Senate approves home tax credit extension

Federal tax credit - Miami homes

On Wednesday, the U.S. Senate approved a plan to give buyers of Miami homes and buyers nationally an extended three months to finish qualifying for federal tax credit that boosted home sales this spring.

The move would extend the deadline to September 30th giving buyers of Miami homes time to complete their purchases and to qualify for the Federal tax credit of up to $8,000. Buyers had until April 30 to get a signed sales contract and until June 30 to complete the sale, under the current terms.

Full Article...Senate approves home tax credit extension

Florida Miami homes, sales continue to improve in April

Homes in Miami, Miami real estate

According to the National Association of Realtors, existing Florida Miami homes sales rose again in April, prompted by the expiration of the tax credit. Sales rose both nationally and for Miami real estate properties. Along with this rise in existing Florida Miami homes sales we saw buyers improving consumer confidence and favorable affordability conditions.

Full Article...Miami homes sales continue to improve

Prices drop for Luxury Miami homes on Fisher Island

Luxury Miami homes, Miami Beach real estate

Luxury Miami homes on Fisher Island were at the top of the list for America's most expensive postal zone two years ago. Miami Beach real estate in ZIP code 33109 took the top spot on Forbes annual ranking with a median luxury Miami homes price of $3.85 million. That top ranking luxury Miami homes on Fisher Island? Gone!

Now a handful of homes Fisher Island, 216 acres of the most expensive Miami Beach real estate, now have many homes that have gone into foreclosure. Since the Forbes list came out, 23 residents are still hurting from their brush with Ponzi schemer Bernie Madoff and the median price one of these luxury Miami homes as gone down by 15%.

Full Article...Prices drop for Luxury Miami homes on Fisher Island

Miami Real Estate, Miami Real Estate news

Miami homes for sale, prices stabilize

According to housing data released Monday by Florida Realtors, in December, existing sales for Miami homes for sale jumped 45% in Miami-Dade and 24% in Broward in December, compared to the same month of 2008. Median prices for Miami homes fell just 5% and 2% in Broward in the year-to-year comparison.

Realtors say more buyers are perusing Miami real estate properties, and some believe prices have stabilized. In some areas like The Roads, Coral Gables, Plantation, Coral Springs and Weston, Realtors say prices of Miami homes are rising.

Single-family Miami real estate sales in December rose 37% in Miami-Dade and 10% in Broward, compared to November.

Full Article....Miami Real Estate, Miami Real Estate news

Miami Homes, Miami Beach Real Estate

Big Banks are Accused of Short Sale Fraud

Apparently there is new mortgage fraud out there today, allegedly perpetuated by agents of, yes, the big banks, just as regulators, lawmakers and all forms of financial oversight boards are talking about new regulations to guard against mortgage fraud out there today. It’s affecting Miami homes, Miami Beach real estate and other properties nationwide.

CNBC Real Estate Reporter first alerted to this by Jeremy Brandt, the CEO of several companies that bring short sale agents, investors and sellers together.

Full Article...Miami Homes, Miami Beach Real Estate

Foreclosures in Florida, Miami Real Estate

Miami Dade begin online Florida foreclosure auctions

The county of Miami Dade officially launched online bidding for foreclosures in Florida Monday, in a move that could speed the sale of huge numbers of distressed Miami real estate properties on the market, bringing together bidders from across the globe and launching hopes of an accelerated return to normalcy in the Miami real estate industry.

The new system is managed by RealAuction.com based in Plantation and will completely replace the traditional courthouse procedure. Miami-Dade Clerk of Courts Harvey Ruvin said it is expected to save the county $750,000 per year while cutting out a lot of the paperwork that has weighed down the process. As it tries to balance a backlog of foreclosure cases and a reduced budget, the move comes at a good time for the foreclosure division of Miami-Dade Clerk of Courts office.

Full Article...Foreclosures in Florida, Miami Real Estate

Florida Foreclosures, Miami Real estate

Bill would provide Miami real estate renters rights

If a planned bill gets passed in the Florida Legislature, renters who are caught up in Florida foreclosures or short sales in may get more time to get out of their Miami real estate property before the sheriff shows up to evict them.

On Tuesday, the bill (HB 125) is sponsored by state Representative Hazelle Rogers, D-Lauderhill, and co-sponsored by state Representative Darren Soto, D-Orlando, is scheduled to be taken by the Civil Justice & Courts Policy Committee.

Full Article...Florida Foreclosures, Miami Real estate

Miami Short Sales, Miami Real Estate

As Foreclosures Rise, banks take more loses on short sales

Three years into a U.S. housing slump that pressed the economy into a recession and reduced resale values and Miami real estate by 30% from the peak in July 2006, more and more banks are beginning to accept increasing numbers of short sales. In the first six months of 2009 short sales almost tripled to 40,000, from the same period a year earlier. However, according to data from the Office of Thrift Supervision and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, for each short sale there were 25 foreclosures started or completed in the first half of this year.

This year, Wells Fargo, Bank of America Corporation and JPMorgan Chase & Company have hired and trained more staff, developed software systems for accelerating short sales and increased marketing of short sales to delinquent borrowers.

Full Article...Miami Short Sales, Miami Real Estate

Florida Foreclosures, South Beach Real Estate

Florida Foreclosures Surge, Miami Real Estate

Florida foreclosures in Miami-Dade County surged 94% in September compared to a year ago, with 5,721 homeowners receiving word their lenders had started foreclosure proceedings. The rate rose 2% in Broward with 3,493 homes entering foreclosure.

RealtyTrac, which tallies new filings, scheduled auction sales and Miami homes that were returned to lenders, suggest rising unemployment will possibly increase the region's foreclosure problem.

Full Article....Florida Foreclosures, South Beach Real Estate

Florida Foreclosures, Miami Real Estate

New Federal Housing Administration loan assistance

The government will announce Thursday that loans backed by the Federal Housing Administration will be qualified for payment reductions comparable to the Obama administration's loan modification program. Thus helping residents with their Florida foreclosures and Miami real estate properties.

Financially troubled homeowners who have an FHA-insured loan can apply for a adjustment under a program parallel to "Making Home Affordable" to help lower their payments and possibly avoid Florida foreclosure on their Miami real estate property. This will be effective on August 15.

Full Article...Florida Foreclosures, Miami Real Estate

Miami Condos, Miami Beach Real Estate

Occupancy Rates are Soaring in Downtown Miami Condos

With most downtown Miami Condos’ dark and desolate, newly built condo towers may look ghostly. But as the downtown area quickly fills up with residents, that's changing.

Renters are marching in to help lighten things up, although Miami condos sales remain sluggish. Sales are picking up, too.

An occupancy report released Wednesday by the Miami Downtown Development Authority, found that 62% of the new condos built since 2003 are, in fact, inhabited by humans.

Full Article...Miami Condos, Miami Beach Real Estate

Miami Condos, Miami Beach Real Estate

Borrowing for Miami Condos Easier in 2009

Twenty six Miami Condos have been approved by Fannie Mae for Federally backed mortgages this year, compared to zero in 2008, according to Condovultures.com. Fannie Mae refused to finance units in condo towers where values had dropped too much or where a large portion of the condos were in foreclosure, as the housing market collapsed last year.

The higher number of projects in Fannie Mae's mirrors the quickening pace of sales in the battered Miami real estate market. Fannie Mae approved 25 South Florida condo projects in 2007 and 19 condo projects in 2006.

Miami Homes, Miami Beach Real Estate

Feds get Tough on Mortgage Fraud, Miami Homes

The string of rapid-fire sales at a Coral Gables home was emblematic of the cause and consequences of South Florida's housing bust, to neighboring residents. In less than three years, the four-bedroom house, now vacant and deteriorating, was sold, bought and foreclosed on three times.

Neighbors always suspected that something wasn't right with one of the Miami homes on Alesio Avenue as the value of the home more than doubled to $1.2 million in the short time span. As it turns out they were right.

This week a federal judge sentenced Jose G. Martin to 65 months in prison. Martin had once posed as a renter in the home and was charged with orchestrating a $6.6 million mortgage fraud scheme involving the Alesio property and six other homes in Miami-Dade County.

Full Story....Miami Homes, Miami Beach Real Estate

Miami Condos, Miami Beach Real Estate

Miami Foreclosure-Ridden Complexes are Now Top Sellers

Miami condos complexes that had the worst foreclosure problems are now showing high condosales. In a reversal of fortune, seven of the top 10 most foreclosure-ridden complexes last year ranked among the 10 top-selling projects in the first three months of 2009, mostly because banks slashed prices in order to speed sales.

The new figures come from Miami-based market research firm CondoReports.com, which compared foreclosure and sales transactions in its database of 2,000 Miami-Dade projects built before 2008.

Three of thr best selling Miami condos projects were in Miami-Dade's farthest flung suburbs. Shoma at Keys Cove in Homestead ranked first with 50 sales; followed by Mandarin Lakes near South Miami Heights, with 32 sales; and, Bluewaters subdivision in the Country Walk area, also with 32 sales.

Full article...Miami Foreclosures, Miami Beach Real Estate

Miami Homes, Miami Beach Real Estate

Miami Homes, April Sales Rise by 2.9%

From March to April, sales of previously occupied homes rose modestly as buyers who were brave enough to dive into the market took advantage of prices that were 15.4% below year-ago levels.

On Wednesday, the National Association of Realtors said that home sales rose 2.9% to an annual rate of 4.68 million last month, from a downwardly revised pace of 4.55 million in March.

The results slightly more then economists' forecasted. According to Thomson Reuter, sales had been expected to rise to an annual pace of 4.66 million units.

Full Article....Miami Homes, Miami Beach Real Estate

Miami Homes in Foreclosure, Miami Real Estate

Florida Foreclosures, Treasury Rolls out Relief for More Homeowners

ON THE WEB:
Treasury fact sheet: http://tinyurl.com/qlbn9m
Progress Report: http://www.treas.gov/press/releases/docs/05142009ProgressReport.pdf
Making Home Affordable site: http://www.makinghomeaffordable.gov/about.html

The Obama administration unveiled new programs Thursday designed to make it easier for homeowners who owe far more than their houses are now worth to sell those homes at a loss and have their remaining debt forgiven.

These programs are the latest additions to Making Home Affordable, an evolving $75 billion plan that tries to break the national housing crisis into separate pieces, attacking the problem on several fronts.

The first two legs of the program sought to help borrowers refinance into today's low mortgage rates, or if they're behind on payments, to seek loan modifications to avoid foreclosure.

MIami Condos, Florida Foreclosures

Florida Foreclosures, Onyx on the Bay Units Face Action

The developer of Onyx on the Bay, a 28-story highrise in Miami, faces foreclosure.

According to court records, Corus Bank has filed a foreclosure action targeting 41 unsold units within the 118-unit condo tower.

Named in the lawsuit, which was filed April 29 in Miami-Dade Circuit Court, is Developer Biscayne Bay Lofts and the principals of the development partners, Willy Bermello and Luis Ajamil, of Miami-based BAP Developers, and Gustavo Micuslitzki, of Argentina’s GGM Developers.

Onyx appears to be the first to fall-Last month; the troubled Chicago-based Corus Bank warned that it was preparing to foreclose on three South Florida projects.

Full Article....Miami Condos, Florida Foreclosures

Florida Home Sales, Miami Beach Real Estate

Florida Home Sales Rise, Miami Beach Real Estate

Home sales rose shapely in South Florida during March, suggests that regardless of the falling prices, buyers are growing more confident.

Existing single-family homes sales rose again in South Florida last month, jumping by 101$ in Miami-Dade County and 47% in Broward, as the triple draw of low interest rates, tumbling prices and a new $8,000 first-time-homeowner tax credit enticed buyers.

According to the Florida Association of Realtors, for the past eight months the number of homes sold grew over the year-ago-period in both counties, Sales of condominiums rose by 59% in Miami-Dade and 28% in Broward.

Florida Foreclosures, Miami Beach Real Estate

Florida Foreclosures, How to Attract Buyers

It’s a buyer’s market and most homes selling during this distressed time are Florida foreclosures. But there are ways for homeowners to increase the odds of attracting a buyer and competing against the lenders.

Sellers trying to move property in South Florida's housing market face one of the toughest environments in decades with an abundance of competition from cheap Florida foreclosures and short sales.

In February, more than 60% of homes sold were so-called distressed sales, where the seller, most typically, a lender lets the property go for a meager amount.

Full Article...Florida Foreclosures, Miami Beach Real Estate

Miami Condo Hotels, Miami Beach Real Estate

Miami Beach Real Estate Developer to Build New Condo Hotel

The Related Group, which recently scrapped plans for a condominium tower on the oceanfront site, will now build a hotel in South Beach with Orient-Express.

Related led the way in Florida's condominium boom before that market hit a severe downturn and will now be part of a $150 million project which will mark the first new South Florida project in three years for Related.

The Related Group will be a full partner with Orient-Express in building the new hotel and have recently canceled sales contracts for the planned Viceroy Miami condo-hotel tower on the site at 801 South Pointe Drive.

Full Article...Miami Condo Hotels, Miami Beach Real Estate