What a deal! Perfect for FHA financing. Home features R13 wall insulation for efficiency, oak kitchen cabinets, 25 year shingles, fenced back yard. Call Chad Stewart, http://www.chadstewart.com/ for 386-487-1463 . $118,900.

FHA: New government data shows that claims on FHA mortgage insurance, which is backed by the government to prevent foreclosures, rose by 61 percent last year compared to five years ago. These payoffs allowed more than six in 10 homeowners who defaulted on FHA-insured loans to stay in their homes.Read the full story:http://www.floridarealtors.org/NewsAndEvents/n5-042808.cfm

HOME SALES
Florida Realtors statewide reported slight gains in existing home and condominium sales from February to March 2008, according to FAR's latest housing statistics. A total of 9,142 existing single-family homes changed hands in March, a 10 percent increase over the previous month. Statewide existing condo sales totaled 3,145 in March, up 13.7 percent compared to February's sales.Read the full story:http://www.floridarealtors.org/NewsAndEvents/n1-042208.cfm

Lake City among country’s hottest markets
Magazine rates area as No. 47 for doing business.
By TROY ROBERTS
www.lakecityreporter.com

Lake City was named one of the top 100 small business markets in the south — coming in at No. 47 — in the April issue of Southern Business and Development magazine.Lake City was second on the list in the state of Florida behind Palm Coast.

This is the second time in the past decade that Lake City has been named one of the top small business markets by this magazine, said Jim Poole, executive director of the Lake City-Columbia County Chamber of Commerce.“This is based on the number of actual deals or company locations within your community that has created a minimum of 200 jobs,” Poole said.

He said the scoring is done during the course of a five-year time frame, and new industries in Lake City such as Hunter Panels, New Millennium Building Systems, U.S. Cold Storage and Target helped Lake City place on the list again.Ranking businesses east of Texas and south of West Virginia, the magazine ranked communities similar in size to Lake City, Poole said, and noted that many of the communities were larger than Lake City and very few, if any, were actually smaller.

Lake City being named to the list could help future expansion, Poole said, as companies looking to relocate into the South or into Florida will see Lake City’s high ranking.

“The last time (we were named to the list), it definitely helped us because people began to realize where we were, and began to look and see who is here and what’s happening and why this community was emerging,” he said.“I think that will continue,” Poole said.

“The magazine goes out to site developers, company locators, people looking for new locations for businesses; when they go through the businesses on the list, they’ll see how well we did within the state and southern markets.”

PENDING HOME SALESNAR released its pending home sales and outlook this morning, with Chief Economist Lawrence Yun predicting little change over the next few months followed by an upswing in sales in the second half of the year.Read the full story:http://www.floridarealtors.org/NewsAndEvents/n5-040808.cfm

Canadians, especially those who live in U.S. border areas, are snapping up vacation homes in the U.S. as the Canadian dollar gains value against the declining American dollar. According to NAR, the largest number of Canadians head to Florida, with California ranking second.Read the full story:http://www.floridarealtors.org/NewsAndEvents/n2-040808.cfm

Title: 5 Tips for Buying a Home in a Down Market
URL: http://www.bankaholic.com/2008/buying-home-down-market/

MARKET WATCH: GAINESVILLEIn Gainesville, some positive signs have recently emerged about median home prices and existing home sales. "I think we're heading in the right direction," says Craig McCall, president-elect of the Gainesville Alachua County Association of Realtors. More buyers, McCall says, are beginning to look at properties, and agents are starting to receive more offers.Read the full story:http://www.floridarealtors.org/NewsAndEvents/n2-040108.cfm __________________________

HOMEBUYERSRecognizing that the current market favors buyers, 77 percent of respondents in a MarketTools survey said that the time is right to buy a home - a 20 percent increase compared to a similar January survey.Read the full story:http://www.floridarealtors.org/NewsAndEvents/n2-032608.cfm __________________________

Breaking News

Home sales rose by 2.9 percent in February, the first increase after six straight declines, trade group reports.
from Cnn.com today 3-24-08

HOME VALUESThe real estate mantra of "location, location, location" rings particularly true in a slow market. Encourage your buyers to do their research, because choosing the right neighborhood could have a big effect on whether or not their home turns out to be a winning investment.Read the full story:http://www.floridarealtors.org/NewsAndEvents/n4-031708.cfm

STUDY SAYS: MILD HOUSING RECOVERY ON THE WAYIt looks like the housing market may have hit bottom, setting the stage for a mild housing recovery to begin prior to year-end 2008, according to a new study by SMR Research Corp. The market's recovery is likely to be gradual, with house prices merely firming up or increasing slightly, rather than returning to the strong growth seen from 2002 to mid-2006, the firm said. An SMR study was among the first to declare (in 2002) that a housing price bubble existed, defined as prices rising faster than consumer incomes. In a 2004 study, SMR forecast that a "perfect storm" in credit quality would cause an explosion in foreclosures within two years. SMR specializes in mortgage and home equity loan industry research. "Our prior forecasts were accurate but widely disbelieved when issued," says SMR President Stuart A. Feldstein. "We similarly expect a skeptical reaction now to a recovery forecast, which is not the common view. But the numbers are what they are." The new recovery forecast was published within SMR's annual spring study. "Homes are now affordable again," Feldstein says. "Consumer psychology is the biggest remaining hurdle to recovery." © 2008 FLORIDA ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS

Here are some good design tips from Lowes
https://www.lowesrealtorbenefits.com/newsletter/pdf/022008.pdf

PROPERTY TAX PORTABILITY
Only three days remain: Friday is the deadline for homeowners to apply for a homestead exemption, and, for 2007 homebuyers, the last day to apply for property tax portability – the right to take tax savings from a home protected by Florida’s Save Our Homes amendment and transfer it to a home purchased last year.Read the full story:http://www.floridarealtors.org/NewsAndEvents/n2-022608.cfm

HOUSING MARKET
NAR’s housing report yesterday had some good news. While the sales numbers were down, they weren’t as dismal as many economists expected. Some investors saw that as positive news, and a sign that the housing downturn is on the verge of bottoming out.

http://www.floridarealtors.org/NewsAndEvents/n1-022608.cfm

Here is some interesting info about foreclosures...

http://www.trulia.com/newsletter

http://images.trulia.com/resources/Trulia_Trends_Report-February_2008.pdf

Wow! Even in what is being referred to as a dismal market almost 7,000 existing homes sold in ONE MONTH in Florida in January!!! Also note the good positive outlook for the future in Par. 2 -
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ORLANDO, Fla. – Feb. 25, 2008 – The mortgage credit crunch and a sluggish economy continued to affect the sales pace of existing homes and condominiums in Florida in January. Statewide, sales of existing single-family homes totaled 6,737 last month while 9,360 homes sold in January 2007 for a decrease of 28 percent in the year-to-year comparison, according to the Florida Association of Realtors® (FAR).
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But some industry analysts expect sales activity to improve by the second half of the year, especially if the increased loan limit caps within the federal government’s economic stimulus package can be implemented quickly. In the latest market outlook from the National Association of Realtors®, Chief Economist Lawrence Yun says, “Existing-home sales have moved narrowly since last September, but when the full impact of higher loan limits for conventional mortgages begins to hit the market, there is likely to be a notable rise in home sales and prices. If higher limits are enacted very quickly, we’ll see a faster and more meaningful recovery by expanding safe, affordable financing in high-cost areas – that, in turn, would help to stimulate overall economic activity.”

REAL ESTATE INVESTMENTInvestors who bought housing stocks at the beginning of the year made money. As the Federal Reserve started cutting interest rates, the stocks of several home builders started to rise dramatically; and some analysts believe it signals sunnier days ahead for the entire housing industry.Read the full story:http://www.floridarealtors.org/NewsAndEvents/n5-021908.cfm

HOMESELLERSSome sellers may need to be convinced that the price they want for their home is not the price they’re going to get. Associates can use a number of tools to make that happen.Read the full story:http://www.floridarealtors.org/NewsAndEvents/n2-020708.cfm

PROPERTY TAX AMENDMENTRealtors around the state expect the pent up demand to buy-and-sell will spark home sales statewide thanks to yesterday’s passage of Amendment 1, which lowers property taxes statewide.Read the full story:

http://www.floridarealtors.org/NewsAndEvents/n1-013008.cfm

Now is the time to buy a home.
Check out http://www.chadstewart.com/ & start browesing for Lake City, FL Homes & Real Estate today.