Where have all the sellers gone?

As I read this New York Times article: Where have all the houses gone? my mind went to Yogi Berra’s line of “it’s deja vu all over again” as I checked my files and discovered that this will be my 5th article with this title – and the first was written in 2013.

Let’s look at the what and the why.

First, the what. This chart shows that inventory has plummeted across the country:

Housing Inventory

The why (more…)

How do prices in Southwest Florida compare with 2007/08?

While the market in Southwest Florida is hot and prices are rising sharply, it is interesting to see how prices compare with the peak from 2006/2008.

Naples
The median Single Family Home price in Naples has only just passed the earlier peak.

(more…)

Why was this stunning Florida mansion abandoned?

“In the heart of Florida sits this impressive neo-Classical mansion, known as the Money Pit Mansion. Having lain empty for decades, its various owners have been unable to restore it to its former glory due to high costs and substantial damage.” (Read MSN article )

Money Pit

© Abandoned Southeast

The house was built in the early 1900s and is still considered one of the most ornate mansions in the area with its Grecian-style pillars. (more…)

Is Tom Brady staying in Florida?

As we Patriots’ fans find ourselves watching the play-offs this year from a position of curiosity rather than passion, we can I hope root for “Patriots South”, aka the Tampa Bay Bucs, home of Tom Brady and Gronk.

Following on from his “you won’t catch me dead living in the Northeast anymore” comment, Brady and Giselle have made moves in real estate which seem to support this statement. (more…)

It’s 80 degrees in Florida…

In this weekend’s Wall Street Journal, Peggy Noonan wrote:
“In the past year the owners of great businesses found how much can be done remotely.
They hadn’t known that!
They hadn’t had to find out.
They don’t have to pay that killer rent for office space anymore.
People think it will all snap back when the pandemic is fully over but no, a human habit broke; a new way of operating has begun. People will come back to office life to some degree, maybe a significant one; not everything can be done remotely; people want to gather, make friends, instill a sense of mission; but it will never be what it was.
The Partnership for New York City reports 300,000 residents of high-income neighborhoods have filed change-of-address forms with the U.S. Postal Service. You know where they are going: to lower-tax and no-income-tax states.

A recent report suggested that 850 people per day will move to Florida for the next 5 years as they seek “the weather, lifestyle and tax benefits” offered by Florida. (more…)

Are mortgage rates about to rise?

Following the Georgia Senate election results, which gave control of the Senate to the Democrats, along with the House of Representatives and the White House, the yield on the 10-year Treasury Note (10T) – the most sensitive to increased Government spending – jumped from 0.93% on Monday to 1.13% on Friday, based upon the expectation that increased Government spending would lead to more borrowing which would need higher interest rates to attract investors.

Why does this matter for mortgage rates?  Because the rate on the 30-year Fixed Rate Mortgage (FRM) is based upon an extra yield – spread – that investors require over that available on 10T. The national average reported on Thursday ( based on rates from Monday-Wednesday) was a record low of 2.65%, but next week will almost certainly see an increase. (more…)