home percent sales credit pinellas florida homes market beach county mortgage buyers price 2009 rates prices median association clearwater foreclosure petersburg realtors realtor short water family energy island park properties insurance homeowners 2008 buyer purchase money federal house seminole loans
Florida Vacation home Market Heats Up
Homebuyers looking for bargains are finding the time is right to make an offer on a second home.
Plentiful choices, attractive interest rates and low prices are spurring activity in the vacation-home sector, industry members say. Another factor: uncertain returns elsewhere.
"People are telling me they're pulling their money out of stocks and their 401(k)," said Cathy Nichols, brokerassociate at Tropical Realty & Investments of Brevard.
She estimates that 90 percent of the closings she and business partner Sara Forst Griffin have completed in recent months have been vacation homes.
One buyer from Alaska paid $65,000 cash for a condominium -- sight unseen -- that will eventually be the buyer's full-time retirement home. Another took out a $40,000 line of credit on a primary residence to buy a unit in Titusville.
The activity is far from a feeding frenzy. Sales of condominiums -- often, though not always, the choice for second homes -- have been holding steady at about 90 sales a month for the past five months, according to Richard Webb, an agent for Coldwell Banker Ed Schlitt Realtors.
Webb also analyzes local market data at his Web site, www.4brevard.com. The condo sales graph is a flat line, but at a higher level than sales during 2007 and 2008.
Condo sales year-to-date are up more than 9 percent over last year, said Jim Johnston, president of the Space Coast Association of Realtors and a commercial sales representative for Trafford Realty.
For condo owners and buyers who want to use their unit for income, he's seeing demand for short-term rentals.
The sales trend is chipping away at inventory. Condo units for sale in Brevard County have plunged from a high of 2,756 in December 2006 to about 1,500 last week.
Webb calculates that figure at 15 months of inventory -- still a larger glut than single-family homes, but a vast improvement over the 51 months of condo inventory in the county in September 2007.
Many units on the market are foreclosures or short sales, where the owner owes more than the market price of the unit. That's the case for a Merritt Island unit that Anthony and Chantal Miller toured last week. The couple lives in Celebration with their four children, and is looking for a second home.
"I need a bit of breathing space," said Anthony Miller, a writer and inventor who retired from a career with IBM. They also own a home in France, Chantal's home country, and might eventually split their time between Florida and France.
"If we're going to spend half the year here, I'd rather be on the coast," said Anthony, an English native who prefers the ocean air and cooler temperatures of coastal Florida to Central Florida.
He's not sure the market has bottomed out. But at some point, he expects inflation to kick in and push prices up.
"There's no doubt they will rise, the issue is when," he said.
Agents report buyers are forging ahead despite the uncertainty.
"We're starting to see a lot of properties that are getting multiple offers," Nichols said.
She's also seeing a lot of cash deals, a move that bypasses any potential difficulties obtaining financing. Financing a condominium generally is easy if the buyer can invest a 30 percent down payment, said Bobbie Dyer, Melbourne branch manager for Wells Fargo.
Less than that, and tougher requirements kick in regarding the number of investors in the condominium building and delinquencies in dues among owners.
She's handling more purchases of second homes, using cash-out refinances on primary residences and reverse mortgages for purchase.
"People have a little more confidence now," she said.
"I need a bit of breathing space," said Anthony Miller, a writer and inventor who retired from a career with IBM. They also own a home in France, Chantal's home country, and might eventually split their time between Florida and France.
"If we're going to spend half the year here, I'd rather be on the coast," said Anthony, an English native who prefers the ocean air and cooler temperatures of coastal Florida to Central Florida.
He's not sure the market has bottomed out. But at some point, he expects inflation to kick in and push prices up.
"There's no doubt they will rise, the issue is when," he said.
Agents report buyers are forging ahead despite the uncertainty.
"We're starting to see a lot of properties that are getting multiple offers," Nichols said.
She's also seeing a lot of cash deals, a move that bypasses any potential difficulties obtaining financing. Financing a condominium generally is easy if the buyer can invest a 30 percent down payment, said Bobbie Dyer, Melbourne branch manager for Wells Fargo.
Less than that, and tougher requirements kick in regarding the number of investors in the condominium building and delinquencies in dues among owners.
She's handling more purchases of second homes, using cash-out refinances on primary residences and reverse mortgages for purchase.
"People have a little more confidence now," she said.