Earlier this month we wrote an article that inventory supply was down to 3.09 months in SW Florida.  Less than 4 weeks later we want to update you about the rapidly changing market conditions in SW Florida.

Single family housing inventory supply is down to 2.70 months as of July 29^th.  The rolling average of closed sales for the past 365 days has increased by 219 sales.  This is a sign that closed sales are picking up. Housing inventory fell by 372 homes.  That is a total swing of 592 homes, and all this happened in a 27-day period.

This is why we say we have rapidly changing market conditions in SW Florida. If you are a homeowner in forbearance, you are going to want to speak with a Realtor soon.   The six-month window that began back in April will expire in October.  For most borrowers, the lenders front loaded the forbearance.  This means you will have a balloon payment at the end of 6 months.  If it was difficult making the payment before, it will surely be difficult to make all 6 plus October’s payment.  The good news is most loans have equity.

What we found during previous financial hard times is many people did not act.  They put their head in the sand and ended up losing their home when the home could have been sold before foreclosure.   Back in the mid 2000’s some were short sales, but those sales were better than foreclosures on a seller’s record.

Today, if the homeowner has equity, it may not be a short sale.  You may be able to pay off the loan without a foreclosure.  Many homeowners believe this was a government protection and their credit will be fine.  The truth is your credit will not be fine, and they will foreclose if you go in default.  Speak with your lender, and definitely speak with a Realtor before it gets too late.

Sellers thinking about selling should keep in mind we have a great sellers’ market today.  What we don’t know is how long that will last.  We have more buyers buying today.  Florida is well positioned because we have buyers coming in from other states.  We also have record low interest rates.  The wildcard is the election and foreclosures.

We feel fortunate to be here in SW Florida.  We have a lot going for us.  The fact that people want to move here may mitigate some or most of the financial distress foreclosures would cause us.  Today is nothing like the foreclosure crisis we went through as we have end users for properties today.  We did not have that back in 2006-2010.

Hurricane Update

 For those of you that have a transaction pending, please get an insurance binder now.  We could have several storms lining up, and once we are in “the Box”, insurers can no longer write new policies.  You can assume an existing one.  One year we had hurricanes lined up for about 6 weeks.  There were very few days insurers could write new policies. It looks like we may see the same thing this year, so do not take that for granted.  It could stop your closing even if the storms are not coming here, and nobody wants that.

If you would like to talk to us about your home’s value and your situation, please call Brett or Sande Ellis 239-489-4042 Ext 4.  Or visit www.SWFLhomevalues.com to find out your home’s value instantly, for Free. We will analyze your situation and discuss your options.  Good luck and stay safe this hurricane season.

See last week’s article “Timely Real Estate Trends We Are Keeping an Eye On”

3 Things We are Watching in SW Florida real Estate Market