Are Home Prices Rising in Florida?

Chairs on Daytona Beach Near Pier

It appears that prices in Florida have bottomed and some sources are beginning to report price increases. CoreLogic of Anaheim California is reporting that prices in Florida increased 4.5% in March on a year over year basis.

Now, Florida is a big state with many different markets and this is the average price increase for the entire state. We wrote recently on one of our other sites that Daytona Beach home prices appear to be bottoming. NAR and Trulia chief economist are both saying that 2012 is the turn-around year for prices and the Case-Shiller home price data for February shows Miami prices up with Tampa prices down.

My personal experience based on my work everyday with buyers and sellers is that our local prices are no longer dropping. CoreLogic is reporting that from peak prices right before the real estate bubble bursting, Florida prices have declined 48.1%.

What’s Next for Daytona Beach Home Prices?

It seems an interesting shift has taken place. The current discussion, among those who talk about such things for a living, has shifted from when will be hit bottom to when will prices rise. My view is that it always starts with the most desirable properties. In the Daytona Beach homes market, most of the sales over the past four years have been in the lower end properties. People have been buying for rental units and current and eventual retirement. Most of these buyers are cash buyers. We see that higher priced buyers, convinced we have hit bottom, will start buying again.

We see a few things that point to higher prices:

1. Predictions of mortgage lending doubling in 2013
2. People on the fence who have been waiting for the absolute bottom
3. Low mortgage rates

Supply for the most desirable properties will be impacted first. In the Daytona Beach area, that’s oceanfront condos, beach side homes and homes in planned communities. If you will be in the market for that type of property, it’s time to start making a move.

Just like with prices bottoming, predicting appreciation is difficult. Sellers who have been waiting for significant increases may be waiting for many more years, but gradual appreciation may be underway.

Our advice is to keep abreast of broad market conditions, but to make sure you’re working with local agents when looking at a local market. If you’re looking in Daytona Beach, Ormond Beach, Port Orange or the surrounding areas, feel free to call me at 386-566-7503 to discuss your situation.

People Were Driving on Daytona Beach in 1904

Look at this photo from 1904 showing the beach scene in Daytona Beach at Seabreeze Blvd.

Beach Driving in Daytona Beach 1904 Style

As you can see, although automobiles were just starting to make their arrival, the horse and carriage was the main mode of transportation. It’s a wonderful scene with people dressed up for their trip to the beach. We see many people congregating and walking. At the top we see a single horse buggy that looks like a racer. He’s very close to the surf. A car that close today would sink into the sand and be in real trouble.

Things have certainly changed over the years, but driving on the beach remains one of the unique attractions of Daytona Beach. Of course, the sun and beach are wonderful attractions for visitors and locals alike, but there’s much more to do in the area. If you like outdoor activities, our golf courses, waterways and parks, then you’ll find a lot to do here.

If you’re looking for less activity and vehicle free beaches, then there are plenty of areas to the south and north that are both vehicle free and fewer people. North of Ormond Beach, the beaches are more natural and there are many pelican and other birds.

We’ll be posting more photos of the area on a regular basis. We are processing photos now from the Art of the Automobile show that was held on Beach Street in Daytona over the weekend.

Comparison of Spruce Creek vs. Atlantic High School in Port Orange

I just came across an interesting site called Find The Best. They are offering a comparison of statistics for Spruce Creek high school and Atlantic High School in Port Orange, Florida.  They’re using recent information from the U.S. Department of Education to show the comparison.

I think both schools are very good, but as you’ll see from the data, Spruce Creek is much larger. Click here –>  FindTheBest Port Orange High Schools to see the  side by side comparison of the two schools.

Port Orange is a wonderful community. It’s well planned and many of the schools have been built fairly recently  with very good facilities. There are many Port Orange homes for sale and choosing a home often means looking at local schools. Home prices are probably at about the bottom in the area. Recent data from Case-Shiller shows Florida prices have stabilized over the past 6 months with Miami actually showing price increases during that time.

Several communities such as Cypress Head and Waters Edge are close to Spruce Creek High. The zoning seems to favor south Port Orange for Spruce Creek and to the north for Atlantic. I know how important a decision can be for a high school. My son was zoned for Seabreeze in Daytona Beach, but his choice came down to magnet schools at Spruce Creek or Daytona Beach Mainland. He decided on a technical magnet school at Mainland, but it was really close.

Feel free to call me at 386-566-7503 to talk about Port Orange real estate or the area in general.

Daytona Beach Beach Street 1904

I love looking at old photos, especially of the Daytona Beach area. Here’s a photo from 1904. I believe this has got to be Beach Street based on the orientation and the water to the right side of the photo.

Daytona Beach 1904

To the left is Burdines Drug Store with a Coca Cola sign on the side of the building. Of course this was before cars were regularly seen on the local streets. It’s also before condos lined the beach and river.

I’m not a romantic about living in an earlier time, but I enjoy seeing the differences in how people lived. For a short time, I owned a vintage clothing store in Kutztown Pennsylvania and really love Victorian clothing and architecture. There are a few lovely Victorian homes in Daytona Beach, but not like other places. There are other beachside communities with many Victorian homes. We visited Cape May, New Jersey years ago and was fascinated by many of the lovely old homes there.

I’ll be searching for more vintage photos of Ormond Beach, Daytona Beach and Port Orange over the coming months. We will also be dispatching our photographer to capture some of the current points of interest. We’ll be posting them here and then displaying many of them in our Ormond Beach office at 159 West Granada Blvd.

I’m hearing and reading that people are looking for foreclosures and short sales to get a great deal. I say, let’s back up a bit and talk about what most buyers really want – they want the best price they can get. If you’re buying Daytona Beach homes and looking for the best value, does it really matter if it’s a foreclosure or short property? No, all that matters is the you get your best deal.

It’s All About Discount to Market Value

Bank and mortgage lenders dealing in short sales or REO or foreclosed properties are getting better at knowing market value. They are a lot better than they were two years ago. That being said, it is possible to get great deal from distressed properties. However, if you remember nothing else, remember this – not all foreclosed and short sale properties are great values.

A Better Home Buying Strategy

Want the best possible deal? Here’s one strategy. Find the most narrow area and focus your efforts. The best value is the highest discount to market. That means that you need to understand the market. The market for Ormond Beach homes, Port Orange homes and Daytona Beach homes are different. Further, within those cities, neighborhoods and communities are different. If you want the best deal, pick an area with a good number of homes for sale and then learn what’s sold and what’s for sale. Then and only then will you know if you are buying below market.

It takes a lot of work and it takes a real estate agent who is willing to work hard for you. Yes, that’s my specialty. I work closely with my clients to find the best deal for them. And – we do it. We’ve found tremendous bargains with a combination of patience and hard work. If anybody tells you it’s easy, you just might want to run.

Now, to get an idea of the foreclosure and short sale homes in the area, click on the following pages:

Daytona Beach Foreclosures
Daytona Beach Short Sales
Ormond Beach Foreclosures
Port Orange Foreclosures
Port Orange Short Sales

There are some amazing homes for sale in Daytona Beach. I marvel at some of the old Victorian style homes in the city as well as well as Ormond Beach. I love things Victorian and have a Victorian clothing collection.

A marvelous piece of local history just changed hands when two cousins purchased the Blodgett House on South Ridgewood Ave. in Daytona Beach. According to an article in the Daytona Beach News Journal, Sale, renovation plans for old Victorian home thrill Daytona historians, Nicholas Montagna of South Daytona and his cousin, Russell LaRiviere Jr. bought the home to renovate it.

I toured the Blodgett House a few years ago after the hurricanes that caused so much damage to the structure. Act Corporation was using the facility for offices when the 2004 hurricane damage forced them to move out. I was in tears by the end of the tour because it was such a shame that this old Victorian was sitting vacant and hurting. The home was built in 1896 as the home of Delos A. Blodgett. It passed through many other owners over the century plus of its existence. You can read the entire ownership train in the New Journal article.

I’m really excited that the cousins will be restoring the home to it’s original style. They’ll need to convert the structure back into a residence after it was converted to office space. I wish Mr. Montagna and Mr. LaRiviere Jr. the best of luck and hope to see her when they’re finished.

Energy costs for Daytona Beach homes are very high in the summer months when air conditioners run around the clock. US Building codes are being updated to significantly reduce energy costs. I found the story about the updates to the national building code in an article at Sustainable Business – Landmark US Building Codes Finalized. Here are the highlights from the article:

The changes represent the largest single-step efficiency increase in the history of the national energy code. It requires homes and buildings to achieve energy savings 30% higher than the 2006 code.

And the effects for residential homes:

• Better seal new homes to reduce heating and cooling loss
• Improve the efficiency of windows and skylights
• Increase insulation in ceilings, walls, and foundations
• Reduce wasted energy from leaky heating and cooling ducts
• Improve hot-water distribution systems to reduce wasted energy and water in piping
• Boost lighting efficiency

Local codes are based on the national code, but there are differences. What happens in Daytona Beach, Ormond Beach and Port Orange will depend upon state and local changes. The code changes are expected to save homeowners an average of $500 per year in energy costs. The article states that incremental building costs will be small, but I’m not so sure about that.

I see the costs affecting lower price homes more because these are the areas where builders focus on keeping costs as low as possible. These changes will be a bigger percentage costs than cost homes.

The changes will take some time to work through, but the affect for Daytona Beach, Ormond Beach and Port Orange homes for sale will be that existing homes will cost less per square foot, but new homes will be less costly to operate over the long term. If you’re planning to spend many years in a home, the savings will pay for the added initial cost.

Port Orange is one of the more desireable communities in the Daytona Beach area. We’ve been expanding the Port Orange Homes for Sale section of our website by adding pages for Cypress Head, Ashton Lakes, Town Park and Spruce Creek Fly In. Each page shows a map of the area, information about the community and all homes for sale in the community.

Port Orange is located south of Daytona Beach. There is a high bridge that crosses from Port Orange over to Daytona Beach Shores. You’re about 15 minutes maximum away from the beach from just about anywhere in Port Orange. I-95 runs through the west side of Port Orange and I-4 is one exit north from Port Orange.

Golfer’s Delight

Both Cypress Head and Spruce Creek communities are home to challenging 18 hole golf courses. Of course, this whole area is a golfer’s delight with over 30 courses within about a half hour drive of Port Orange. Golfers from outside the area are often surprised with how inexpensively they can golf in Port Orange.

Spruce Creek Fly In is a gated community, and there’s a gated section within Cypress Head. Ashton Lakes and Town Park are newer communities. Ashton Lakes was built by Paytas Builders and Town Park was built by The Johnson Group. Both are nice upscale communities without the upscale prices.

Ashton Lakes, Cypress Head and Spruce Creek Fly In residents attend Spruce Creek High School, while Town Park resident attend the newer Atlantic High School.

Please visit the pages shown below for more.

Ashton Lakes Homes for Sale

Cypress Head Homes for Sale

Town Park Homes for Sale

Spruce Creek Fly In Homes for Sale

Sales of Daytona Beach Florida Real Estate continued their rise in May (2011). Sales of Daytona Beach properties in May improved 6.1% over last month and 11.0% over May of last year.

Daytona Beach MLS reported sales were 473 homes and condos sold vs. 446 in April and 426 over May of last year. Sales continue to grow at the prices ranges under $300,000. Looking at the chart below, we can see that 94.1% of sales were under that $300,000 number with 78.2% under $200,000. Sales in the higher price ranges were few in comparison.

Year over year, for the first five months of this year, sales were 1,941 vs. 1,835 in 2010 and 1349 in 2009. So year to date, we are up 5.8% over 2010 and a whopping 43.8% over 2009.

4,366 Residential and multi-family homes and condos were listed as of today. That’s down very slightly from 4,457 last month. However, because of the increased sales, total months of inventory for listed properties is down to 9.23 months. That’s down from months at the end of April. This is the first time months of inventory has dropped below 10 months since 2006.

268 of May’s sales were cash transactions. This means that a lot of Daytona Beach homes are being purchased with cash. Conventional financing accounted for 116 of the sales. That’s an improvement in raw numbers, so maybe the banks are beginning to loan a little more than they have been.

Analysis for the Daytona Beach Area Homes Sales

National numbers have reported dropping pricing and sales numbers dropping. That’s not the case in our area. Sales are up and prices are stable. Out median sales point for last month was the same as this month – $115,000. That number is driven by most of the sales coming at under $200,000. Average prices were down, but we believe that’s because of the trend that we’ve seen over the past few years – homes in the lower price ranges are selling. Homes above $300,000 are struggling.

The national economic numbers are not attractive and talks of a double dip to the recession are heard. Somehow, that hasn’t seemed to affect us. We believe we have that resource that never goes out of style – sun and sea. We believe we are at the top of seaside communities in the country for value. Many of my customers are buying second homes or buying their retirement homes now for a few years down the road. These buyers believe prices are near the bottom and are acting.

We can say about Daytona Beach home prices that they have not started moving up, but we can also say that the banks and other lenders are countering with closer to market prices than a few months ago. It’s seems that they now have a good sense of market value and “steals” are harder to find. However, the negotiation game hasn’t changed much. If you’re willing to be patient and submit offers on multiple properties, you can still get a fantastic deal.

To find out what’s available in the local area, go to the following pages:

Daytona Beach Homes for Sale
Daytona Beach Condos for Sale
Ormond Beach Homes for Sale

Daytona Beach Real Estate Sales Up 6.2%

Sales of Daytona Beach condos and homes were up in April by 6.2% over April of last year. For the year, sales are up 4.2% over 2010 and 38.1% over 2009. Here’s a look at the first four months of the last three years.

As you can see, sales for 2011 are pretty close to 2010. The big increase came from 2009 to 2010. The best we can say about this year is that the sales volume is holding pretty consistently since that big increase.

April 2011 Daytona Beach Real Estate Sales

April 2011 sales of Daytona Beach area homes and condos are showing the same trends that we’ve been seeing for over 3 years now. Look at the chart below:

The percentage of all sales under $200,000 came in at 78.7%. This is consistent with the sales distribution since prices began falling in 2006. Add sales between $200,000 and  $300,000 to count and over 90% (90.4%) of all sales of homes and condos were under $300,000. The median price, which is the mid-point distribution of sale (1/2 above and 1/2 below), was $115,000, but the average sales price was $158,000. Both the median and the average sales prices have been holding close to this range for about a year.

Have Daytona Beach Real Estate Prices Bottomed?

This is a big question and the answer will be more opinion that fact at this point. Saying that prices have bottomed is risky because we will still see monthly variations in the numbers. However, the numbers appear to be saying that we are in a more stable period than we were last year at this time. If we look back to 2009, we are in a much more stable market than then.

There are 4457 residential and multi-famlity properties listed as of this morning. This puts us at 10 months of inventory. In September 2008, there were 21.6 months of inventory. There were 5986 properties on the market then, but only 277 homes and condos were sold. Now, we have a drop of more than 25% in listings and a 61% sales increase.

So, the slighted convoluted answer to price bottoming is – inventory is down significantly, sales are up over the past few years and median sales and average prices are pretty stable. If we haven’t reached bottom we are close barring a major economic calamity.

Please contact Lynn at 386-566-7503 to discuss the market and what you are looking for. Click this link to –>search all Daytona Beach area homes and condos for sale.