There have been several articles over the last year about the next big wave of foreclosures coming down the pipeline.  60 Minutes did a whole documentary on this last year.

Today USA Today published another article discussing the backlog of foreclosures on the horizon caused by failed short sales, failed modifications, government moratoriums, etc.  Another 7 million homes in the USA are destined to go into foreclosure over the upcoming months.

This article makes an interesting read: Another Wave of Foreclosure Looms.

Central Florida / Orlando gets hundreds of new foreclosure case filings every single week.  So anybody that is telling you that "the recession is over" is simply kidding themselves.  I hate to say it, but it sure looks like a tidal wave is on its way to shore in the near future. If you are in the real estate business you need to continue to be focusing on foreclosures, REOs, and short sales.  They are going to be around for many years yet to come.

The Orlando real estate statistics for October 2009 have been reported by the Orlando Regional Realtor Association.  Here is a direct link to these stats.  Below is a breakdown on the numbers.  The stats are for Orange & Seminole County, Florida including Orlando, Apopka, Ocoee, Winter Garden, Winter Park, Altamonte Springs, Longwood, Casselberry, Lake Mary, Oviedo, and Sanford.

 

                 Inventory    New Pendings   Under Contract     Expired    Withdrawn    Closed    Days on Market

January 09    22,613        2282                 3830                     1377          1598           1050          103

Sept 2009     15,967        3858                 8790                      846           1014           2292          96

Oct 2009       15,743        3864                 9050                      924            646            2206          98

 

If you look at some of the graphs at the link above, you can really see how inventory has plummeted.  It hovered around 26,000 properties during most of 2007 into early 2008.  Then slowly started decreasing to where it is today.  The inventory decrease does appear to have slowed.  Most of this slowing has to do with a giant backlog of pending short sales which often take several months to actually close.  From my own rough estimates, approximately 62% of the current pending contracts in metro Orlando are short sales.

The number of sold properties continues to be strong.  Although sales were slightly less than in September, at a volume of 2206 they are still the highest they have been since August 2006.  Actually in July 2009 we saw the first time in several years where the number of sold properties exceed the number of properties that didn't sell (expired + withdrawn). 

Foreclosures still dominate the Orlando landscape.  Roughly 20% of the sales in October were short sales while another 43% were bank owned REOs.  Only 37% of the sales last month were not in foreclosure. 

Prices are another story altogether the median price for October was $130,000 and the average price was $161,800.  These are way down from just a year ago in October 2008 when they were at a median of $175,700 and $220,200.  But talk to any good Realtor and they will tell you that just about any property priced under these median amounts will sell within a matter of days if not hours right now - unless the property is a piece of junk and is not desirable to most buyers. 

The median price for bank owned REOs was $70,000, for short sales $125,000, and for non-foreclosure properties it was $185,000. This just goes to show the disparity between foreclosure prices versus non-foreclosure prices.  Also many of the bank REOs are condominiums which are selling for unbelievably cheap prices right now.

I'm just glad to see all the activity.  If you are interested in more detailed statistics for the Orlando real estate market or just wonder what your home is worth, feel free to contact me directly.  

In light of the recent events at Fort Hood, Texas, it brings to the forefront yet again the radical enemies that we are fighting against.  Very sad that it was one of our own soldiers that apparently turned sides.

All veterans past and present deserve our honor and praise.  On this Veterans Day, thank you so much for your service to our country.  God Bless America!

  

This article was on the front page of this morning's Orlando Sentinel, Aging Boomers Strain Pension Funds.

It goes on to discuss the giant worker shortage that will come as the baby boomers retire along with the enormous strain on health care, retirement funds, and government pension plans. It goes so far as to compare these programs to the structure of General Motors.  The Orlando Sentinel is hardly known as a right-wing opinion paper.  So before you beg the government to create yet another giant program, just remember that the signs of the coming storm are on the horizon. 

Just think of the real estate market in 2004. All the signs of a giant crash were there. Some people were predicting it, yet most people missed them including HUD, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, NAR, most banks, most Realtors, and most other players in the market.  We have ample warning for this next storm that is looming out there.

The President did sign this into law on Friday.  Should be great for the real estate business.  But not that great for the overall debt that America continues to bury itself in. Chris did a great job of explaining the details and changes of this extension.

The $8000 tax credit extension has passed the U.S. House & Senate almost unanimously and is headed to the President's desk for a signature. 

 

Now the tax credit will be good for contracts signed no later than April 30, 2010 and closing no later than June 30, 2010.  Additionally existing homeowners who have lived in a principal residence for 5 consecutive years out of the last 8 years - these will get a maximum $6500 tax credit.   

There are some additional caps on income and some supposedly new anti-fraud measures (ha ha) in place as well.

You can read the full details of this extension at NAR's website.

This is great news for the real estate industry. Not sure how great it is for the national debt though. But I'd rather see the money going to the middle class than to Wall Street zillionaires.

This is an interesting little cartoon. Supposedly it was made way back in 1948 when the United States was actually afraid of socialism and communism. My how much things have changed in this country. Capitalism has now become a dirty word synonymous with greed and the "evil rich". Some people forget that capitalists like Henry Ford, Orville & Wilbur Wright, Thomas Edison, Roy Kroc, Walt Disney, Bill Gates, Donald Trump, and thousands of other business owners big and small have created fantastic inventions and millions of jobs for everyone else. If you live in Central Florida, think of what companies like Darden Restaurants, Del Air, Lockheed Martin, Burnham, Triple A, and Rosen Hotels have done for our community. If it wasn't for business owners, the standard of living of just about everyone in the United States and the entire western world wouldn't be a whole lot different than it was back in the 1800's.

October was another strong month for home sales.  Our office sold 32 properties last month and many more are pending for November. Banks love to dump their REO and short sale inventory during the 4th quarter so that it won't be on their books for the new year.  Look at some of these great Central Florida home deals that closed in October 2009.  

            

     Fisher Drive                                  Morning Glory Lane                     Pelican Lane

- Fisher Drive, Deltona, FL 32725.  This 3 bed/2 bath/2-car garage home was a true investor special.  Bank owned REO needing a bunch of work but what do you expect for this sort of price.  It sold for the super cheap price of just $46,000 after just 5 days on the market. 

- 1st Avenue, Altamonte Springs, FL 32714.  3 bed/1 bath/1-car garage block home.  Located in the coveted Lake Brantley school district in Seminole County.  House was a true handyman special, but the bank REO department wanted it sold.  Seller let this one go for the low low price of just $27,500.

- Morningside Drive, Orlando, FL 32806.  Big 4 bed/3.5 bath pool home.  Just steps from Lake Lancaster near Delaney Park in downtown Orlando.  Owner was motivated and this was priced to sell.  After only 6 weeks on the market it sold for $270,000.

- Morning Glory Lane, Kissimmee, FL 34747.  This was a fabulous short sale home in Celebration Florida. 4 bed/2.5 bath/2-car garage with spacious kitchen and modern features.  At the top of the market this home sold for over $500K but we negotiated a short sale with the bank at just $340,000.  We still have one more Celebration short sale home available.  Call for details.

- Pelican Lane, Orlando, FL 32803. 3 bed/2 bath block home near downtown Orlando.  Bank owned REO and a great wholesale deal.  This Audubon Park home sold for just $105,000.

Our office has a constant stream of new bank owned REOs, foreclosures, short sales, and other investor specials.  Make sure to sign up for our weekly hot property email list.