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More Florida Buyers Are Paying Cash

February 10, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Cash

With condos and homes selling for up to 60% off their all time highs, investors, move-up home buyers, and luxury home buyers are finding value in Florida real estate. In December 2010, almost half of all buyers paid cash in the major markets in Florida. In the Tampa Bay area, over 44% of all buyers paid cash. In Miami, over 54% of buyers paid cash.

Last year about 28 percent of all sales in the U.S. were cash transactions, according to the National Association of Realtors®. In 2008, the rate was only 14 percent. In the last week, Zillow, The Wall Street Journal, and the Florida Association Of Realtors have all taken notice of this positive trend.

Follow the green……..when the cash buyers come back in significant numbers, watch for the market to improve!!!

Steve Eckhardt, Broker, Luxury Real Estate Professional

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Is The High End Rebounding In The Tampa Bay Area?

January 6, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Back in February I featured video of Matt Geiger’s 30,000+ square foot estate after a private open house. After three and a half years on the market and several reductions from an initial asking price of $19,900,000 to $9,995,000, the Geiger property has finally sold for $8 million. The $8 million dollar sales price is the highest since May of 2008 when a 13,000 square foot waterfront estate in Belleair sold for $10,250,000. The January edition of Forbes Magazine said a recent Bain Consulting study indicated that sales of luxury goods for 2010 nearly reached the 2007 peak of $235 Billion. Maybe the high end in Florida is ready for a rebound!!!

Geiger House

CLICK HERE TO SEE THE INTERIOR VIDEO – This premier estate sits on almost 28 acres and has a seperate 4900 square foot guest quarters and garage space for 6 cars. The second (entrance level) and third floors of this home are elegant and well appointed. The main house has 6 bedrooms, 8 full baths, & four half baths. The rest of the home is made for entertaining. I’ll start with the resort style pool with a large fire pit in the center, a full outdoor cabana, outdoor bar, & chef’s kitchen. Between the outdoor bar, the lanai off the living room, and the seating around the pool, you could easily accommodate over 100 people comfortably. Add the 1st level kitchen, full bar area, dance floor, DJ booth, 20 person theater, card room, cigar room, and a jacuzzi room (with a Jacuzzi that could hold 12 6’6″ pro athletes) and you could easily host a party for 200 of your closest friends without disturbing the main living area.

Steve Eckhardt, Broker, Luxury Real Estate Professional

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http://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2010/12/13/internet-now-as-popular-as-tv-survey-shows/

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Why We Advertise Our Listings Exclusively On The Internet………

December 14, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Internet usage has grown 121% in the past five years. So what are people doing less? Listening to the radio and reading things like newspapers and magazines. Did You Know …

…For more than one-third of home buyers, the first step in the home-buying process was looking online for properties.

…90% of homebuyers used the Internet as an information source when buying a home

…77% of Internet homebuyers drove by or viewed a home they saw online

…36% of buyers first found the home they purchased on the Internet

…Americans spend nearly a quarter of their time online on social networking sites and blogs, up from 15.8 percent just a year ago (43 percent increase) according to new research released from The Nielsen Company. If you’re not using Facebook & Twitter to promote your listings, you are missing the boat.

…June 2010 was a major milestone for U.S. online video as the number of videos streamed passed the 10 billion mark. The average American consumer streaming online video spent 3 hours 15 minutes doing so during the month. (Source: Nielsen VideoCensus). House Video is IMPORTANT. Did you know YouTube is the 2nd largest search engine behind Google?

Steve Eckhardt, Broker, Luxury Real Estate Professional

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Brookings Economic Recovery Ranking Shows Tampa Surpassing Miami and Orlando

December 12, 2010 By Leave a Comment

The city of Tampa is showing its strength in recovering from the recession. In a study of the economies of 150 cities worldwide before, during and after the recession, Tampa ranked 74th in terms of economic growth from 2009 to 2010. This was a huge improvement from its 120th ranking over the 2007 to 2010 period. its ranking was even better during the 1993 to 2007 period, when it ranked 83rd.

The 150 cities studied by Brookings Institution in its Global Metro Monitor were chosen not by their per capita income, but by their positions as areas of high-value and high-impact economic activity in their respective regions and nations. Their gross per capita income varies from less than $1,000 in Kolkata, India to about $70,000 in Zurich, Switzerland or San Jose, California. Additionally, nearly 80 percent of these cities have average incomes that are higher than those of other cities in their regions or nations.

Tampa Skyline

With the above criteria, the selection of Tampa as one of the 150 cities for the Global Metro Monitor means that Tampa is a high-value and high-impact city in Florida. Brookings carried out the study together with the London School of Economics and Deutsche Bank Research.

The two other high-value Florida cities chosen for the study are Miami and Orlando. Before the recession, Orlando had the strongest economy among the three, with a ranking of 40th. Miami followed with a ranking of 66th. Tampa was then 83rd. But over the 2009-2010 period, Tampa surpassed them in terms of economic growth rate. Miami ranked 78th while Orlando ranked 85th.

74th - Tampa
78th - Miami
85th - Orlando

Among the three Florida cities, Tampa posted an income growth rate of 2.5 percent rate over the 2009-2010 period. Orlando posted 1.7 percent while Miami posted 1.6 percent.Before the recession – over the 1993 to 2007 period – Orlando was the most prosperous among the three cities. it ranked 40th on the Global Metro chart with an income growth rate of 2.2 percent and a job growth rate of 2.9 percent. Miami had an income growth rate of 2.1 percent.

Tampa has been recovering faster than Miami and Orlando partly because it didn’t have the condo overbuilding problem of Miami and the sudden-growth challenges of Orlando. Additionally, Tampa has been able to maintain the community spirit that makes a city thrive amid challenges.

Posted by Orlando News Center on Dec 11, 2010

Steve Eckhardt, Broker, Luxury Real Estate Professional

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Moody’s Hopeful On Recovery, Notes Pent-Up Demand In Florida

November 16, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Moody’s Analytics economist Chris Lafakis said the Federal Reserve will remain aggressive, with a quantitative easing plan that he equated to “basically flooding the global monetary system.” Lafakis predicted the strategy would lift asset prices, reduce corporate borrowing costs, and increase the willingness of consumers to spend.

Lafakis predicted substantial growth in Florida’s economy, mentioning that the Miami, Orlando and Tampa areas are expected to recover “quite significantly” due to a rebound in population growth and an increased willingness of people to travel to Florida for vacations. “The story of pent-up demand is true in no place more so than Florida,” he said.

Read Article At http://www.floridarealtors.org/NewsAndEvents/article.cfm?id=250253

Steve Eckhardt, Broker, Real Estate Professional

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