busier hurricane seasons would turn off people to South Florida real estate, particularly given the region's strong building codes.
But consumers' location preferences might change.
''The comment I have heard is that maybe living right on the water isn't as nice as we all liked it to be,'' he said.
As a barometer of both a real estate market and tourism destination vulnerable to hurricane jitters, South Florida's post-2004 hurricane season performance also offers cause for optimism.
Miami-Dade home prices surged 28 percent in July over 2004 levels, and are up 21 percent since 2005 began. In Broward, prices went up 22 percent last year and 28 percent in July.
HOTELS' POPULARITY
The rates for Broward hotel rooms also jumped in July by 11 percent, while Miami-Dade room rates were up 12 percent. In fact, among the top 25 hotel markets, Miami boasted the second highest room rate in the country for the January-to-June stretch. And less than four years after the 9/11 attacks, first place went to New York City.
''I think that proves the point,'' Talbert said.
Dawn Soper, a real estate analyst in Miami, also sees hurricane concer