It’s no mystery that home prices are low. CoreLogic’s latest Home Price Index fell from October to November, and prices have fallen by an average of 32.8 percent from their 2006 peak.
What has not followed suit, though, are home sales. Though the most recent existing-home sales stats were up by 5 percent and pending-home sales reached their highest level in 19 months in December, current home sales would never suggest that home affordability is at its highest level in 40 years. A new poll from HouseHunt, though, suggests there may …

ONE Sotheby’s International Realty, the leader in luxury real estate throughout South Florida, is pleased to welcome Al Arostegui to their team of associates. With over 35 years of real estate experience, Arostegui is recognized within the community for his expertise in high end residential real estate and a passion for the luxurious South Florida lifestyle.

According to a new story on National Mortgage News by Lew Sichelman, South Florida has unloaded 90 percent of its 49,000 boom-era condominiums, leaving 4,700 unsold units for the market to work out – notwithstanding, of course, some outliers.
Peter Zalewski, a principal at the consulting firm CondoVultures, said 2013 could be the magic year for South Florida condominiums.

Thanks to $749 million worth of grants from the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), thousands of very-low-income seniors and disabled persons will have access to affordable and supportive housing.

The dwindling supply of new units and the price cuts in the Hollywood/Hallandale Beach submarket within Southeast Broward County have led to a 22 percent increase for the first nine months of 2011 in condo resales for the area.

As a public notice recently published in The Miami Herald announced, part of the discussion at the November 17 public hearing to be held by Sunny Isles Beach City Commission will center around a proposal for a new condo tower. The tower, proposed by Porsche Design Residences, may end up taking the 2.2 acres where the Golden Nugget Beach Club & Hotel currently stands, in Northeast Miami-Dade County.

After a brief sabbatical, the 30-year FRM is back in familiar territory, falling below 4 percent for the second time in as many months.
Motivated by the Federal Reserve’s “Operation Twist,” which involves the Fed buying billions of dollars of mortgage-backed securities to increase the money supply and spur investment, the 30-year FRM had fallen to a historical 3.94 percent in October, the lowest ever on file.

Global real estate provider Realogy saw a revenue of $1.2 billion for the third quarter of 2011 – a 10 percent increase from last year’s third quarter revenue.

Downtown Miami is making a comeback as the hot-spot for developers looking to erect new condominium towers. In the next couple of years, six new condo projects are scheduled to begin construction, and developers have been dropping hints about several others to follow.

Sales data coming out of Miami and greater Florida lately has been good; in fact, it’s been better than good. In September, year-over-year sales in Miami for both existing single-family homes and condominiums rose 46 percent and 58 percent, respectively, while statewide sales posted impressive yearly gains of 10 percent for single-family homes and condominiums.