Coastal Florida Real Estate

Mark Zandi, the chief economist of Moody’s Economy.com, Zandi has some sobering predictions: Home prices are going to fall 5% to 10% more — and over 30% in places like Miami — between now and this time next year. Then they might start turning around. (Emphasis on “might.”)

At the top of Zandi’s list of worries are foreclosures — specifically, the millions of loans that are in foreclosure or headed there that can’t or won’t be modified. According to RealtyTrac, nearly 2 million housing units in the U.S. are in foreclosure or bank-owned, and millions more are likely to join them.

Zandi estimates that 2.4 million homes will find their way into foreclosure next year. He expects banks to start putting those properties on the market more aggressively during the first half of the year, resulting in a flood of cut-rate inventory that will drag prices down.

All those factors are figured into Economy.com’s housing price outlook for 2010 — as are local figures for income, population, interest rates, and foreclosures.

The results are broken into 100 metropolitan areas. (Last year the projections were pretty accurate, forecasting a 14.5% decline in 2009; the actual figure is likely to come in around –13.2%.)

As the sea of red above shows, the numbers are negative across the country.

The weakest areas are Florida, California, Nevada, and Arizona — what Zandi calls the “usual suspects” — where foreclosures are highest and likely to rise. The worst market: Miami, where the 2009 median home price of $183,530 is expected to fall 33%.

You can read the entire story at: http://money.cnn.com/2009/12/08/real_estate/housing_outlook.fortune/index.htm

When you are done, hop over to my other blog where I track the life here along the coast at Coastal Florida Lifestyle or if you prefer videos, I post them at my You Tube Channel.  Enjoy them then send along to a friend.

When I was getting started in the real estate industry I worked for one of the most productive companies in the area.  The company policy was to accompany on all showings.  Since they handled many very large estate and expensive homes, this is easy to understand.

However, after leaving that company I discovered that the National Association of Realtors statistics show that homes on lockboxes get shown 30% more than those that are not.  Could you use 30% more showings?  If your house has not sold yet, the answer is yes!

Make sure your home is easy to show!

To get your home sold quickly, it’s important that other agents in the area show it to as many potential buyers as possible. When a busy agent is compiling a list of homes to show a buyer, the agent will naturally tend to show those houses that are easiest to gain access to first. If at all possible, you should let your agent put a lock box on your home for easier showing.

Did you read Case Study #17 in my blog?  If not take a look through the previous posts before reading this.

If you did read it, here's this morning's follow up.  Now, we know the house is overpriced...but that's because its special, remember?  So how do we make people think its really a bargain?  (Remember, they don't have access to the Internet, they haven't seen other similar homes and if they did can't remember the prices and they don't have a Realtor with access to every listing in the MLS).

How about running an ad that says the seller has been relocated.  Maybe that will translate into "desperate seller", I don't know.  What I do know is this is not true and if I was the seller and saw this I would have no further confidence in the agent.

Do you think everyone you deal with should be honest?  I do.

Are you following my Coastal Florida Lifestyle  blog or watching my videos over at my You Tube Channel ?  Take a look then send along to a friend.

Last weekend, I had the chance to discuss with some sellers the state of their proposed home sale.  It has been on the market for nearly 6 months and while absolutely beautiful, no offer has been forthcoming.

They purchased the home in 2005 and now have it priced nearly 12% above their purchase price including the cost of upgrades to the home.

It is very easy to understand that today's prices are not as high as they were in 2005 or 2006.  Get a calculator, plug in any appreciation figures for one year you want, then deduct 4 years of decling prices and see what you come up with.

Home in this high end, gated community are only receiving about 82% of the listing price and are staying on the market for nearly 4 months longer than the average.

But....the homeowner did tell me the house was special.  That's good to know, but aren't they all.  I know my house is special too...to me!  But not to a buyer.  To a buyer its just bricks and mortar that may or may not meet their needs.

This is why the objective and honest pricing from a highly qualified Realtor can help.  We can be objective and help jump the hurdle of the "special house syndrome".

Are you viewing my other blog at Coastal Florida Lifestyle or watching my videos at my You Tube Channel?  Take a look then pass along to a friend.

When the "Cancer Cluster" in the The Acreage, whether real or imagined, first reared its ugly head people were paying close attention.  Now that a Federal lawsuit has been filed, people are interpreting this as proof positive that there is a health threat.

With even the scare of contamination in the area, prices are plummeting and lenders are wary.

The Palm Beach County Property Appraiser's Office has just begun its 2010 property analysis. John Thomas, the property appraiser's director of residential appraisal services, said it's too soon to tell how the label will affect values in the 110-square-mile Acreage.

Already, the average sale price of homes in the community has fallen from $395,759 at the peak of the real estate boom in 2006 to $196,847 last year _ a 50 percent drop.

The community of Jupiter Farms, mostly made up of 1-acre lots or larger, saw its average price fall 42 percent during the same period.

"From Jan. 1, 2009 to Jan. 1, 2010, values have trended downward in Palm Beach County and I'm certain the trend in The Acreage is downward as well," Thomas said. "The difficult part will be how much is attributable to an already bad market or to the publicity ."

In the most severe cases of toxic contamination, such as Love Canal or the Escambia Wood Treating Company site in Pensacola, the government buys out homeowners. In 1997, more than 360 households in Pensacola were involved in a $23 million relocation after cancer-causing dioxin was found in the soil.

But full-scale relocations are rare, and part of The Acreage's problem is there is no clear culprit. 

Initial tests concluded the ground water was "generally good, " and the state has promised to continue testing.  If a cause is found, property appraisers can look at how much it costs to fix it.

In Hillsborough County, which has a handful of Superfund sites — a designation given by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to address hazardous waste sites — the property appraiser makes an evaluation by taking the value as if it was a clean site and then subtracting the cost to cure the problem as estimated by an environmental engineer.

"Most of the time, it's not how serious the problem is, but is there a responsible party or element," said Lois Gibbs, a former resident of Love Canal and founder of the Falls Church, Va.-based Center for Health, Environment and Justice. "Nobody wants to buy in an area where there is an unknown cause. That's even scarier."

While it's not yet clear how much Acreage property values could be affected by the cancer cluster, anecdotal information points to the area being at least temporarily branded with the real estate equivalent of a scarlet letter.

Lenders are wary of properties that may have "environmental hazards."

Wells Fargo Home Mortgage requires appraisers to identify such hazards and assess the impact on the property value. "Our agencies and investors prohibit the sale of loans when a proven property hazard affects safety and habitability," said Wells Fargo Spokeswoman Debora Blume.

In August, SunTrust Mortgage denied a credit request for one family to buy a house in the northern Acreage, citing "possible environmental hazard."

In such troubled economic times, I certainly feel for the residents of The Acreage who are mostly blue collar folks just trying to do the best they can for their families.

There is more on this fabulous lifestyle here in southeast Florida over at my Coastal Florida blog and at my You Tube Channel.  Take a look then send along to a friend.

Group think, or the herd mentality, is what makes everyone move in the same direction, sometimes without thinking.  Some examples:

The Native Americans used to drive buffalo over the cliff because once running together the animals would never look up and over the cliff they would go.

Same thing is true with lemmings.  Over the cliff they go.

Now how did we get into the short sale/foreclosure mess?  Group think, OK toss in a little greed for good measure and our buddy Alan Greenspan lowering real interest rates to practically nothing.

We've been down this road many times before.  Remember the tulip craze in Holland?  How about the tech bubble?  Then the irrational exuberance of the housing bubble?  Why would I bring these up?

Because I just opened the real estate section of the newspaper and found three big ads on just two pages shouting: BUY NOW

Well there certainly are good reasons to buy:  Interest rates are low, prices have dropped and some sellers are really ready to move on.  But remember, discretion is the better part of valor.

The short sale and foreclosure market, while getting a lot of press, is not a market for the faint of heart or the impatient.  Rushing out to BUY TODAY should be tempered with a little caution and doing your homework or due diligence.

I just sold a house in Jupiter in just 6 weeks for 90 % of the listing price.  I sold the one next door in Paseos in 17 days.  Both buyers were high quality buyers looking for sellers that were both anxious to move and realistic about the price they should expect.

So if you find yourself in running with the herd, lift your head up and look around.  You may be surprised to find out what lies up ahead.

Need more on this great place we call home?  Check out my other blog Coastal Florida Lifestyle where I cover things beyond the real estate market and over at my You Tube Channel...then send along to a friend!

Think there are all kinds of crazy deals to be had in today’s real estate market?

That’s what 31-year-old Jason Bellak thought, too – a year ago. He’s been searching that long for something in the $150,000 price range in Palm Beach County. Short sale, condo, townhouse, foreclosure – he’s looked at them all, made offers on several, but is still living with his parents in Royal Palm Beach.

Despite a perception that three-bedroom, two-bath beauties with granite countertops and good schools can be yours for a song – or at least for 20 percent down – it’s not a market reality, say frustrated homebuyers and their Realtors.

Cash investors, sluggish banks and thorny financing are limiting the options for your average homebuyer, who, by the way, is sick of hearing, “It’s a buyers’ market.”

“I was like most people, thinking there were a lot of deals out there,” Bellak said. “But it quickly became apparent that it wasn’t going to be such an easy process.”

Competition is highest now in the $150,000 to $250,000 price range, said market analyst Jack McCabe of McCabe Research and Consulting in Deerfield Beach.

The median single-family home in Palm Beach County sold for $238,000 in January – 9 percent higher than in 2009, according to the Realtors Association of the Palm Beaches. Inventory in January was down to eight months, less than half of what it was in January 2009.

All the publicity though is about the great deals to be had...an there are plenty.  But, you really have to understand what is going on.

Rule 1:  There are no rules.

Rule 2:  Reread rule # 1.

Working on these distressed sales can be very frustrating.  In spite of it all, Jupiter, Tequesta and Palm Beach Gardens are great places to live.  There's even more over at My You Tube Channel or on my other blog on the Coastal Florida Lifestyle...then send along to a friend.

Jupiter Country Club, located on the western side of Jupiter, is a Toll Brothers Community like Frenchman's Reserve in Palm Beach Gardens.  They just announced that new villas are open for sale.

“There has been great anticipation about our new floor plans for our hallmark country club community in Jupiter,” said Ronald Blum, senior vice president of Toll Brothers’ Florida Southeast Division.  “Our elegant villa homes will be built on very private, prime locations within the community.”

The new Tuscan-inspired designs complement the community’s elegant single-family homes.  Six new floor plans ranging in size from 1,821 square feet to 3,524 square feet are being offered and feature courtyard-entry, great room designs.  Pricing starts from the upper-$400,000s.

Convenient & Near the Ocean
Located just five miles from the ocean, Jupiter Country Club is a private, gated country club community with an 18-hole Greg Norman signature golf course and world-class amenities. 

The Palestra, the community’s premiere, private health and fitness club, features a fitness center with state-of-the-art Matrix equipment, six lighted Har-Tru® tennis courts, two resort-style pools, and casual indoor and outdoor dining. 

Toll Brothers offers carriage homes priced from the upper-$300,000s and single-family homes priced from the upper-$700,000s at Jupiter Country Club.  The community is conveniently located on Indiantown Road just west of the Florida Turnpike at Exit # 116.  The community is a short drive from the Gardens Mall, Downtown at the Gardens and the Palm Beaches, and all the shopping, dining and recreation that Southeast Florida has to offer. 

Like to learn more about Jupiter Country Club or the fabulous life we have here in Jupiter and Tequesta?  Then take a tour of my lifestyle videos over at My You Tube Channel or www.CoastalFloridaRealEstate.net then send along to a friend.

Got a mortgage with Citicorp?  They may let you live in the house for free!

Citigroup, for instance, plans to announce a pilot program on Thursday that would allow delinquent borrowers who don’t qualify for or decline mortgage relief the opportunity to stay in their homes without making payments for up to six months before turning over the keys, in return for keeping the property in good condition. The bank estimates that up to 20,000 borrowers in Texas, Florida, Illinois, Michigan, New Jersey and Ohio could be eligible.

The program is just the latest amid a growing acknowledgment that foreclosure prevention efforts will fail to reach millions of borrowers over the next few years.

“This is a graceful way to move on with their lives instead of being foreclosed on and being evicted from their homes,” said Sanjiv Das, chief executive of CitiMortgage.

The Citigroup plan attempts to address some common industry complaints, including borrowers who leave their homes in disarray after foreclosure, requiring lenders to spend thousands of dollars fixing up the property before putting it on the market. Also, homeowners who owe far more than their homes are worth increasingly are choosing to “strategically default,” even though they can afford to pay their mortgage. The new program gives CitiMortgage more control over when distressed homes are put up for sale, bypassing clogged courthouses that have slowed the foreclosure process in many parts of the country.

By avoiding a glut of foreclosures that could hit the housing market within the next 16 to 18 months, the program – if it is replicated throughout the industry – could help prevent another dip in home prices, Das said.

It would be a more orderly process “than if all of the foreclosed properties came crashing at some point in the cycle,” he said.

There's a lot more on the Coastal Florida Lifestyle at my other blog or take a look at my videos on my You Tube Channel.  Enjoy then send along to others.

Now here are some startling numbers:

Nearly half of South Florida homes sold in December did so at a loss, a 4 percent increase from the previous year and a "disturbing" sign for anyone with a home on the market.

The data, released this morning by analysts at Zillow.com, evaluated sales by region, county and ZIP code — a measure that showed 53 percent of West Palm Beach homes sold at a loss in December, while 68 percent of Port St. Lucie homes were purchased at prices lower than the previous sale.

Statewide, 47 percent of homes sold at a loss in December, nearly equal to the 48 percent in Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties combined.

"This shows how deeply home values have fallen in South Florida since the peak of the market," said Amy Bohutinsky, vice president of communications for Zillow. "It is certainly a disturbing number as far as what is happening to home sellers."

Ken Johnson, a Florida International University professor and real estate economist, said the statistics don't surprise him. They reflect how inflated prices had become during the boom, he said.

Also, high foreclosure rates naturally lead to lower sale prices as banks try to unload inventory. More than 500,000 Florida homes received some type of foreclosure notice last year.

"This is the market clearing," Johnson said about the Zillow study. "It's bad medicine and we either swallow it a little at a time or a lot at a time. This is a lot."

Nationally, 28 percent of homes sold for a loss in December.

Zillow's study also measured negative equity in home loans by region. At the end of December, about 41 percent of South Florida borrowers owed more on their mortgages than what their home was worth. That's a small improvement over the 46 percent seen in the fall. About 55 percent of Treasure Coast loans were underwater, also lower than the 62 percent from the third quarter of the year.

Bohutinsky attributes the improvement to home values flattening out toward the end of the year.

The Zillow Home Value Index showed South Florida values had decreased less than 1 percent in December from the previous month to $164,400.

But Zillow Chief Economist Stan Humphries called the stabilization a brief respite "from a larger market correction that has not yet run its course."

"While the next few months are likely to bring further home value declines in most markets, we do expect to see a national bottom in home prices by the middle of the year," Humphries said.

The past year has been good for first-time homebuyers. The collapse in home prices, low interest rates and last year’s first-time buyers tax credit made buying a home more affordable than it’s been in years. But for people who bought homes at or near the market peak in 2005, moving out and up to more expensive houses has been harder. Local market figures bear this out: Sales of entry-level homes are booming, while sales of pricier homes are sliding.

In the Los Angeles metro area, sales of entry-level homes at a median price of $248,737 soared from 28 percent of transactions in November 2007 to nearly 46 percent in 2009, according to Zillow.com. Buyers are flocking to snatch up homes in that price range, which include 900-square-foot homes in the heart of the city with palm trees in the front yard, and two-bedroom, 890-square-foot condos in the beachside neighborhood of Playa del Rey.

“At the low end, there is absolutely activity,” says Carol Grogan, with Prudential California Realty. “It’s amazing. If it’s under $500,000, especially if it’s a house, there’s high demand. It’s crazy.”

But sales of mid- and high-price homes have dropped sharply. From November 2007 to November 2009, homes at a median price of $408,417 have slid from 37 percent of transactions to about 32 percent. Homes priced at a median of $707,543 have fallen from about 35 percent to 23 percent, according to Zillow. About a fifth of the homes in the Los Angeles metro area, covering Long Beach and Glendale, are underwater, Moody’s Economy.com’s data show.

It’s a similar situation in the Seattle metro area, where a fifth of the homes are underwater. “We’re seeing more activity in the lower level,” says Cathy Millan, a Realtor with Windermere Real Estate in Seattle. “There have been a lot of first-time homebuyers coming through, but the higher end is sitting.” Sales of entry-level homes at a median price of $209,952 jumped from 37 percent in November 2007 to 40 percent in November 2009, according to Zillow.com. Those priced at a median of $478,282 slipped from 32 percent in November 2007 to 30 percent in November 2009.

There's more at my Coastal Florida Lifestyle blog and videos on my You Tube Channel.  Enjoy then send along to friends.

What can we expect here in  Florida for 2010?

Florida’s unemployment rate continued rising to 11.5 percent in November, up from 11.3 percent in October, the Florida Agency for Workforce Innovation said today. The rate is likely to hit 12 percent in early 2010, according to both University of Central Florida economist Sean Snaith and the Florida Economic Estimating Conference.

Palm Beach County unemployment jumped to 11.7 percent in November from 11.5 percent in October. Martin County’s jobless rate spiked to 12.4 percent from 12 percent a month ago. St. Lucie County’s jobless rate remained at 14.7 percent, third-highest among Florida’s 67 counties.

November typically brings a dip in county jobless rates, which aren’t seasonally adjusted, as employers ramp up hiring for the holiday shopping spree and the tourist season. But not this year, as Florida remains mired in its worst labor market since the deep recession of 1975.

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The housing report card is ugly. In the past two years, the housing market has lost an estimated $4.9 trillion dollars, as 59 million homes have declined in value.

Nearly 1 in 4 homeowners -- 10.7 million households nationwide -- are underwater on their mortgages. They owe more than their home is now worth.

The housing market is so bad in California, that a bank demolished 16 nearly completed homes - because it was cheaper to knock them down, than to finish them.

Home building across the country is almost non-existent. In 2005, 2 million housing units were built in this country. Last year, that number dropped to nearly a quarter of that.

That's left former boom towns like Las Vegas with a lot of roads to nowhere, as builders ran out of money and buyers for the homes they once planned to build here.

Then, there's foreclosure. Nationwide, nearly 6 million households have been taken back by the bank in just the past three years - pushing down home values, and leaving some neighborhoods looking like warzones.

People are still losing their homes, preventing a housing market recovery. 

Jessica and Aaron Jenkins got in way over their heads when they bought their 5-bedroom dream home in Corona, California for over $700,000. They paid $2,800 dollars a month on their interest-only loan -- never touching the principal.

"It's cheaper than a 30-year fixed," Aaron said. "We can afford it so that's why we did it."

But this year, their loan would reset, adding $1,100 dollars to their monthly payment. In the next two years, nearly 361,000 loans will reset nationwide - increasing mortgage payments by an average of $1,000 per month.

That's why a record 3 million more foreclosures are expected in 2010.

"Today, the number one cause of foreclosure is unemployment," said Pete Flint of Trulia.com.

Fifteen million Americans are now out of work.

Twenty-seven-year old C.J. Mueller bought a house in Phoenix for $210,000. But then he lost his job. He tried to get his bank to modify his loan. Instead, he just got his foreclosure notice.

"It came to a point where I didn't really care," he said.

President Obama's mortgage modification program is supposed to permanently modify 3-4 million loans by 2012. So far, they've fixed 66,000. They want banks to speed up the process.

"Unfortunately it's been lip service and little action," Flint said. "Until the administration gets tough on lenders, we're still going to see huge amounts of foreclosures."

Banks say they are simply overwhelmed and some people are beyond help.

"I gave up. I don't care anymore," Mueller said. "Take the house."

The Solution (This is the Strategic Default I talk about on my HOME page)

The solution for many is to just walk away. Some experts say it may be better to cut your losses and ruin your credit in the short term, than to pour more money back into a bad investment.

"I paid $210,000 for the house. The house is worth $90,000," Mueller said. "Would you keep the house?"

To keep homeowners from walking away, credit counselor Michelle Johnson said banks should permanently convert all those risky loans into 30-year fixed mortgages for anyone who can afford the payments. "It needs to be a long-term fix. It can't be a band aid which is what many of these modification programs seem to be."

Some mortgage firms and a few banks are going further -- actually reducing the principle on loans.

"To date, it's allowed us to save about 15 percent more homes than if we had not used it," said William Erbey, CEO of Ocwen Financial Corporation.

Fixing Sub-Prime Mortgages

However, the housing market also needs buyers to start moving in. Jontue and Diana Junior just bought a 4-bedroom home in Las Vegas - thanks to the $8,000 federal tax credit for first time homebuyers.

"We knew that once we got into the house -- with $8,000 -- if we managed our money right, we shouldn't lose the house," Jontue said.

That incentive has juiced the housing market. Home sales are up nearly five percent in the past year. The tax credit expires in April, and experts say shell shocked banks need to start lending again so the market has more buyers.

"Until we have that, we really can't have a full fledged housing market recovery," said Rich Sharga, VP of RealtyTrac.

Yet homebuyers are much more focused on cost -- heeding the warning to never spend more than 31 percent of pre-tax pay on housing. For a family making $75,000 a year, than means not spending more than $1,900 per month.

Builders are responding with smaller and more affordable homes. Pulte homes scrapped their 3-story, 3,300-square-foot home. Now, they sell a 2-story, 2,000-square-foot home - chopping the price in half from $400,000 to $200,000.

"The larger homes and the price points and the square footages we were selling at just weren't selling like they used to," said Scott Wright of Pulte Homes.

In Phoenix, Philip Beere is buying up foreclosed homes, and giving them a major facelift and energy savings upgrade to make them more affordable. In one home, he lowered the annual utility bill from $2,000 to just $400.

As for the Jenkins family, they'll keep their home thanks to a loan modification, but their investment will likely never may off.

"What I've learned from this is that you don't need it," Jessica Jenkins said. "It wasn't worth it."

That's a feeling shared by millions of Americans now living with regret. If you are selling your house, you certainly need to be thinking about these facts.  It's all one big market out there.

Remember, HOPE is not an effective selling strategy.

In the northern end of the County:

Jupiter Country Club, a Tuscan-inspired country club surrounded by a Greg Norman signature golf course, offers townhomes and carriage homes priced from the high $300,000s; golf villas from the high $400,000s; and single-family homes from the high $700,000s. This community is just west of Florida's Turnpike on Indiantown Road in Jupiter.

Frenchman's Reserve offers single-family estate and custom homes priced from the mid-$900,000s and set amid an Arnold Palmer Signature Golf Course. The community is located on Alt. A1A in Palm Beach Gardens near the Gardens Mall.

Ocean's Edge at Singer Island is an oceanfront Mediterranean-style high-rise offering spacious residences priced from the low $1 millions to more than $3 million. This community is between the Atlantic Ocean and the Intracoastal Waterway.

Toll Brothers operates nationwide and has won all three of the industry's most coveted awards: America's Best Builder, from the National Association of Home Builders; the National Housing Quality Award; and Builder of the Year.

Florida's courts tackled 398,825 foreclosure cases in 2009, an 8 percent increase over the previous year and a glut that led to a new statewide mediation rule aimed at reducing the overload.

Palm Beach County's foreclosure court cases appeared to level off some in 2009, growing about 4 percent to 30,227.

But that number is a huge increase over the county's foreclosures before the real estate bust. In 2004, Palm Beach County courts handled 3,250 foreclosures. In 2005, there were just 3,049.

"I hope we're not leveling off long term at that high number," said Circuit Judge Peter Blanc, chief judge of the 15th Judicial Circuit. "As hard as everybody's working, we're still not quite treading water with the foreclosures."

Blanc said Palm Beach County has about 55,000 backlogged foreclosure cases.

The statewide foreclosure numbers were released by the Florida Supreme Court, which in December issued an administrative order requiring mediation on all homesteaded properties before a foreclosure hearing is held. The order aims to settle cases before they clog the courts.

The counties with the highest foreclosure cases in 2009 were Miami-Dade with 63,522, and Broward, which had 49,640.

St. Lucie County saw an 11 percent decrease in foreclosure court cases with 8,217 in 2009, while Martin County's cases grew 20 percent last year from 2008 to 2,129.

Blanc said judges have been pulled from the civil division to help with Palm Beach County's foreclosures.

That means other cases such as business disputes and commercial litigation suffer, Blanc said.

Experts differ on whether another flood of foreclosures will occur this year as unemployment continues and adjustable rate and interest-only mortgages reset.

"I've got news, there are a bunch of properties coming," predicted Jack McCabe, CEO of McCabe Research and Consulting in Deerfield Beach.

Blanc said he's working on several options to help alleviate the foreclosure caseload in Palm Beach County but wasn't ready to speak about them.

"I think we're doing a pretty good job right now, the numbers are just so overwhelming," Blanc said.

An estimated 4.5 million homeowners owe more than their homes are worth. That number is likely to peak at 5.1 million in June, affecting 10 percent of homeowners and making them increasingly likely to just walk away.

“We’re now at the point of maximum vulnerability,” says Sam Khater, a senior economist with First American CoreLogic, the firm that conducted the recent research. “People’s emotional attachment to their property is melting into the air.”

Consultants at Oliver Wyman calculated that 17 percent of owners defaulting in 2008 –about 588,000 – chose to default even though they could pay.

First American estimates that it would cost around $745 billion – about the same as the original 2008 bank bailout – to restore all underwater borrowers to the break-even point.

Doing so would be seen as highly unfair by many taxpayers, says Michael S. Barr, assistant Treasury secretary for financial institutions, but doing nothing would be another blow to a fragile economy.

These are absolutely staggering numbers, aren't they?

Nevertheless, this is a great place to live and you can find out more by visiting my other sites: Coastal Florida Lifestyle or my You Tube Channel.  And after you do, send them along to a friend.

This just in from the government.

Effective yesterday, the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) started providing mortgage insurance for some home purchases in which the seller bought the property and held it for less than 90 days.

The agency changed what is known as the “anti-flipping rule” to speed up sales of renovated homes in communities with too many bank-owned and foreclosed homes, says FHA Commissioner David H. Stevens. Waiving the 90-day rule encourages private investors to buy vacant properties, fix them up, and quickly sell them to buyers who are eligible to buy them using FHA financing.

Hey there's nothing wrong with this.  Banks and counties are simply unable to cope with the numbers of short sales and foreclosures and they need some help from investors.

"Git 'er done" means nothing to beauocracies.

Take a look at my other blog Coastal Florida Lifestyle or if you prefer there are videos on my You Tube Channel.  Enjoy them then send along to your friends.