Weston Title & Escrow

Housing-related businesses enjoying big bounce-back

Weston Title — Tue, 30 Apr 2013 18:54:43 +0000

Written By Paul Owers, Sun Sentinel 4:24 p.m. EDT, April 27, 2013 and republished for Weston Title & Escrow Inc. and The South Florida Law Blog with excerpts from Roy Oppenheim.

Real estate agents aren’t the only ones cashing in on the housing renaissance.

Home inspectors, mortgage brokers, moving companies and other related businesses also are watching their bottom lines grow again after six years in a deep slumber.

“It’s been very busy,” said Scott Dooley, a Fort Lauderdale appraiser. “There aren’t enough hours in the day.”

Roughly 30 percent of South Florida’s economy tanked because of the real estate downturn that started in 2006, Weston lawyer Roy Oppenheim, co-founder of Weston Title & Escrow Inc. and Oppenheim Law, said.

During the housing boom of 2000 to 2005, speculators drove up prices, forcing some buyers to take out adjustable-rate mortgages and other risky loans for homes they couldn’t afford. Prices plummeted and a wave of foreclosures followed, leading to an epic collapse.

Oppenheim’s title company, Weston Title & Escrow, lost 80 percent of its business during the bust. While he avoided layoffs, employees had to take furloughs and pay cuts to keep the family-owned firm afloat, he said.

Now business is booming again, although revenues are still down because home values are nowhere near the record levels of 2005, he said. Oppenheim also has noticed an uptick in his real estate law practice, with more construction leading to more liens and building disputes.

“People are calling me now that I haven’t talked to in six or seven years. They’re back in business,” he said. “The last eight months have been good ones for people in real estate.”

Although investors paying cash still represent a large part of the housing market, Supreme Lending in Palm Beach and Broward counties has tripled its business since October, Supreme regional manager Jim Flood said.

“People think, ‘Why wouldn’t I take a loan when it’s so economical to do so?’” Flood said.

A Buyer’s Choice Home Inspections has seen revenue jump by 15 percent, founder Bill Redfern said. The company, which moved from Canada to Pompano Beach in 2011, had been cool on the U.S. housing market until last year.

It wants to expand from 30 offices to more than 100 nationwide by 2015. The company has signed 20 franchises in Florida and expects to add 10 to 12 more this year, Redfern said.

“We’re seeing a rebound in the real estate sector, and our growth is significant because of it,” he said.

Jennifer Collins, co-owner of Titan Moving & Storage in Pompano, said skyrocketing home sales over the past year have increased demand for her company’s services — sometimes forcing her to turn down business.

Most analysts say the region’s housing market hit bottom in 2012, with buyers eager to capitalize on low mortgage rates and affordable prices.

The market is expected to remain strong into next year as prices keep rising due to a shortage of available homes. While values aren’t expected to decline, they will level off, observers say.

Titan has one moving truck it recently paid off. Collins would like to buy another, but she remains hesitant to put too much faith in the recovery after such a prolonged and devastating slump.

“I think I’ll just wait and see what happens,” she said.

Real estate attorney and foreclosure defense attorney, Roy Oppenheim left Wall Street for Main Street, founding Oppenheim Law along with his wife Ellen in 1989 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and is vice president of Weston Title & Escrow Inc. and creator of the South Florida Law Blog, named the best business and technology blog by the South Florida Sun-Sentinel. Follow Roy on Twitter at @OpLaw or like Oppenheim Law on Facebook.

Slow Foreclosure Process Still Causing Trouble in Florida

Weston Title — Tue, 12 Feb 2013 15:05:46 +0000

Slow Foreclosure Process Still Causing Trouble in Florida (via Credit.com)

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Pending Home Sales Down in December but Remain on Uptrend

Weston Title — Thu, 31 Jan 2013 18:48:29 +0000

Pending Home Sales Down in December but Remain on Uptrend (via MarketWire)

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South Florida Housing Market Popped in 2012

Weston Title — Thu, 24 Jan 2013 14:18:01 +0000

South Florida home prices rose in December, an upbeat end to a year in which sellers regained the upper hand.

Broward County’s median price for existing homes last month hit $230,000, the highest of 2012 and a 21 percent increase from a year earlier, the Greater Fort Lauderdale Realtors said Tuesday. Broward’s median increased on an annual basis in every month during 2012.

There were 1,238 Broward homes changing hands, up 15 percent from December 2011. Cash deals rose 35 percent, to 549 from 407.

Palm Beach County’s median price also rose by 21 percent in December, reaching $229,750, according to the Realtors Association of the Palm Beaches. The county had 1,184 sales – roughly half in cash — a 15 percent increase from a year ago.

Read Paul Owers’ full report in the South Florida Sun-Sentinel

More Housing Markets Getting Stronger in January

Weston Title — Fri, 18 Jan 2013 22:23:48 +0000

More Housing Markets Getting Stronger in January (via Credit.com)

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Nationwide Home Prices Continue to Recover

Weston Title — Mon, 07 Jan 2013 15:46:29 +0000

Nationwide Home Prices Continue to Recover (via Credit.com)

According to the Home Price Indices from Standard & Poor’s and Case-Shiller, home prices rose more than 4 percent during the 12-month period ending in October for the 20 cities surveyed by the firms. The 10-city composite, which includes the biggest housing markets throughout the country, also bumped…

Florida’s Housing Market Continues Upswing in Nov. 2012

Weston Title — Fri, 21 Dec 2012 15:18:02 +0000

Fla.’s Housing Market Continues Upswing in Nov. 2012 (via PR Newswire)

ORLANDO, Fla., Dec. 20, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — Closed sales, pending sales, median prices and average prices rose in Florida’s housing market in November, while the inventory of homes and condos for sale shrunk, according to the latest housing data released by Florida Realtors®. “The sizzle…

National Home Values Continue Upward March In November

Weston Title — Fri, 21 Dec 2012 14:44:38 +0000

National Home Values Continue Upward March In November (via PR Newswire)

SEATTLE, Dec. 19, 2012 /PRNewswire/ — Home values have now increased every month for more than a year, rising 0.6 percent from October to November to a Zillow® Home Value Index[i] of $156,200, according to the November Zillow Real Estate Market Reports[ii]. Home values were up 5.2 percent compared…

Top Economists: Florida’s Housing Market Growing Stronger

Weston Title — Thu, 13 Dec 2012 14:12:08 +0000

Top Economists: Fla.’s Housing Market Growing Stronger (via PR Newswire)

ORLANDO, Fla., Dec. 13, 2012 /PRNewswire/ – Florida’s residential real estate market will continue its upward trend into 2013, though the pace of recovery may be slower than the U.S. as a whole, according to leading U.S. economists speaking at Florida Realtors® 2013 Real Estate and Economic Forecast…

Causes For Optimism in the Nation’s Housing Market

Weston Title — Wed, 12 Dec 2012 14:40:38 +0000

Causes For Optimism in the Nation’s Housing Market (via Total Mortgage Services)

A recent article in the Wall Street Journal begins on a downward note. Says the WSJ: economists project U.S. gross domestic product growth will slow in the final three months of the year from the sluggish 2% annual rate in the third quarter. Businesses, unnerved by the prospect of federal tax increases…