TRENDS: TODAY’S REAL ESTATE ALONG FLORIDA’S EAST COAST
Click the Photo to the left or the link below
Category: Home Sales
Benefits of Homeownership
The Benefits of Homeownership May Reach Further Than You Think
More than ever, our homes have become an integral part of our lives. Today they are much more than the houses we live in. They’re evolving into our workplaces, schools for our children, and safe havens that provide shelter, stability, and protection for our families through the evolving health crisis. Today, 65.3% of Americans are able to call their homes their own, a rate that has risen to its highest point in 8 years.
June is National Homeownership Month, and it’s a great time to reflect on the benefits of owning your own home. Below are some highlights and quotes recently shared by the National Association of Realtors (NAR). From non-financial to financial, and even including how owning a home benefits your local economy, these items may give you reason to think homeownership stretches well beyond a sound dollars and cents investment alone.
Non-Financial Benefits
Owning a home brings families a sense of happiness, satisfaction, and pride.
- Pride of Ownership: It feels good to have a place that’s truly your own, especially since you can customize it to your liking. “The personal satisfaction and sense of accomplishment achieved through homeownership can enhance psychological health, happiness and well-being for homeowners and those around them.”
- Property Maintenance and Improvement: Your home is your stake in the community, and a way to give back by driving value into your neighborhood.
- Civic Participation: Homeownership creates stability, a sense of community, and increases civic engagement. It’s a way to add to the strength of your local area.
Financial Benefits
Buying a home is also an investment in your family’s financial future.
- Net Worth: Homeownership builds your family’s net worth. “The median family net worth for all homeowners ($231,400) increased by nearly 15% since 2013, while net worth ($5,000) actually declined by approximately 9% since 2013 for renter families.”
- Financial Security: Equity, appreciation, and predictable monthly housing expenses are huge financial benefits of homeownership. Homeownership is truly the best way to improve your long-term net worth.
Economic Benefits
Homeownership is even a local economic driver.
- Housing-Related Spending: An economic force throughout our nation, housing-related expenses accounted for more than one-sixth of the country’s economic activity over the past three decades.
- GDP Growth: Homeownership also helps drive GDP growth as the country aims to make an economic rebound. “Every 10% increase in total housing market wealth would translate to approximately $147 billion in additional consumer spending, or 0.8% of GDP, as well as billions of dollars in new federal tax revenue.”
- Entrepreneurship: Homeownership is even a form of forced savings that provides entrepreneurial opportunities as well. “Owning a home enables new entrepreneurs to obtain access to credit to start or expand a business and generate new jobs by using their home as collateral for small business loans.”
Bottom Line
The benefits of homeownership are vast and go well beyond the surface level. Homeownership is truly a way to build financial freedom, find greater satisfaction and happiness, and make a substantial impact on your local economy. If owning a home is part of your dream, let’s connect today so you can begin the homebuying process.
Recession Fears may be Exaggerated
Recession Fears may be Exaggerated
The Housing and Mortgage Market Review (HaMMR) by Arch Mortgage Insurance Company has found that Housing Market Trends are now nearly the complete opposite of conditions in the months prior to the Great Recession, according to Dr. Ralph G. DeFranco, global chief economist for Arch Capital Services.
Research on how past recessions affected home values shows current conditions will have a less severe impact on housing than the recession in 2008 did. DeFranco says “A recession is inevitable at some point, but it’s likely to be far less severe for the housing market than the Great Recession,” He goes on to say that “We estimate that the current market is underbuilt by 1 million or more homes, buyers are more cautious and loan quality is far higher. In 2007, conditions were completely flipped: housing was hugely overbuilt, speculative demand was off the charts and the market was awash with high-risk loan products.”
Franco further states, that the quarterly Arch MI Risk Index, a statistical model based on nine indicators of the health of local housing markets, suggests that the probability U.S. home prices will be lower in two years is 9 percent, an increase from 6 percent in the previous study.
In Florida, an Arch index infographic suggests that Florida home values have only a 6 percent chance of declining in two years. However, a higher risk (25 percent) in Miami suggests the chances are even lower in the rest of the state.
Nationally, the overall risk of a decline in home prices remains better than the historic average of 17 percent. Every state is expected to have positive home price growth over the next two years, continuing recent trends. © 2019 Florida Realtors®
Eileen Kedersha, Broker Associate One Sotheby’s International Realty – Kedersha Group 954-561-4100 EKedersha@OneSothebysRealty.com
Buyer and Seller Guides 65 Pages Each
Comprehensive Buyer or Seller’s 65 Pages Each
Information Guides
Available for a Limited Time Only
Download Your FREE Copy Now
Would you like to update your current property value or your neighbors? Just click Home Valuation Report!
Kedersha Group One Sotheby’s International Realty
Eileen and William Kedersha
954-561-4100 or Luxury@sFloridaLuxuryHomes.com | www.sfloridaluxuryhomes.com
Home sales up in Florida, down nationwide
Cheaper home prices and lower mortgage rates are luring more Floridians back into the housing market, but the same story isn’t playing out nationally.
Florida’s existing home sales rose 24 percent last month, the fifth consecutive month to show an increase in activity, according to the Florida Association of Realtors.
Nationwide, however, sales of existing homes fell 5.3 percent in January to their lowest levels in nearly 12 years.
In Florida 8,450 existing homes sold, up 24 percent from the 6,810 homes sold in January 2008, according to FAR.
“Many people are looking at today’s market and seeing opportunities to find the home or business they’ve always wanted,” FAR President Cynthia Shelton said.
What’s good news for buyers is bad for sellers, as foreclosures continue to depress home values.
The statewide median sales price for existing homes last month was $139,500, down 33 percent from last year, when the median sales price was $206,900.
Condos also are selling, with FAR reporting a 13 percent statewide gain to 2,556 units sold, up nearly 13 percent from 2,266 sold in January 2008. The existing condo median sales price last month was $113,400, down 40 percent from last January, when it was $190,200.
Fort Lauderdale saw home sales soar 52 percent in January, to 467 from 307 a year ago. Values continue their downward spiral, with the median price at $191,000, down 39 percent from last January’s median price of $314,200.
Condo sales in Fort Lauderdale were up 29 percent, to 531 units from 411, but median prices were nearly halved to $85,000 from $153,000 a year ago.
Miami reported a 47 percent hike in the number of existing home sales, to 407 from 276. The median price, however, fell 38 percent, to $208,100 from $336,800.
Miami condo sales were up 27 percent, to 379 units from 298. The median price fell 48 percent, to $149,100 from $284,000.
Activity wasn’t as upbeat in West Palm Beach, where January sales were up just 11 percent to 408 homes sold from 369 a year ago. Median prices were down 32 percent, to $232,100 from $343,200.
Condo sales were up 24 percent, to 375 units from 303. The median sales price was down 31 percent, to $108,900 from $157,700.
The national median sales price for existing single-family homes in December 2008 was $174,700, down 14.8 percent from a year earlier, according to National Association of Realtors.
“It appears some buyers are taking advantage of much lower home prices,” NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun said. “The higher monthly sales gain and falling inventory are steps in the right direction, but buyers will continue to have an edge over sellers for the foreseeable future.”