Ocala Real Estate Talk

Sales for July were down quite a bit from previous months. From March through June we were doing 370-380 homes a month. In July we dropped down to 319. I’m sure some will blame the tax credits expiring but I’m not so sure.  I’m going to wait a month or 2 and see if this is a trend or a statistical aberration.

Looking back at old Market Reports you can see that although sales are up in 2010 inventory has remained about the same. As long as inventory is as high as it is our severe buyers market will continue.

The average 30 year mortgage dropped again to to 4.44% for the week ending 8/12. The 15 year rate was 3.92%. This is the lowest rate since Freddie Mac began keeping records in 1971. These rates are being kept artificially low by the FED to stimulate the economy. These rates can’t last forever.

If you’d like to know more about Ocala area home prices email me, call me or use my Ocala Dream Home Finder.

Statistics used for this blog post are from the Ocala Marion County MLS and are deemed to be accurate at the time this blog was written but are not guaranteed. All information is time sensitive and subject to change without notice. Home sales are for Marion County only and do not include FSBO, homes sold by builders not listed on the MLS, commercial properties or vacant land.

Silver Springs Shores is a huge community just east of Ocala. Silver Springs Shores isn’t really a town or sub division. It is technically called a census designated place. There are 3 areas of The Shores, Silver Springs Shores North, Silver Springs Shores South and Silver Springs Shores East. Additionally there are several sub divisions within The Shores. Lake Diamond is a gated golf course community that is not 55 plus.  Crystal Lakes which is a deed restricted community. There are also several condominium communities in The Shores.

Homes in Silver Springs Shores date back to the late 1960′s but most date from the 1970′s through the real estate boom of 2003-08. There are still an almost endless number of vacant lots in this area too.

During the real estate boom years of 2003-08 builders saw that there were a lot of cheap lots on paved roads in The Shores. During this time a huge number of new homes were built and sold to investors hoping to buy at pre construction prices and flip the homes on completion. Most were never sold and went into foreclosure. Silver Springs Shores has more foreclosures than any where in Marion County.

Silver Springs Shores foreclosures are one of the hottest parts of our real estate market. Newer homes built during the boom years are selling as foreclosures for under $100,000-. There are also a lot of short sales in The Shores. As a result of so many foreclosures and short sales traditional sellers have had to lower their prices in order to compete and these traditional sales can be in better condition and a good value.

If you are interested in a list of homes for sale in Silver Springs Shores either call me, email me or use my Ocala Dream Home Finder. Be specific as to the sq ft of living area, age and price range. There are 100′s of homes for sale in this area.

This has been a crazy year for Ocala Florida weather. This winter set records for cold weather and now this summer is on pace to be one of the 10 hottest on record.  In July 21 out of 31 days were above normal. Rain has been about average but it seemed a little on the dry side at my house.

Here’s a link to an interesting weather article in the Starr Banner .

August weather should be in the low 90′s during the day and the low 70′s at night with regular afternoon thunderstorms. August is not the last month of summer here in Ocala. Both September and most of October are summer months.

August is also the month when hurricane season really gets rocking and rolling. The ocean temperatures are reported to be higher than normal, which is what fuels hurricanes, so it should be an interesting year. Ocala is probably the safest place to be in Florida during hurricane season but we do get tropical storm force winds and torrential rain.

Check out the Ocala Weather page on my web site for average temperatures by the month and more Ocala weather info.

Marion Oaks is a huge sub division just south of Ocala. It was first established in 1973 and comprises 15,000 acres. Like many Marion County sub divisions of that era, Marion Oaks was divided into lots and all the roads were laid out and paved. Also like most sub divisions of that era, most of the lots were never built on and many lots are still vacant today. More on Marion Oaks.

Fast forward to the building boom of 2003-08. Marion Oaks was full of cheap lots with existing roads and utilities. During this period a tremendous number of new homes were built. Many of these homes were sold to investors who thought they could buy a house at a pre construction discount and flip the house once completed for a profit. A huge number of these homes were never flipped and eventually went into foreclosure.

At the time of this blog post Marion Oaks foreclosures represent about 15% foreclosed of home sales in the Ocala Marion County area. There are two types of foreclosures in Marion Oaks. The first type is the  newer homes built after 2003, which are larger homes from 1500-2300 sq ft and of CBS construction. In addition to the newer Marion Oaks foreclosures there are quite a few smaller block homes built in the 70′s and 80′s. Most of these older homes need work but they sell pretty cheap.

Check out my Ocala Foreclosure Guide for more on buying an Ocala foreclosure and other distressed properties.

If you are interested in Marion Oaks foreclosed homes give me a call, send me an email or use the Ocala Dream Home Finder. I will need a price range and a  sq ft of living area range at the minimum. I will set you up a personal account on the Ocala MLS that will show every foreclosure in Marion Oaks and automatically notify you when ever a new foreclosure gets listed.

View larger map

June was another good month for home sales in Marion County. There were 372 residential home sales in the Ocala area which is about what we have been seeing since March. Also, as we have been seeing for well over a year now, short sales and foreclosures represented 208 out of the total of 372 homes sold.

Here’s my advise to buyers. Interest rates, much to my surprise, have gone down even further. Rates are at a 50 year low with no where to go but up. There is a great selection of bargain priced homes. Buy now .

My advise to sellers is to price your house right. Testing the market is a waste of time, no one will look at your house. Speaking of a lack of showings, buyers are looking at your house every day, just not in person. Buyers look at homes online and then decide to view the best priced homes in person. Finally even if you do get an offer on your house it still has to pass a bank appraisal. Banks are using short sales and foreclosures as comparables for traditional sales. Well priced traditional sales are selling as evidenced by the 164 sales this month.

If you are interested in buying a home in the Ocala area call me, email me or use my Dream Home Finder in the right hand column of this blog.

Statistics used for this blog post are from the Ocala Marion County MLS and are deemed to be accurate at the time this blog was written but are not guaranteed. All information is time sensitive and subject to change without notice. Home sales are for Marion County only and do not include FSBO, homes sold by builders not listed on the MLS, commercial properties or vacant land.

The summer of 2010 has been unusually hot and wet. Summer in Ocala is always hot and wet but this year is off to a real bang. From watching the weather I think we might also have a big hurricane season this year. It appears the water in the Gulf is 3 or 4 degrees above normal. With hurricanes it’s all about feeding off the warm water.

Weather in July here in Ocala is hot. It is 90 to 95 every day but never much more. There is plenty of humidity in the air. It doesn’t rain every afternoon but it has rained this year about 4 days out of 7.

I have an entire page on my web site devoted to Ocala Weather. Check it out and remember no matter how hot it gets in the summer here in Florida it’s a small price to pay for no winter.

The Marion County SHIP program has funds available again. This program runs out of money every year so if you are eligible act fast. They are estimating funds for about 60 homes.

The SHIP Program (State Housing Initiative Partnership) was created by the William E. Sadowski Affordable Housing Act of 1992. It is a housing program funded through the documentary stamp tax and used primarily in Marion County to assist eligible households with the purchase or repair of a home. The State of Florida requires that a least 30% of SHIP dollars received by the County be expended to assist Very Low income households. At least another additional 30% must be spent on Low-income households. This means that applicants with incomes falling within the income category need will receive priority.

HOME (Home Investment Partnership Program) is a HUD (US Department of Housing and Urban Development) entitlement program primarily used in Marion County to assist eligible very-low income households with the purchase of a home and for the demolition and replacement of dilapidated homes.

To learn more about the SHIP program see the link below.

http://www.marioncountyfl.org/CommunityServices/Housing_programs.aspx

If the  SHIP program has run out of money or you don’t want to take their classes don’t give up. If you meet their general lending requirements you may be eligible for an FHA or USDA loan. Give me a call or send me an email and I’ll send you to a local bank to be pre approved for a loan. If you can get approved for a loan, I can find you a house.

A recent article in the Ocala Starr Banner states that home sales in the Ocala Marion County area for May 2010 are up 39% compared to May 2009.  That’s because the median home price here in Ocala is down 13% from the same period in 2009. The current median home price is $96,700.00 down from $111,600.00 a year ago. The median home price is the point where half of the sales are more and the other half are less and should not be confused with the average.

The median home price in Ocala is the lowest in the state of Florida. If you are interested in Ocala homes email me, call me or use my Ocala Dream Home Finder. Be specific we have over 5,000 homes for sale & I can’t send you them all.

Once again we had a pretty good month here in the Ocala area with 369 sales for the month of May. That’s a huge improvement over May 2009 when we had only 253 sales.

Inventory is still high at about 14 months. The Ocala Marion County MLS  has had over 5,000 homes for about a year now. Inventory is actually down from June 2007 when there were 7,167 homes for sale on our MLS. We will have a buyers market until inventory drops well below 6 months or around 2,500 home listings. By the way, a buyers market is more common than a sellers market historically.

There were 146 foreclosures and 41 short sales in May. It is these distress sales that keep prices down. Traditional sales have had to drop their prices in order to compete.

If you’re a buyer, interest rates are at historical lows and prices can’t drop much more. If there is a bottom, this is it.

If you are a seller you can either sell at market value or stay put for the next 3 to 5 years because prices aren’t going up any time soon.

Statistics used for this blog post are from the Ocala Marion County MLS and are deemed to be accurate at the time this blog was written but are not guaranteed. All information is time sensitive and subject to change without notice. Home sales are for Marion County only and do not include FSBO, homes sold by builders not listed on the MLS, commercial properties or vacant land.

Date Palm Flower

It’s June here in Ocala and it’s hot and humid. After all this is Florida. Every day will be in the low 90′s and real humid. When I first moved to Ocala some one told me that after a year or two my blood would thin out and I’d get used to the heat. Needless to say I thought that person was full of it. Much to my surprise it’s true. I moved here from Maine where it seldom got above 80 and now I’m cold when it goes below 70!

The summer here in Ocala lasts from mid May to about the end of October. That means around 90 during the day and the 70′s at night and humid.

You have to realize that every where in Florida is air conditioned, your house, your car, every store and your job. It’s just like every where you go up north in the winter is heated.

The summer heat and humidity is a very small price to pay for no winter.

For more info on Ocala Florida weather see my web site for average temperatures, precipitation and more.