Local Governments Face Shortfall
 Northeast Florida tax values are dropping, which is bad news for local governments but good news for homeowners and businesses. Hardest hit is St. Johns County, with an estimated 12 percent plunge. Baker County has projected the smallest decline, at 3 or 4 percent. Clay and Nassau counties estimated a 6 percent decline with Duval County's valuations dropping by about 7.5 percent this year over last year. If the tax rate is unchanged in Jacksonville, the drop in property values mean $30 million to $40 million less in tax revenue. |
Sales Perk up on First Coast
The Northeast Florida real-estate market may be turning around, according to the Northeast Florida Association of Realtors. Inventory is dropping, with the April count of 2,730 a full 23.1 percent lower than last April. Also, pending sales are getting stronger, notching a 14.8 percent increase over last April. Best of all for buyers, the region's Housing Affordability Index is the best it's ever been. The local median sales price for existing single-family homes in April 2009 was $150,000, down 18.9 percent from a month earlier, according to NEFAR. |
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New-Home Inventory Shrinks  The number of newly built single-family homes on the market in Northeast Florida shrank to 1,223 units in April compared to 1,329 in March - the lowest level since November 2008, according to the Northeast Florida Association of Realtors. April's results mark two consecutive years of monthly declines in the number of unsold new homes. |
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Hot Local Communities Named Metrostudy, a real-estate market research firm, has ranked Jacksonville-area new home communities by number of starts for the first quarter of 2009. The top ten are Bartram Park, Bartram Springs, Durbin Crossing, Heritage Park, Nocatee, OakLeaf Plantation, Tuscany Village Townhomes, Greenland Chase, Cedar Glen, and Northwoods. |
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Familiar Names in Top 100  Builder Magazine's May 2009 issue features the magazine's annual listing of Top 100 Builders for 2008. Six of the top ten builders have local offices in Jacksonville: D.R. Horton, Pulte Homes, Lennar Corporation, KB Home, The Ryland Group, and Beazer Homes. Among the top ten Private Builders, four have Jacksonville operations. They are Habitat for Humanity, David Weekley Homes, Woodside Homes and The Drees Company. |
School Test Scores on the Rise
More students in Jacksonville are performing at or above grade level in reading, math and science compared to previous years, according to results of the 2009 Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test. Of the 22 possible categories, Duval County declined slightly in only three areas, improving in 15 and staying the same in four, with the greatest improvements in math and science. Of Florida's 67 school districts, Clay County ranked in the top 15 in both reading and math at all grade levels and exceeded state averages in all areas except 11th grade science. St. Johns County met or exceeded last year's scores in every category except ninth-grade reading, sixth-grade math and 11th grade science. Nassau County's scores were mixed, with five grades' scores going up and three down in both reading and math -- but most above state averages. |
Details of FHA's $8K Downpayment Advance Released
 The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has released more details about its program to help first-time homebuyers use a tax credit as part of a downpayment. The most significant change involves the amount of downpayment required. FHA mortgages require a 3.5 percent downpayment, and the $8,000 tax credit cannot be used to override that requirement. Once the 3.5 percent downpayment requirement has been met, however, the tax credit can be applied to additional costs, including a higher downpayment and paying points to lower the mortgage rate and/or closing costs. Lenders will treat the tax credit money as a second lien on the home until it's paid back.
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Mortgage Rates Still Below 5%
Rates on 30-year home loans rose this week and were poised to go higher as investors demanded higher rates for long-term government debt, which is closely tied to mortgage rates. Mortgage finance giant Freddie Mac said last Thursday that average rates on 30-year fixed-rate mortgages rose to 4.91 percent this week, from an average of 4.82 percent a week earlier. Rates in Freddie Mac's survey have been below 5 percent for more than two months. If they rise higher, that will diminish the appeal for refinancing for many borrowers. The average rate on a 15-year fixed-rate mortgage rose to 4.53 percent this week from 4.5 percent last week, according to Freddie Mac. Rates on five-year, adjustable-rate mortgages inched up to 4.82 percent from 4.79 percent last week. Rates on one-year, adjustable-rate mortgages fell to 4.69 percent from 4.82 percent. Qualifying for a loan, however, is still tough. Lenders have tightened their standards dramatically over the past year, so the best rates are available to those with solid credit. |
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Recession Ending? Economists Think So  More than 90 percent of economists predict the recession will end this year, although the recovery is likely to be bumpy. That assessment came from leading forecasters in a survey by the National Association for Business Economics (NABE) released last week. It is generally in line with the outlook from Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke and his colleagues. About 74 percent of the forecasters expect the recession - which started in December 2007 and is the longest since World War II - to end in the third quarter. Another 19 percent predict the turning point will come in the final three months of this year, and the remaining 7 percent believe the recession will end in the first quarter of 2010.
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Multifamily Builders Feeling Better
Recent hints of optimism in the housing industry appear to have spread to the multifamily sector, according to the first quarter of 2009 results of the Multifamily Rental Market Index (MRMI) and the Multifamily Condo Market Index (MCMI), released today by the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB). The indexes gauging current production conditions remain low, but two of them - low-rent units and for-sale units - increased from the fourth quarter 2008. The index for production of low-rent units increased nearly four points to 26.3. The for-sale sector, after two quarters of index levels in the single digits, now shows starts for condo developments at an index level of 14.5, down only slightly from last year's first quarter. |
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Ferris Bueller Home For Sale
 If you're a fan of the movie Ferris Bueller's Day Off and you have $2.3 million stashed away, you can now own a piece of cinematic real estate history. The glass-walled tree house made famous in John Hughes' cult classic is for sale. For those who somehow missed the 80's and haven't seen the movie, Matthew Broderick plays Ferris Bueller, a mischievous teenager who coerces his friend, Cameron Fry, and girlfriend into skipping school for the day to party across Chicago. All is well until Fry accidentally sends his father's vintage red Ferrari through the glass pavilion of his house and into a ravine while trying to wind back kilometers on the vehicle. The 5,300-square-foot home, located in Highland Park near Chicago, is comprised of two buildings made of steel and glass construction, cantilevered over a ravine. They were designed by noted 20th Century architects A. James Speyer and David Haid. |
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FEATURED COMMUNITY:
Heritage Landing in The Neighborhoods of World Golf Village offers the best of old Florida, nature, trees and a river breeze. The community, which sits on 680 unspoiled acres ideally located near the juncture of Six Mile Creek and the St. Johns River, features an amenity center that rivals any summer camp. The $5 million "Camp Heritage" features resort-style amenities including a spacious clubhouse with a state-of-the-art fitness center and a fun pool with slide for the kids. Within the master-planned community, D.R. Horton offers single-family homes starting in the low $150s. | |
Coming in the next issue:
- Smart Moves - Affordable Housing Special Report
- 2009 Parade of Homes Winners
- Remodeling Goes Green
- Remodeling Spotlight: Kitchens
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