It’s the largest group of Realtors in Florida and the third such group to sue the CDC in the last few months. The suit challenges the CDC’s eviction ban and the “draconian penalties” it imposes, as well as the application of CDC’s authority in general. The lawsuit also alleges the CDC’s ban took action to protect tenants — but took none to protect landlords, many of whom are also struggling due to the pandemic.

“The CDC’s order does not relieve landlords from their obligations to pay property taxes, make their own mortgage payments on rental properties, or provide maintenance and upkeep necessary to comply with applicable laws or regulations,”

The consequences of violating the CDC’s Eviction Moratorium can be severe. The Eviction Moratorium imposes criminal penalties on landlords who violate it. Individuals face a maximum fine of $100,000, one year incarceration, or both; companies face a maximum fine of $200,000 per eviction. If the eviction results in a death, the maximum fine increases to $250,000 and $500,000, respectively.

Though no court date has yet been set, the case will likely move fast, as the CDC’s ban is set to expire on June 30.

The Tampa Bay Metro had the Fourth Biggest Net Inflow of New Residents in the United States. Net inflow of New Residents in 2020 was 47,000, coming in 4th place after Phoenix, Dallas and Orlando Metro’s. The number of homes for sale dropped 31% year over year. New Home Building Permits dropped 25.3%. Prices up 12.2%

All-cash sales of existing homes in the U.S. comprised 25% of transactions in April as competition in the housing market continued. This marks an increase from 15% of similar sales a year ago and 20% in 2019, the survey shows.

The share of all-cash sales among vacation homes saw the biggest increase, jumping to 61% in April compared to 50% over recent years.

As you know the Pinellas Gulf Coast is a vacation home mecca. Let’s see how our beach communities stack up against the rest of the country.30 Year Fixed Rates 

It’s also worth noting the total number of sales for the month of April of each year.

2019  =  256

2020  =  150

2021  =  378

Interesting to see how the market is playing catch up from April of 2020.

The COVID-19 pandemic’s devastating impact on the job market has left many households unable to pay their mortgages or rents. Fortunately, the speedy intervention provided by the CARES Act ensured mortgage forbearance options for homeowners who were financially harmed by the pandemic.

A typical homeowner in forbearance appears to have sizeable equity in their home, with median equity just over $100,000 and loan to value ratio^[2] at about 61%. Even after accounting for missed mortgage payments, a typical homeowner in a forbearance is estimated to have about $88,000 in equity — which is generally more than enough to cover the costs of selling a home and still have some equity left over.

There are still over 2 million borrowers in forbearance with about half of them at least 180 days behind on their mortgage payments. Among borrowers in forbearance, 2.9% are still in negative equity, or about 58,000 loans.

Remember when housing prices Nationwide started falling in 2007 and bottomed out in 2011? The period in history was known as The Great Recession.

The term “housing bubble” summed up that miserable period. The bubble was created by speculation and fueled by easy mortgage money.

Let’s compare some key factors of the Great Recession to today’s environment.

In 2006 the demand was driven by speculation. Today it’s driven by end users.

When the bubble burst in 2006 we had a 20-month supply of homes for sale. Today we have a 2-month supply.

New home construction was way up in 2006… today builders can’t build fast enough to keep up with demand. With the cost of construction increasing, it’s likely supply won’t catch up with demand anytime soon.

In 2006 a 30-year fixed rate loan was 6%. Today it’s 3%.

But here’s the really significant piece of data. Take a look at this graph.

A recent Article in The Wall Street Journal reported home buyers across the U.S. are finding themselves in bidding wars due to a reduced supply of homes on the market.

I can relate… Last week I listed a very presentable atrium style home in Belleair. The property went on the market Thursday evening. Seven showings Friday, eight showings Saturday and six written offers on my desk to evaluate by Monday morning.

There are several determining factors influencing which buyer my seller and I decided to go to contract with. Obviously, price is a factor, but only one offer was below list price and the rest offered list price or above. Enter terms and conditions.

First on the list is financing. One offer was cash but when I asked his agent to “show me the money” this buyer couldn’t put his money where his mouth was. One down, five to go. Some of the offers were accompanied by “pre-approval” letters from lenders while some promised to provide the same within a day or two. In my experience some of these letters are not worth the paper they are written on. Buyer calls a loan officer, tells the loan officer where they work, how much they make, what they have to put down etc. and the loan officer says “based on what you are telling me” you are good to go then proceeds to email a non-binding pre-approval / pre-qualification letter to the buyer and his agent. When I am representing a seller, we don’t start negotiating until I speak to the lender and ask some basic underwriting questions. Is the buyer Self Employed? Have you run credit? Do you have the buyers tax returns or W2s? Has the buyer provided you with bank statements for down payment verification? Let’s just say the lender who took my call and answered all the above in the affirmative and who also happens to have a great reputation carried a lot of weight.

Next let’s consider the closing date. Does it work for my seller? Generally speaking, a shorter escrow period is desirable unless the seller needs more time. The longer the escrow the more risk because “life happens” as they say.

Next let’s make sure the earnest money deposit is adequate based on the price and length of escrow. Generally a larger deposit is better but I have seen buyers stick to $5,000 like glue while some walk away from tens of thousands if they choose to default on a contract.

Now comes the Professional Inspection contingency. Again, the shorter the better as most contracts now are written with an AS IS WITH RIGHT TO INSPECT clause. The standard language in these contracts gives the buyer the absolute right of withdrawal at the buyer’s sole discretion for any reason prior to the expiration of the inspection period. If that happens the buyers earnest money deposit is returned and they are released from any further obligation. According to the contract, this cancelation is the buyers sole remedy and in turn does not obligate the seller to make any repairs. However, many times in practice what happens is the buyer requests the seller make repairs or financial concessions in lieu of canceling the deal entirely. But that is an entirely different discussion.

Last but not least is the capability and professionalism of the agent representing the buyer. This can vary widely as the “barriers to entry” to obtaining a real estate license are minimal and basically involves passing a reading test. Couple that with the fact many brokers will hire anybody that has a license and a pulse explains why the failure rate for Real Estate agents is a whopping 87% nationally. I digress, but let’s just say when you get to work with a PRO on the other side of a deal it makes a huge difference.

As it turns out, the buyer represented by the best agent who was working with the best lender came up with an offer we couldn’t refuse. Oh, and by the way, my seller got 2.5% over list price.

Coastal Real Estate Market Summary Pinellas Beaches All Residential Properties

Condos – Homes – Townhomes – 1 to 4 Units

Waterfront and Non Waterfront

St. Pete Beach – Treasure Island – Madeira Beach – Redington Beaches – Indian Shores – Indian Rocks Beach

In all my years in the Real Estate business I’ve seen many market changes, but I think you’ll agree: 2020 is in a class all by itself. It was a strange combination of unforeseen events taking place in a contentious election year. For some perspective, consider a comparison of the 2019 & 2020 markets for our beach communities here in Pinellas County.

In the first quarter of 2020 sales volume was trending up accompanied by a softening of prices. The World Health Organization declares Covid-19 a Pandemic on March 11^th and everything changes. Most of the deals in escrow close in March but closings take a nose dive in April and May as buyers cancel, sellers withdraw from the market and lenders tighten underwriting guidelines. In June the market hits an inflection point and begins to make up for lost time. The market experiences a sharp increase in volume and average selling price, exceeding Pre-Pandemic Levels, with 40% of buyers paying cash in spite of record low mortgage rates.

Number of Sales for the year net increase of 20%

4^th Quarter year over year increase in Average Sales Price of 12%

These trends continued through year end. Supply shrank as sellers decided stay put while many owners chose to re-finance at historically low rates. Coming in to 2021 supply remains short, mortgage rates are low and buyers need to be prepared to act fast on fairly priced properties.

Compiled from Stellar MLS including: Condos – Homes – Townhomes – 1 to 4 Units,  Gulf Front, Bay Front and Off Water 

St. Pete Beach – Treasure Island – Madeira Beach – Redington Beach—North Redington—Redington Shores – Indian Shores – Indian Rocks Beach