June-July Statistics
Punta Gorda-Pt. Charlotte
Below are numbers of homes/condos sold each month for the Punta Gorda and Port Charlotte area-prices are average. Total Units Homes Home Avg $ Condos Condo Avg $
June 331 279 $145,865 52 $134,440
July 292 253 $145,628 39 $123,239
The number of sold homes and condos dropped slightly in July, however the number was still pretty strong considering the summer months are the slowest time of the year. Average sold prices remained steady for homes and dropped slightly for condos. There were 10 homes sold over the $500,000 price point-one of the largest amounts in a long time. Due to the difficulty in getting loans, cash is still king.
One sign of a recovery in housing is a reduction in inventory, which we are beginning to see. Sold prices are up from a year ago, however it is expected this recovery will be a slow trend moving forward. New home construction is up quite a bit with the competitive prices and the reasonable prices of vacant land.
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Severe Weather Info-
Here are some suggestions of websites that may be helpful either now or in the future should other hurricanes or storms pop up!
www.myflorida.com
This site lists national and state resources for insurance and emergency contact information.
www.floridadisaster.org
There is lots of information on this site for hurricane prep, with checklists etc.
www.nws.noaa.gov
This is a great weather site- if you lose electricity they also have the latest info on the radio.
www.floir.com/companysearch
This website has a database with all the insurance company contacts in case you need to make a claim.
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Fannie Mae Issues New Short Sale Guidelines
On August 22, Fannie Mae posted new short sale guidelines in an effort to speed up the process and help more homeowners qualify, rather than have their homes proceed to foreclosure.
The hardships that now qualify include death of a borrower or co-borrower, divorce, separation, illness, disability,or employment transfer. In addition, Fannie Mae is reducing the documentation required to do a short sale. The loan has to be owned by Fannie Mae to take advantage of this program.Go to www.knowyouroptions.com to learn more about short sales and alternatives to foreclosure. |
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More News...
"Foreign" Real Estate Fraud
Scams with frauds using the names of "real" people , mostly from the United Kingdom, are now spreading in the Ft. Myers area. With fake cashiers checks in hand, they are also targeting foreign owners of vacant waterfront lots, as there is no one around to expose the scam. Usually they use the name of a Dr., or other professional to indicate they have lots of money. Wired funds are now the requested way to pay for real estate purchases.
Impac Building
The large IMPAC compound on W. Marion in Punta Gorda may soon be owned by Charlotte County. They have a contract on it and are waiting for approval from the County Commissioners on August 28. The contract price is $2.5 million and the county hopes to turn the 55,000 sq. ft. complex into a business and technology center for entrepreneurs trying to start new businesses. The money to purchase it is coming from the $2.5 million that the county made from the Cheney Brother's purchase of the land for their distribution center.
Mortgage Interest
The National Association of Realtors (NAR) is starting a huge campaign to contact up to 82 million people to try and educate them on the benefits of home ownership -especially the mortgage interest deduction(MID). The possibility of doing away with the MID has been mentioned in government circles, and NAR feels that homeownership benefits the economy in so many ways. To learn more about this effort -click here. |
