I worked the Foreclosure Crisis in 2008 through 2014 and I honestly believe as long as these mortgage holders communicate with their lenders we”won’t see this happen due to the challenges we are facing!”

Florida Trend published today Monday August 3, 2020!

About 389,000, or 10.5 percent, of Florida’s 3.7 million mortgage-holders were delinquent on loan payments in late May, presaging what some fear could be an emerging foreclosure crisis as bad if not worse than the one that followed the 2008 housing crash. Don’t let the media frighten you!

With the lowest interest rates since the 50’s we are experiencing a huge boost of buyers and investors from the Northeast purchasing homes all along the East Coast of Florida! Miami through Jacksonville and I’m sure other parts of Florida we’re seeing the new tomorrow! Over seas corporate business are moving back to the states. Corporations experiencing huge are moving to states with more desirable tax breaks and credits. Yes we have lost many small businesses, however as we move through these challenges we’ll see a remarkable recovery. Big corporations, “Allowing production for their employees from home!” is stimulating buyers to look at an extra bedroom and making it their future office. I’m seeing high end homes becoming a popular market for these wealthier investors.

We hear the construction industry home starts have plummeted as much as 54% in June South Florida construction starts took a nosedive in June, continuing the trend since the COVID-19 pandemic began. Nonresidential construction declined 43 percent in June, year-over-year, to $239.6 million, while residential construction dropped 61 percent to $265.4 million during the same period, according to a new report from Dodge Data & Analytics (Source: The Real Deal) Where is this rhetoric all coming from?

Home prices have hit record highs in Volusia, Flagler counties and I’m seeing multiple offers on homes in St. John’s and Duval Counties. Area Realtors chalk it up to increased demand, super low interest rates and shrinking supply of available homes because of the COVID-19 fears on the part of many would be sellers.

New construction? Builders are offering as low as 2.5% mortgage rates for their homes. New construction does not seem to be slowing down in our area, mostly because these buyers moving to Florida want immediate move in ready homes. In an interesting article published July 13, by Florida Trend Real Estate, home prices in Florida and Arizona expected to drop due to COVID-19 “perfect storm” Despite home prices increasing 4.8% year over year in May, a report by CoreLogic predicts home prices will stall over the summer and estimates a 6.6% decline by May of 2021. What I find remarkable, from June 1st through June 22nd, Del Webb in Nocatee had multiple offers on homes and couldn’t keep enough inventory. When it was announced COVID-19 was becoming prolific in Florida, buyers all but stopped. A real good thing, is that many homes that sold much lower than originally listed have similar models and sizes now securing buyers at a much higher price. Marketing, staging, photography, presentation, and how quickly move-in-ready are certainly determining factors!

So who is correct in a Pandemic environment? I am beginning to believe we are experiencing an up and down trend depending on the environment the media is creating. We will only know as the trending model, “What the market will bear!” experiences! We can’t expect to abide by this statement for the entire rest of 2020, since a Hurricanes, Major Election, Pandemic, Corporate relocation, motivation of buyers and sellers, and I can go on and on with historic and current market trends. Is it all speculation? At the moment, our local trend is a motivation for sellers to consider when listing with a good Realtor!

I didn’t make it to the RE/MAX Hall of Fame without representing my buyers and sellers with outstanding representation.