South Walton Beach Top 3 Homes Sold in January 2010

February 1, 2010 By Leave a Comment

It is hard to believe that January 2010 has come and gone with Spring in the horizon. We will be publishing our monthly South Walton Real Estate Review towards the end of the week to see how the Real Estate Market is kicking off for 2010. Rental demand is high, bookings are coming in early for Spring and Summer and rates are holding steady. All signs are showing that we should have a great year for Real Estate and begin the slow and tenuous path to recovery. So far the most popular words from potential buyers are…"if I had known it would sell for that price I would have bought it." If you are waiting on the sidelines before you purchase that special property you have been watching for over a year…you may miss the best buying opportunity of our generation. The best deals and the premium properties are going…going…gone!

There were some excellent luxury home sales in the first month of 2010 and here is a quick recap of the Top 3 Most Expensive Homes sold in South Walton Beach:

#1 – 111 Little Redfish Lane. This exquisite lake front property was our featured luxury home pick in August 2009. This one of a kind home on Little Redfish Lake was an extremely popular home but only one lucky buyer was smart enough to snatch up this gem. Premier luxury properties like 111 Little Redfish do not come along very often and once they are gone…they are gone. 4,287sf was listed at $3,200,000.

 

#2 – 49 Rosemary Avenue. Rosemary Beach had a very slow start in 2009 with almost non-existent homes sales for the first 6 months. Prices finally began to fall and properties were snatched up by savvy buyers. 49 Rosemary Avenue was a spectacular Tom Christ designed home with majestic gulf views. 4,250sf was listed at $2,300,000.

 

 

#3 – 270 Garfield Street. If you wanted an incredible Gulf Front Home in historic downtown Grayton Beach for a steal…it is too late…and if you wanted an incredibly rare gulf front lot in historic downtown next to the house…it is also too late, as the buyer bought both the house and the adjacent gulf front lot at the same time. 3,717sf  listed for $2,495,000 and the lot was listed for $895,000. If you had been watching these two premier properties you definitely will be saying…."if I had known it would sell for that price I would have bought it."

 

There is never a better time to buy, with historic low prices and interest rates it does not get any better than this. Give Tracy Baranowski a call at 850.259.4270 or Craig Baranowski at 850.259.1788 or email  us info@teambaranowski.com and we can show you some the best deals in town!

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Home Construction Update and Homebuilding Forecast for 2010

January 20, 2010 By Leave a Comment

The Real Estate market is an exciting market to watch. Although the past few years have not all that fun watching the Real Estate market spiral downwards with the nation's economy, it is fascinating to see real estate work through its economic cycle. In 2004 to 2006 we saw new home construction surge across the nation and locally here in South Walton Beach in response to a strong demand for Real Estate. As we had an over supply of homes we witnessed a dramatic market crash that had home prices plummeting. New construction almost completely dried up in 2008 and 2009. What was once a booming business in South Walton Beach now forced hundreds of local companies to go out of business and new home construction come to a complete standstill. Without a supply of new homes we have been able to sell through a significant amount of our available inventory.  As inventory decreases, demand for new construction increases.

So what is the Homebuilding Forecast for 2010?

The fragile housing recovery should gather momentum this year as the economy strengthens, but high unemployment at least through 2011 will make for a slow turnaround, housing experts said Tuesday.

The panel of economists at the 2010 International Builders’ Show in Las Vegas agreed broadly on the outlook for the housing market and economy. Both, they said, had turned a corner, but there are slim prospects for a swift rebound.

“It won’t be a strong recovery, but it will be a recovery,” said David Crowe, chief economist for the National Association of Home Builders.

His forecast calls for sales of new and previously occupied homes to weaken after tax credits for homebuyers expire in April. But 2010 sales of new homes will be up by more than one-third, he said, and almost 7 percent higher for resales.

Crowe also sees home prices remaining stable going forward, though some cities may still see some slight declines in the coming months.

“I believe we’ve seen the worst of the house price declines … The stage is set for the consumer to return,” Crowe said.

He expects builders to ramp up construction this year, with newly built homes totaling around 700,000. That would be a 25 percent increase over his tally for 2009. While he anticipates the economy will add some jobs in the April-June period, he projects unemployment will peak this year at 10.2 percent and then fall gradually to around 8 percent by the end of next year. Applications for new building permits, a gauge of future activity, rose 11 percent to an annual rate of 653,000, a far stronger showing than economists had predicted and the highest level of activity since October 2008.

But homebuilders’ fortunes have brightened in recent months. Low interest rates and an $8,000 tax credit for first-time home buyers helped stoke demand for homes. The incentive was scheduled to expire at the end of November, but Congress extended the deadline through April and added a $6,500 tax credit for current homeowners who move.

Still, recent figures have raised doubts about how strong demand will be in the coming months.

New homes sales tumbled 11 percent in November from October to the lowest level since last spring. The number of people preparing to buy a home in November also dropped.

That’s left many homebuilders nervous that demand is weakening. Homebuilders’ confidence, measured by an NAHB’s index, fell this month to 15. It was the second-straight monthly decline and the lowest level since June.

The index reflects a survey of 504 residential developers nationwide. Index readings below 50 indicate negative sentiment about the market.

David Berson, chief economist for mortgage insurer PMI Group, said he expects mortgage delinquencies and foreclosures to climb this year. But he anticipates that banks and other mortgage companies will continue to hold properties on their books, rather than dumping them on the market at depressed prices.

“That does mean it will be longer before we start to get a real recovery in home prices,” Berson said. “By the time we get to 2011, the majority of the states should have price gains.”

He projects home prices fell almost 13 percent in 2009 from the prior year. His forecast calls for home prices to decline about 5 percent early this year, but end the year flat.

Freddie Mac Chief Economist Frank Nothaft, meanwhile, said he sees home prices to decline 3 percent this year. His forecast calls for mortgage rates to remain below 6 percent this year.

 

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South Walton Beach Homes Downsizing?

December 18, 2009 By Leave a Comment

In a recent report, home builders are being successful with building smaller, more economical homes across the United States. It appears the trend is happening from the influx of first time home buyers entering the market. They appear to be buying smaller homes with sensible floor plans. What about first time vacation home buyers? I definitely see a much more conservative trend with vacation and second home buyers in the South Walton Beach market.

Along Scenic 30-A and South Walton we are seeing a tremendous demand for homes under $400,000. So much so, that available inventory is significantly down and the demand for a quality home with a sensible design is highly sought after right now.

Are the days of the multi-million dollar uber vacation homes in WaterColor, WaterSound and Rosemary Beach over? I don’t think so. 2010 will see a much more conservative and sensible approach to purchasing a second home or vacation home in South Walton Beach. I think the hot market in 2010 will be for homes along Scenic 30-A for under $5oo,ooo.

If you are looking to buy or sell a home in South Walton Beach, put the Team Baranowski advantage to work for you. Give Tracy Baranowski a call at 850.259.4270 or Craig Baranowski at 850.259.1788 or email  us info@teambaranowski.com.

Below is a the article on the downsizing of homes in the United States

WASHINGTON – Dec. 17, 2009 – Out of the depths of housing’s worst downturn, smaller new homes are turning into a bright spot for some home builders.

The trend toward more compact new homes is being driven partly by the fact that more customers are first-time buyers who have less to spend.

Home builders are responding by offering smaller designs with features such as high ceilings and large windows that create a spacious feel and options that let buyers personalize the model they choose.

KB Home’s smaller model helped it achieve a 62 percent increase in year-over-year net orders in the third quarter.

The trend cuts across the industry. The median square footage of new homes has dropped 9 percent from a peak of 2,300 square feet in the third quarter of 2006 to 2,100 square feet in the July-September period this year, according to data from the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB).

Housing size drops with each recession, but economists expect the current movement toward smaller homes to continue for some time in part because of the severity of the current housing market slump.

First-time buyers are driving the trend toward smaller homes because that is what they can afford, says David Crowe, chief economist at the NAHB.

As the economy improves, move-up buyers generally enter the market and begin buying larger homes. But this time, so many homeowners owe more on their homes than their properties are worth that many potential move-up buyers will be stuck even as the economy strengthens.

That means first-time homebuyers will still be buying smaller homes while larger homes will find fewer buyers.

“This downsizing is more sustainable,” Crowe says. “The first-time buyer will continue to be a large part of the market because the move-up buyer will not have as much equity. It’s going to take them awhile to climb out.”

The NAHB doesn’t keep data on the percentage of new home sales that are made by first-time home buyers, but about half of all home purchasers were first-time buyers in October, according to the National Association of Realtors.

For builders, smaller, less-expensive homes mean less profit. But the industry is already facing strong competition from a high supply of foreclosed homes selling at comparatively low prices.

A welcome change

Some analysts say the downsizing trend could be good news for builders.

“The appetite for smaller homes may be a welcome change for home builders as new home sales have been challenged in the past few years,” says Tom Lydon, editor of ETF Trends, which educates investors on fund choices and market trends.

Major home builders such as KB Home and Pulte Homes are responding to the shift in demand by offering more of the smaller properties.

At Pulte Homes, its most popular designs today are 100 to 200 square feet less than the most-popular plans in 2005-06.

So the lower-priced homes don’t seem bare-bones to buyers, open floor plans and 9-foot ceilings provide a sense of roominess. Fireplaces are an option.

To hold down costs, Corian – a surfacing material created by DuPont – is a standard for kitchen counters instead of granite. Appliances are standard models instead of pricier stainless steel.

“It’s not just making it smaller, it’s maximizing the space in the home,” says Caryn Klebba, a spokeswoman at Pulte Homes. “It’s a 9- or 10-foot ceiling rather than a cathedral ceiling.” Cathedral ceilings are 14 to 18 feet.

Getaway option

Smaller homes also are appealing as vacation homes.

Nancy Coronado, 55, a retired framer in an art gallery, has a large home in Whitehall, Mich., and bought a second Pulte home in Florence, Ariz., in March. The new home is about 1,400 square feet. “I have a big home in Michigan and didn’t want another big home,” she says. “I wasn’t looking for that.”

KB Home also has redesigned its homes to reflect the trend, because nearly 80 percent of its customers are first-time homebuyers.

Toll Bros., which builds luxury homes, says demand is down across the board, and not just for larger homes. Company officials say they, too, see an increased interest in smaller homes but believe that homebuyers will someday return to wanting larger properties.

Smaller homes, they say, reflect a down economy and tighter credit rather than an appetite for less space.

“We see the demand for smaller homes, but it’s not as though there’s huge demand for smaller homes but no demand for larger homes,” says Kira McCarron, a spokeswoman for Toll Bros. “There is still a demand for luxury homes.”

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