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Citizens seeks rate hike for high-risk policyholders

2009-11-10T08:10:00.000-05:00

Citizens Property Insurance Corp. is asking the state for permission to raise its annual premiums by 7.5 percent for its more than 400,000 homeowners living in high-risk areas. The state-run insurance company of last resort will conduct a public hearing on Tuesday to discuss the rate hike request. However, no final decision is expected. The proposed rate hike includes:

* Mobile homeowners: 11.8 percent.
* Dwelling fire: 5.9 percent
* Commercial property residential: 9.6 percent
* Commercial non-residential: 9.9 percent

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Fewer of us are upside down in our mortgages

2009-11-09T09:25:00.000-05:00

Many of us know we owe more on our mortgages than our homes are worth. But here's a little bit of good news: Values show signs of stabilizing. The number of homeowners nationwide with negative equity – meaning their mortgages are higher than their home's value – fell to 21 percent in the third quarter, according to a report released today from Zillow.com. That's down from 23 percent in the second quarter. Locally, the Tampa metro area had an index value of $126,000, for a yearly drop of 16.6 percent. Values fell 2.2 percent from the second quarter, but just 0.7 percent from the August to September.

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Obama Signs Extended Tax Credit into Law

2009-11-08T09:04:00.000-05:00

Expected to contribute approximately $22 billion to the economy, Congress overwhelmingly passed a bipartisan measure this week extending the $8,000 home buyer tax credit to April 30, 2010. The legislation, which is part of a larger bill that also extends unemployment benefits, was signed into law by President Obama Friday. More people are now eligible to take advantage of the law, which includes a $6,500 tax credit for buyers who are current home owners and have lived in their home for five of the past eight years. Income limits for eligible home buyers were also expanded to $125,000 for single buyers and $225,000 for couples, up from $75,000 for individuals and $150,000 for couples. Qualifying home prices are capped at $800,000.

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Tampa area still experiencing some foreclosure growth

2009-11-06T09:00:00.000-05:00

Foreclosure rates in the Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater market were up in September, but growth in the area has slowed compared to the rest of the state. Foreclosure rates in the greater Tampa area rose 3.89 percent in September compared to the previous year, according to First American CoreLogic, while 90-day mortgage delinquency rates grew 6.43 percent. Statewide, the foreclosure rate stood at 10.2 percent compared to 8.82 percent in Tampa-St. Petersburg, a 4.69 percent increase year-over-year. Nationwide, foreclosure growth was much more gradual with rates up 1.67 percent in September while 90-day delinquencies were up 2.89 percent. Just under 3 percent of the nation’s homes were in foreclosure compared to nearly 9 percent in the greater Tampa market.

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30-Year Fixed Rate Falls Below 5 Percent

2009-11-06T08:35:00.002-05:00

The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) averaged 4.98 percent with an average 0.7 point for the week ending November 5, 2009, down from last week when it averaged 5.03 percent. Last year at this time, the 30-year FRM averaged 6.20 percent.

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House votes to expand homebuyer tax credit

2009-11-05T16:10:00.001-05:00

Buying a home is about to get cheaper for a whole new crop of homebuyers — $6,500 cheaper. First-time homebuyers have been getting tax credits of up to $8,000 since January as part of the economic stimulus package enacted earlier this year. But with the program scheduled to expire at the end of November, the House voted 403-12 Thursday to extend and expand the tax credit to include many buyers who already own homes. The Senate approved the measure Wednesday, and the White House said President Barack Obama would sign it Friday. Buyers who have owned their current homes at least five years would be eligible for tax credits of up to $6,500. First-time homebuyers — or anyone who hasn't owned a home in the last three years — would still get up to $8,000. To qualify, buyers in both groups have to sign a purchase agreement by April 30, 2010, and close by June 30.

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Senate Passes Home Buyer Tax Credit

2009-11-05T08:47:00.004-05:00

The U.S. House and Senate are close to an agreement to extend the home buyer tax credit due to expire at the end of this month. The Senate voted yesterday while the House could approve it by tomorrow when the monthly report on the unemployment rate will be released. The measure would cover homes under contract by April 30. Also, anyone taking the credit from a home purchased in 2010 would be able to take the credit when they pay their 2009 taxes. First-time home buyers would be eligible for $8,000, but purchasers don’t have to be first-time buyers. Anyone who has owned a home for at least five years could get a $6,500 credit on a new residence. Income limitations rise under the new plan with individuals earning up to $125,000 a year and couples earning up to $225,000 eligible. People who earn more would be eligible for smaller credits.

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Foreclosure Expert Predicts Housing Malaise

2009-11-04T10:11:00.001-05:00

The second wave of foreclosures is driven by unemployment and is harder to fix, says Rick Sharga, senior vice president of RealtyTrac, which researches foreclosures. Sharga predicts an “L-shaped recovery in the housing market through 2013” with the housing market stabilizing without much increase in prices or construction. “The housing market will not feel healthy for a few years. This is not a short-lived recession,” he says.

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House committee weighs scrapping appraisal rules

2009-11-03T08:25:00.001-05:00

The appraisal system imposed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac last May is under attack by the House Financial Services Committee and could be on its way out. The “Home Valuation Code of Conduct” could be terminated by the proposed Consumer Financial Protection Agency under a bipartisan amendment approved by the House committee. The amendment would require the new agency’s director to replace the code with a set of rules developed through regular administrative procedures and public comment periods used by all federal agencies. The valuation code was the product of a settlement among New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and the Federal Housing Finance Agency. Critics say the code created more problems than it solved and has encouraged lenders to use inexperienced appraisers who don’t know the areas where they are doing the work, which results in lowball valuations as well as higher fees. The legislation under which the code would be scrapped is likely to pass the full House, but may have a tough road in the Senate.

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September pending home sales rise 6.1 percent

2009-11-02T10:14:00.002-05:00

The volume of signed contracts to buy previously occupied homes rose for the eighth straight month in September as buyers scrambled to take advantage of a tax credit for first-time owners that expires at the end of this month. The National Association of Realtors says its seasonally adjusted index of sales agreements rose 6.1 percent from August to 110.1. It was the highest reading since December 2006 and more than 21 percent above a year ago. Economists surveyed by Thomson Reuters expected the index would be level at 103.8. Typically there is a one- to two-month lag between a contract and a done deal, so the index is a barometer of future sales.

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Chinese drywall needs more study

2009-11-01T07:53:00.001-05:00

The federal government said Thursday it found elevated emissions of sulfur and other chemicals from drywall imported from China, but it can't yet link them to the illnesses or corrosion reported by thousands of homeowners. The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, which is leading the multiagency investigation, said it won't consider a recall or a ban without more tests. Additional results from ongoing studies in Florida and Louisiana are expected next month.

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Citizens Property rates headed up, or maybe down, depending on where you live

2009-10-31T10:42:00.001-04:00

Homeowners in much of St. Petersburg and Hillsborough County can expect refreshingly deep cuts in their Citizens Property Insurance premiums. It's another story for their fellow Citizens policyholders in inland Pasco County. They can brace for a 10.4 percent rate hike. Statewide, Citizens' homeowners insurance rates are slated to rise 5.4 percent on average effective Jan. 1 under an order approved this week by Florida Insurance Commissioner Kevin McCarty.

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Senate Now Likely To Extend Homebuyer's Tax Credit

2009-10-30T08:28:00.001-04:00

With blessings from the Obama administration, the Senate now appears likely to pass a bipartisan compromise extending and expanding a tax credit for homebuyers. The deal would extend the $8,000 credit for first-time homebuyers for sales contracts entered into by April 30, 2010, and closed within 60 days. It would also add a $6,500 credit for some owners of existing homes as long as they have been in their homes for five consecutive years in the past eight. The income cap would be raised to $125,000 for individuals and $225,000 for married couples, up from $75,000 and $150,000, respectively. An earlier version of the compromise would have increased the cap to $250,000 for married couples.

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Homeowners Choice of Clearwater approved to take over 60,000 Citizens policies

2009-10-30T08:23:00.001-04:00

Homeowners Choice Inc., a 3-year-old property insurer based in Clearwater, has received regulatory approval to assume 60,000 homeowners policies from state-run Citizens Property Insurance Co. The decision represents one of the biggest steps by the state this year to "depopulate" policies from Citizens, which has more than a million property insurance policies. As State Farm and other major insurers shed thousands of Florida policies, Citizens is at risk of expanding further. That places greater risk on all insured Floridians, who can be assessed to pay for any claims Citizens cannot cover after a major hurricane. Under authorization by the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation, Homeowners Choice can take a maximum of 30,000 policies out of Citizens in December. OIR spokesman Tom Zutell said the company would be re-evaluated next year before it could take out the balance of policies approved.

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Mortgage Rates Nearly Flat In Latest Weekly Survey

2009-10-30T08:20:00.000-04:00

The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) averaged 5.03 percent with an average 0.7 point for the week ending October 29, 2009, up from last week when it averaged 5.00 percent. Last year at this time, the 30-year FRM averaged 6.46 percent.

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Existing condominium sales skyrocket in Tampa Bay area

2009-10-26T08:48:00.000-04:00

Condominiums may be fashionable again, at least compared to how they were selling just a year ago. Existing condo sales nearly doubled from September 2008 in the Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater market as 787 units sold, well ahead of the statewide average, according to Florida Realtors and the University of Florida’s Bergstrom Center for Real Estate Studies. That trend continued into other parts of the Bay area as well with Sarasota-Bradenton doubling its condo sales from 119 to 247 year-over-year while Lakeland-Winter Haven increased sales from five in September 2008 to 18 last month.

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First-time home buyers program boosts Tampa sales

2009-10-25T10:00:00.000-04:00

Tampa area house hunters – led mostly by first-time homebuyers -- continued to purchase in September, edging up home sales, as the median sales price continued to drop. Nationally, it was the largest jump in resales in more than a quarter century. There were 2,410 existing homes sold in the Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater metro are, up 11 percent from 2,174 during the same month a year ago, according to data released Friday by the Florida Association of Realtors. Prices, though, fell 14 percent from the same month last year. The median sales price dropped from $160,500 last year to $137,800. Sales prices have been a moving target this year, consistently dropping each month when compared to the previous year, but month-to-month, prices have fluctuated. September's price was below August's $144,600 median. Prices haven't been lower since April when the median hit $135,200.

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September Home Sales In Tampa Up 11%, Prices Down 14%

2009-10-23T13:56:00.003-04:00

The Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater MSA reported a total of 2,410 homes sold in September compared to 2,174 homes a year ago for a 11 percent increase. The existing home median sales price was $137,800; a year ago, it was $160,500 for a 14 percent decrease. The average home price is up 13% from the low point in January 2009 of $122,400. In the year-to-year comparison for the existing condo market, a total of 787 units sold in the MSA last month, up 98% from a year ago when 398 condos sold. The market’s existing condo median price was $106,700; a year ago, it was $139,800 for a 24 percent decrease.

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Long Term Mortage Rates Rise Back To 5%

2009-10-23T13:41:00.000-04:00

The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) averaged 5.00 percent with an average 0.7 point for the week ending October 22, 2009, up from last week when it averaged 4.92 percent. Last year at this time, the 30-year FRM averaged 6.04 percent.

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Wachovia Buys Water's Edge Condo Project For $137,000/Unit

2009-10-21T22:47:00.001-04:00

The winning bidder on unsold condominiums in two high-end Pinellas residential towers — Water’s Edge in downtown Clearwater and 400 Beach Drive in downtown St. Petersburg — is the lender, Wachovia Corp. The bank, now part of Wells Fargo & Co., agreed to pay $30.6 million for the condos, plus undeveloped land adjacent to the $100 million Water’s Edge, in a deal expected to be complete by Oct. 16. Wachovia, which holds an $82 million mortgage on the properties, was the highest bidder at an Oct. 1 auction in the District of Delaware, where developer Opus South Florida is liquidating through the bankruptcy court. U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Mary F. Walmath approved the sales at an Oct. 7 hearing. Three limited liability companies that have the same Charlotte, N.C., address as Wachovia Bank won the bids. Water’s Edge Clearwater LLC agreed to pay $20 million for Water’s Edge where only 10 of the 156 units have previously sold, records show. The bank paid about $137,000 per unit.

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Newcomers, nonresidents challenge Save Our Homes basis

2009-10-21T09:11:00.001-04:00

Retired Florida State University President Talbot "Sandy" D'Alemberte regaled an appellate court with a "magic potion" tale and invited the judges to a "house of mirrors" as he challenged homeowner tax breaks in two cases today. D'Alemberte, now a law professor at the school, represented recently arrived Florida residents in one argument to the 1st District Court of Appeal and out-of-state owners of second homes in another. They are challenging the 1992 Save Our Homes Amendment that limits assessment increases on primary homes to 3 percent annually and a "portability" provision voters added to the Florida Constitution last year. The latter lets homeowners take at least part of their Save Our Homes benefit with them when they move. D'Alemberte also argued the tax breaks impair interstate commerce by discouraging Floridians from moving to other states that don't offer a similar incentive.

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Ventana and Kensington Park SoHo To Be Auctioned November 14 in Tampa

2009-10-21T09:03:00.003-04:00

In an unusual move, condos and townhomes in the downtown area are set to be auctioned, one by one. There have been relatively few downtown units auctioned so far. When they have been, they've sold for a lump sum. This auction gives regular folks a chance to buy. Some units have minimum bids that are up to 63 percent off original sales prices. Thirty-three condos at downtown's Ventana, at the corner of Kennedy Boulevard and Channelside Drive, and eight townhomes at Kensington Park SoHo in south Tampa are to expected to sell. The auction is set for 1 p.m., Nov. 14 at the Embassy Suites in downtown. Minimum bids range depending on the unit.

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Some Housing Analysts Predict Declines in 2010

2009-10-21T08:59:00.000-04:00

A new housing price forecast predicts that home values will drop an average of 11.3 percent in 342 out of 381 markets by June 30, 2010. Financial information and analysis firm Fiserv also predict that prices will stabilize and rise 3.6 percent in 2011. Mark Zandi, chief economist with Moody’s Economy.com, agrees with Fiserv. "I think more price declines are coming because the foreclosure crisis is not over," he says. Fiserv called Miami the biggest loser, predicting a decline of 29.9 percent by next June. It also predicts large declines in Orlando, Las Vegas, and Phoenix.

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IRS probing home-buyer tax credit claims

2009-10-20T08:16:00.000-04:00

The U.S. Internal Revenue Service is probing more than 100,000 doubtful claims of a tax credit meant for first-time home buyers, the Wall Street Journal reported on its website on Tuesday. The $8,000 tax credit for first-time home buyers under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act was passed in February to help prod the U.S. economy back to life. Lawmakers have expressed concern that significant number of claims might turn out to be fraudulent, the paper said. The IRS was investigating 167 "criminal schemes" involving the credit, according to the House Ways and Means oversight subcommittee, the paper said.

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Housing Rebound Already Under Way In London

2009-10-19T09:02:00.002-04:00

London home sellers raised asking prices to a record high this month and led gains across the U.K. as the shortage of properties for sale intensified. The average cost of a home in the capital rose 6.5 percent, the most since records began in 2002, to 416,157 pounds ($680,000), the owner of the U.K.’s biggest residential property Web site said today in a statement. Prices climbed 2.8 percent across Britain as transaction levels dropped by half from 2007.

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