Record Year for 2009

The Hayslett Team is happy to announce that we recorded our best year on record for 2009! Even in this difficult market we were able to sell over 100 homes representing $27,000,000 in gross sales volume. Of the some 6,500 agents in Pinellas County we were ranked 4th overall - we will be #1 in 2010!

thank you!!!

Pinellas County Real Estate Marketplace Statistics for November, 2009:

Clearwater, FL (December 18, 2009) – The Pinellas Realtor® Organization today released marketplace statistics for Pinellas County for the month of November, 2009.
Single family home sales rose by nearly 37% over sales a year ago. Year to date, the Pinellas County market has seen 23.5% more sales than last year. In November, the median price dropped a mere 8.4% from November 2008. At $146,500, median price was unchanged from the previous month. Inventory continues to tighten up. At the end of November there were 6,096 single family listings on the market, down 28.6% from the previous year. The absorption rate was 9.6% in comparison to 5% in November 2008.
Nearly a third of the homes sold were in the $100,000 to $160,000 price range. In that grouping, $12.8% sold at $120,000-$139,999 and another 11.6% sold between $140,000 and $159,999. 25% of the single family homes sold were sold for less than $100,000. Just a little over 3% of homes that sold brought in more than $500,000. Seven homes sold for a million dollars or more. On the condo side of things the absorption rate was 5.7%, reflecting the slower recovery in this market segment. At the end of November there were 5,382 listings, down 23% from last year. Unit sales were upnearly 30% year over year. The median price at $116,000 showed a 7.6% decline from November 2008. This drop is the lowest one of the year. While the loss of equity in single family seems to have slowed, the picture is not as clear with condos. For most of 2009, the median price drops have been in the double digits, with August being the only other month with a drop below 10%. Let’s hope condos have found the bottom, but it is too early to tell. 43% of the condos sold were sold at prices below $100,000. In that category 16% sold between $70,000 and $90,000. At the high end, only 4.3% sold for $500,000 or more. In that group 2 condos were sold for a million dollars or more. 47% of single family homes sold within 30 days on the market. The number of new convention loans accounted for 32% of all loans, with FHA loans at 30% and all cash transactions 30%. Condo financing was 64% cash transactions, with 25% new conventional loans and 7% FHA loans. 33% of condo sales occurred within 30 days.

KENNY HAYSLETT EARNS PRESTIGIOUS DESIGNATION TO HELP HOMEOWNERS IN DANGER OF FORECLOSURE

Kenny Hayslett of The Hayslett Team of Re/Max has earned the prestigious Certified Distressed Property Expert (CDPE) designation, having completed extensive training in foreclosure avoidance and short sales. This is invaluable expertise to offer at a time when the area is ravaged by “distressed” homes in the foreclosure process.

Short sales allow the cash-strapped seller to repay the mortgage at the price that the home sells for, even though it is lower than what is owed on the property. With plummeting property values, this can save many people from foreclosure and even bankruptcy. More and more lenders are willing to consider short sales because they are much less costly than foreclosures.

In the Tampa Bay area, more than 150,000 homes are in danger of foreclosing. It is happening in all price ranges. Local experts say that even high-priced homes are not immune.

“This CDPE designation has been invaluable as I work with sellers and lenders on complicated short sales,” said Hayslett. “It is so rewarding to be able to help sellers save their homes from foreclosure.”

Alex Charfen, founder of the Distressed Property Institute in Boca Raton, Fla., said that Realtors® such as Kenny Hayslett with the CDPE designation have valuable training in short sales that can offer the homeowner much better alternatives to foreclosure, which virtually destroys the credit rating. These experts also may better understand market conditions and can help sellers through the emotional experience, he said.

The Distressed Property Institute opened in January 2008 and provides training on-site and online. The CDPE is the premier designation for Realtors helping homeowners in distress and handling short sales.

“Our goal is to educate as many people as possible so we can help as many homeowners as possible,” Charfen said.

For more information about CDPE designation or to speak to the Hayslett Team regarding the purchase or sale of a distressed property, please call 727-443-6700.

Tampa Bay Real Estate Update - July 2009

Florida Real Estate Sales are up: June 2009

The U.S. housing market is finally on the mend after its most far-reaching collapse in 70 years. That could help rebuild consumer confidence and revive the economy.For the first time in five years, sales of previously occupied homes rose for the third consecutive month in June, while foreclosure sales and the glut of homes on the market both declined.The figures, released Thursday by the National Association of Realtors, and a string of rosy corporate earnings reports sparked a rally on Wall Street as the Dow Jones industrials rose above 9,000 for the first time since January.“People believe that the worst is behind us,” said Julie Longtin, a real estate agent with Re/Max Professionals in Providence, R.I., an area that has suffered deeply from record foreclosures of risky loans.Sales also have risen for three straight months in 40 out of 55 major metropolitan areas tracked by the Associated Press-Re/Max Housing Report, also released Thursday. Prices rose during that period in about half of those areas.Still, unlike past recessions, the turnaround in the real estate sector is likely to have a muted effect overall. That’s largely because homebuilders are expected to keep bulldozers idle as long as they face competition from bargain-priced foreclosures. And it’s likely to take at least another year before job losses and foreclosures peak.The Labor Department said Thursday the number of newly laid-off workers seeking jobless benefits rose 30,000 to a seasonally adjusted 554,000 last week, though the government said its report again was distorted by the timing of auto plant shutdowns.Unemployment insurance claims have declined steadily since the spring, but most private economists and the Federal Reserve expect jobs to remain scarce and the unemployment rate to top 10 percent by year-end.“We’re not going to see much growth in (home) sales until the labor market turns around,” said Patrick Newport, an economist with IHS Global Insight. “People don’t move as much when they can’t find work.”But companies should start hiring as their fortunes improve – and there were some early signs Thursday that’s starting to happen.Ford Motor Co. surprised investors with a profit of $2.3 billion, due mainly to a huge gain for debt reduction, while manufacturing conglomerate 3M Co. and candy maker Hershey Co. raised their profit forecasts for the year.The Dow Jones industrial average, the stock market’s best-known indicator, shot up almost 190 points Thursday to 9,069.29, its highest level since November, and all the big indexes gained more than 2 percent.Analysts said signs that the housing market is finally, gradually turning around could help spur demand as buyers become less fearful of losing their shirts.“It’s been the abject pessimism about house prices that has placed a pall over the housing market,” said Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody’s Economy.com. “As that psychology reverses itself, things start to work in the opposite direction.”Home sales rose 3.6 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.89 million last month, from a downwardly revised pace of 4.72 million in May. Sales are now around the same level as before last fall’s financial crisis.Foreclosures, however, continue to put pressure on home prices. About one out of three homes sold in June was foreclosure-related, down from nearly half earlier this year.And despite some buyers’ optimism, some still see potential problems ahead. A tax credit of up to $8,000 for first-time homebuyers expires Nov. 30. Mortgage rates are up from record lows reached last spring, and companies are still shedding jobs.The nationwide median sales price was $181,800 in June, down 15 percent from year-ago levels but up slightly from $174,700 in May. And an Associated Press analysis shows the shows that the gap is narrowing between the sellers’ asking price and the final sales price, indicating homeowners have finally accepted that their homes are worth far less today.Jim Dugan, a 53-year-old plumber, is looking for foreclosures and other low-priced properties in Providence. He wants to buy eight investment properties this year and is slated to close on a small bungalow next week for $62,500.The property was originally listed for $85,000. But Dugan was able to snare a deal because he didn’t need a mortgage, instead tapping a line of credit and his savings.“Cash talks,” he said.Investor activity is helping to pare the number of homes on the market. Nationwide there are about 3.8 million, or a 9.4-month supply at the current sales pace. When the market balances at a 7-month supply, prices should begin to stabilize.A healthy housing market is characterized by prices that rise a relatively modest 4 to 5 percent every year. But this year’s sales prices are still far lower than last year.Those low prices combined with mortgage rates around 5 percent and a tax credit for first-time homebuyers have made homeownership more affordable than it’s been in decades.“We are seeing contracts like crazy,” said Valerie Huffman, a vice president of Weichert Realtors, in Montgomery County, Md., where home sales are up by 42 percent over last year. “We’re having multiple bids on anything that’s priced well.”

June 2009 Tampa Bay Market Update

Single family listings dropped precipitously – down 22% from last year to 6,702. Only two years ago, that number was 9,000. Unit sales were up by 18% from 2008 and the market is approaching the number of sales experienced in the latter half of 2006. The median price appears to be stabilizing, at least for now. Since the low of $125,000 in January, every other month this year has been in the $140,000s. In June the median price was $147,000, including foreclosures and short sales. For non-distressed properties, the median price was $171,750 in June. The market also reached double digits in absorption rate for the first time in a long time at 11.1%. For a change, the lowest end of the market did not lead in the number of sales. Homes under $100,000 accounted for a little more than 26 per cent of sales, while the $100,000 to $250,000 bracket led with over 53 per cent of unit sales. There were no sales of $1 million or more.
For condos, listings are down 16.9 per cent from 2008 and the number currently on the market is now closer to that seen in 2006. For the fourth month in a row, the number of unit sales is up over last year – and not just up, it was a leap up at 29.1% more than 2008. Median price did not drop to get there either as it was $139,000, the highest level we’ve seen so far this year. The non-distressed condo sales median price was $146,500. As for residential financing, all cash closings still dominate the transactions at 46% year to date.

Property tax challenges just got easier

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – June 4, 2009 – Home and business owners who think their local tax bill is too high caught a break today when Gov. Charlie Crist signed a bill that makes it easier to challenge how much a property is worth. Flanked by business and real estate leaders, Crist put his name to HB 521. The bill lowers the burden of proof for owners who dispute property tax assessments to a preponderance of the evidence – a lower standard than the clear and convincing threshold they now must meet to overturn a property appraiser’s estimate. Local governments had successfully scuttled earlier efforts to lower the standard. In the just-signed version, property appraisers still enjoy the presumption that their estimates are correct, but the legislative analysts say the bill will cost local governments $157 million during the current fiscal year, increasing to $693 million a year by 2013