Orlando Short Sale Expert | Orlando Short Sales, Orlando Short Sale Realtor

Last week the latest data was released by Standard & Poor’s for their S&P/Case-Shiller index. According to their latest stats, a double-dip in the U.S. home prices is confirmed.

The National Index posted a decline of 5.1 percent from the first quarter of 2010, with prices now at mid-2002 levels

“This month’s report is marked by the confirmation of a double-dip in home prices across much of the nation. … The National Index fell 4.2% over the first quarter alone. … Home prices continue on their downward spiral with no relief in sight.” says David M. Blitzer, Chairman of the Index Committee at S&P Indices.

Much of the rise in home sales last year was due to the first-time home buyer tax credit. This year pending home sales, based on contract signings, were down 26.5 percent from pendings in April 2010.

Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, said the dip in contracts may be due to temporary factors. “The pullback in contract signings is disappointing and implies a slower than expected market recovery in upcoming months,” he said. “The economy hit a soft patch in April from sharply rising oil prices, widespread severe weather with the heaviest precipitation in 20 years, and a sudden rise in unemployment claims.”

According to the Case-Shiller Index, Minneapolis posted a double-digit annual decline of 10.0 percent. The only metro areas surveyed which posted gains were Washington DC, up a marginal 1.1 percent, and Seattle, up just 0.1 percent for the month. Washington was also up year over year by 4.30 percent. Seattle, on the other hand, was still down 7.5 percent from March 2010.

Twelve major markets fell to their lowest level as measured by the current housing cycle, including Atlanta, Charlotte, Chicago, Cleveland, Detroit, Las Vegas, Miami, Minneapolis, New York, Phoenix, and Portland.

A key factor in restoring health to the housing market will be to make credit more accessible once again. The National Association of Home Builders is a strong proponent for keeping mortgage within reach of buyers.

Certain members of Congress are pushing to close down Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, a source of loans for many lower income buyers. “NAHB opposes legislation pending in the House and Senate that would effectively wind down the operations of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac without offering a clear vision for the future housing system and a non-disruptive transition to a new secondary market framework. Similarly, NAHB believes that more than a dozen short-term legislative proposals offered by House Republican lawmakers to reduce the support Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac provide to the mortgage markets represent a piecemeal approach to reform that would disrupt the housing market and could push the nation back into a deep recession.

The NAHB is also concerned with the unveiling of proposals to establish a “Qualified Residential Mortgage” (QRM), which would make standard a minimum 20 percent down payment on a home loan.

NAHB estimates that it would take 12 years for a typical family to save enough money for a 20 percent down payment on a median-priced single-family home and other research has found it would take even longer. With over 62 percent of first mortgages not qualifying under the QRM, the fear remains that the housing market would continue to decline.

“If buyers are denied access to affordable housing credit, the shadow inventory of foreclosed homes will not be drawn down, a housing recovery will not take hold and economic growth will stall,” said NAHB First Vice Chairman Barry Rutenberg.

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Jerry LaRose is an Orlando Area Residential Real Estate Expert and Foreclosure Specialist who can assist you with the purchase and/or sale of Real Estate in Orlando, Windermere, Winter Garden, Kissimmee, St. Cloud, East Orlando, Longwood, Altamonte Springs, Maitland, Winter Park, Oviedo, Apopka, Lake Mary, Clermont, Ocoee  Florida or any place in the country. Jerry has created a team of professionals throughout Orlando and the country to ensure that you enjoy a smooth transition to your new area.

Please visit:

Avoid Foreclosure / Short Sale Help  http://OrlandoShortSaleExpert.com, or http://ShortSellMyOrlandoHome.com

Our Website http://JerryLaRose.com or www.JerrySellsOrlando.com,  or http://OrlandoRealEstateVoice.com ,

If you’re a Buyer looking for Great Deals –  http://InvestmentPropertyDealsOrlando.com

Please give me a call if you have questions about the Orlando and Central Florida real estate market.

P.S. If you are listing your home as a short sale in Orange, Seminole, Polk, Lake, Osceola and Brevard County Florida and Orlando, East Orlando, St. Cloud,  Davenport, Clermont, Longwood, Windermere, Winter Garden,  Kissimmee, Winter Park, Altamonte Springs, Maitland,  Apopka,  Lake Mary, Oviedo or Ocoee Florida make sure you hire an agent and realtor who knows how to do short sales and has the experience to get the job done. We are doing successful short sale packages. The short sale process is complicated and we can help simplify it.

We also have now expanded to help homeowners to Stop Foreclosure in Brevard County Florida. Servicing Melbourne, Coco, Coco Beach, Satellite Beach, Palm Bay, Indian Harbour Beach, South Patrick Shores, Palm Shores, Rockledge, Cocoa West, Merritt Island, Port Saint John and Titusville Florida

Call us at 407-580-7011 or email at jerry@JerryLaRose.com to find out more about Orange County Short Sales and Orlando Area Short Sales.

“It’s official.  Home prices have double dipped nationwide, now lower than their March 2009 trough, according to a new report from Clear Capital.  It was inevitable, and it was predicted (by me for sure) that a surge in sales of foreclosed properties and a big push by banks to facilitate short sales would force home prices down dramatically.  Sales of bank-owned (REO) properties hit 34.5% of the market, according to the survey, resulting in a national price drop of 4.9% quarterly and 5% year-over-year.

National home prices have fallen 11.5% in the past nine months, a rate not seen since 2008.

Add short sales, where the bank allows the borrower to sell for less than the value of the mortgage, and prices have nowhere to go but down.  ‘With more than one-third of national home sales being REO (bank owned), market prices are being weighed down as many markets have not regained enough footing to withstand the strain of the high proportion of REO sales,’ says Clear Capital’s Alex Villacorta.

While the usual subprime mortgage suspects, like California, Arizona, Florida and Nevada used to rule the foreclosure roost and still have high volumes of distressed properties, the mid-west is seeing a surge in REOs now, thanks to the plain old recession. 40% of the Chicago market is foreclosures, 43% in Cleveland and 51% in Minneapolis. Home prices fell 8.7% in the Mid-West during the past three months compared to the previous quarter.  While the foreclosure crisis is abating on the front end, with fewer loans going newly delinquent, the pipeline of seriously delinquent loans is enormous. Banks are now ramping up the foreclosure process after the ‘robo-signing’ paperwork scandal, but at their current pace it would take about four years to process all the bad loans through foreclosure and even longer to sell those homes out on the open market.

While buyer demand is rising, thanks to a slowly improving jobs picture, mortgage availability is still very difficult for the low to middle-income borrower, and falling prices don’t help already weak consumer confidence in the housing market. If prices continue to fall further, which they likely will in the short term, the number of so-called “underwater” borrowers, those with negative equity, will rise even higher, which could in turn result in more loan delinquencies.

Nationwide more than a quarter of all homeowners with a mortgage are in a negative equity position, but in some markets, that number is far higher.  The last time home prices fell at this rate, three years ago, they were then boosted by government stimulus in the form of a home buyer tax credit.

“A note of caution to those looking for a strong end to 2011:

The last time no incentives were in place and distressed inventories were this high, home prices fell sharply,” warns Villacorta.”

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Jerry LaRose is an Orlando Area Residential Real Estate Expert, who can assist you with the purchase and/or sale of Real Estate in Orlando, Windermere, Winter Garden, Kissimmee, St. Cloud, East Orlando, Longwood, Altamonte Springs, Maitland, Winter Park, Oviedo, Apopka, Lake Mary, Clermont, Ocoee  Florida or any place in the country. Jerry has created a team of professionals throughout Orlando and the country to ensure that you enjoy a smooth transition to your new area.

Please visit:

Avoid Foreclosure / Short Sale Help  http://OrlandoShortSaleExpert.com, or http://ShortSellMyOrlandoHome.com

Our Website http://JerryLaRose.com or www.JerrySellsOrlando.com,  or http://OrlandoRealEstateVoice.com ,

If you’re a Buyer looking for Great Deals –  http://InvestmentPropertyDealsOrlando.com

Please give me a call if you have questions about the Orlando and Central Florida real estate market.

P.S. If you are listing your home as a short sale in Orange, Seminole, Polk, Lake  or Osceola County Florida and Orlando, East Orlando, St. Cloud,  Davenport, Clermont, Longwood, Windermere, Winter Garden,  Kissimmee, Winter Park, Altamonte Springs, Maitland,  Apopka,  Lake Mary, Oviedo or Ocoee Florida make sure you hire an agent who knows how to do short sales and has the experience to get the job done. We are doing successful short sale packages. The short sale process is complicated and we can help simplify it.

Call us at 407-580-7011 or email at jerry@JerryLaRose.com to find out more about Orange County Short Sales and Orlando Area Short Sales.

January home prices fell for the sixth month in a row, edging closer to a double dip.

The S&P/Case-Shiller home price index covering 20 major markets fell 3.1% year-over-year, hovering near the market’s bottom set in April 2009.

“January brings us weakening home prices with no real hope in sight for the near future,” says David M. Blitzer, a spokesman for S&P.

The dismal report followed other negative housing market indicators recently. Sales of existing homes were off nearly 10% in February and new homes sales were at a record low.

“The housing market recession is not yet over,” said Blitzer, “and none of the statistics are indicating any form of sustained recovery. At most, we have seen all statistics bounce along their troughs; at worst, the feared double-dip recession may be materializing.”

Home prices: The double dip is near

Pat Newport, a housing market analyst for IHS Global Insight sees little prospect of a turnaround.

“There’s just a lot of inventory glut out there,” he said, “and that’s why housing prices are dropping. The low prices help clear out the glut.”

Anthony Sanders, director of Real Estate Entrepreneurship at George Mason University, pointed out that home prices have fallen despite extremely low interest rates, which have dramatically reduced monthly mortgage costs for buyers.

“If interest rates climb, that could be the tipping point into the double dip,” he said.

Eighteen of the 20 markets covered by the survey recorded year-over-year price declines. Washington, D.C., reported the only substantial increase, up 3.6%, while San Diego edged 0.1% higher.

Prices fell 9.1% in Phoenix, compared with January, 2010, more than any of the other markets covered. Detroit dropped 8.1% and Minneapolis fell 7.6%.

Newport expects the price drops to continue most of the year, and says that it’s only a matter of time before the market enters a double dip.

“I think prices will drop another 5% to 10%,” he said. “The double dip will hit in the next couple of months.”

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Jerry LaRose is an Orlando Area Residential Real Estate Expert, who can assist you with the purchase and/or sale of Real Estate in Orlando, Windermere, Winter Garden, Kissimmee, St. Cloud, East Orlando, Longwood, Altamonte Springs, Maitland, Winter Park, Oviedo, Apopka, Lake Mary, Clermont, Ocoee  Florida or any place in the country. Jerry has created a team of professionals throughout Orlando and the country to ensure that you enjoy a smooth transition to your new area.

Please visit:

Avoid Foreclosure / Short Sale Help  http://OrlandoShortSaleExpert.com, or http://ShortSellMyOrlandoHome.com

Our Website http://JerryLaRose.com or www.JerrySellsOrlando.com,  or http://OrlandoRealEstateVoice.com ,

If you’re a Buyer looking for Great Deals –  http://InvestmentPropertyDealsOrlando.com

Please give me a call if you have questions about the Orlando and Central Florida real estate market.

P.S. If you are listing your home as a short sale in Orange, Seminole, Polk, Lake  or Osceola County Florida and Orlando, East Orlando, St. Cloud,  Davenport, Clermont, Longwood, Windermere, Winter Garden,  Kissimmee, Winter Park, Altamonte Springs, Maitland,  Apopka,  Lake Mary, Oviedo or Ocoee Florida make sure you hire an agent who knows how to do short sales and has the experience to get the job done. We are doing successful short sale packages. The short sale process is complicated and we can help simplify it.

Call us at 407-580-7011 or email at jerry@JerryLaRose.com to find out more about Orange County Short Sales and Orlando Area Short Sales.