Florida Home Sales Boom in March

Home sales in Florida surged ahead in March, jumping by 36% over February, Across the state 28,220 housing units were sold in March compared to 20,680 in February and 24370 in March, 2010.

Sales of Florida homes and condominiums were even up by 16.8% over March of 2010 when the home buyer tax credit program was in effect. According to the Florida Association of Realtors (FAR) and the National Association of Realtors (NAR) the Florida home sales statistics surpassed the national increase which was only 3.7% above February levels.

March was the fourth month in a row where home sales exceeded the same month of the previous year. The median sale price of a single family home in Florida was $126,300, still below the previous year's median due,in large part to the number of foreclosure and short sale transactions.

"In some markets, such as Sarasota and Tampa Bay, prices seem to be stabilizing," says Andree Huffine, a respected Sarasota real estate agent with REMAX Alliance Group. With March being the start of the spring home buying season, Florida realtors have reason for hoping that 2011 will turn out to be a much better year than they've seen in several years.

"What Realtors need more than anything else at this point," says Judie Berger, a Sarasota Florida homes real estate agent with Sotheby's International Realty, is for lenders to loosen up their lending standards just a bit giving more families a chance to buy a home during 2011 at prices not seen in years."

April is NEW HOMES Month, Tell Your Congressman and Senators to Support Home Building

April is New Homes Month! The home building industry here in Florida will be focusing on this annual event all this month and the home building industry wants all Floridians (and all Americans for that matter) to understand the direct impact residential home construction has on the well-being of the U.S. economy.

“Home building is a key driver of the American economy,” said National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) Chairman Bob Nielsen, a home builder from Reno, Nevada. “By generating economic activity including new income and jobs, purchases of goods and services, and revenue for local governments, housing, which has historically accounted for around 17% of the national GDP, can put America back to work.”

NAHB economists estimate that the one-year local impacts of building 100 single-family homes in a typical metropolitan area include $21.1 million in local income, $2.2 million in taxes and other local government revenue, and 324 jobs. The employment effects extend well beyond the home building industry, however. About half of the jobs are in construction, with the other 50% creating job opportunities in industries ranging from production and sales of home furnishings and appliances as well as service providers like Realtors, real estate attorneys and landscapers.

Incomes earned from home construction activity is spent and recycled in the local economy and the new homes that are built become occupied by residents who pay taxes and buy locally produced goods and services. Those tax revenues help pay for a wide range of government services, including school teachers, police departments, road building and repair, trash pickup and recycling and countless other services.

In order to accommodate population growth and older home replacements, a new homes construction rate of approximately 1.7 million new homes per year is required in this country. Last year, home builders broke ground on approximately 475,000 units - a 7% gain from the 442,000 homes started in 2009 so things are starting to improve but far too slowly. As of February 2011," says Judie Berger, a Sarasota Florida real estate agent with new home construction expertise, "the annual projection for new housing starts still stands at only about 575,000 homes, barely 1/3 the rate of new home building needed and things are no better here in Florida."

“The gap between actual home starts and what is required to fulfill America’s future housing needs represents more than 3 million jobs,” said Nielsen. “Restoring the health of the housing industry is a crucial first step in stabilizing our country’s path to economic recovery.”

Reflecting the poor state of the economy and consumer confidence, California and Florida, typically leaders in home building activity will not be among the states whose housing markets recover rapidly. So the need to stimulate this industry is particularly crucial in these states.

During "New Homes Month," Florida's home builders will also focus prospective buyers on the advantages of a newly-built home, including safety features, amenities, energy efficiency and new floor plans designed to meet a wide variety of modern lifestyles. Combined with today’s near record-low interest rates and competitive prices, the current new home market offers buyers unprecedented opportunities.

"So do yourself and your neighbors here in Florida a favor," says Bob Henley, a noted Sarasota Florida real estate agent, "contact your Congressman and your two Senators this month and demand that as part of any economic recovery or debt-reduction program they consider, they understand and appreciate how important it is to invest in actions to get the home building industry pumped up and building more homes again." The recovery of the U.S. economy depends on it.