My New Blog

Finally some good news on the home front!  Due to our friends at the stock markets the Fed has decided to lower rates 3/4 of a point.  This news brings interest rates down back near where they were during the 2005 time frame. This will certainly help you as a buyer making owning property more affordable.

There are 3 reasons, we can see, that have overly depressed our property sale prices locally for the past two years.  One is rising interest rates (now declining), two- extreme rise in property taxes, and three- extreme rise in insurance costs.

  Now the current expectation is that property taxes will be coming down as well.  That is because prices in our County have declined dramatically last year.  This sales data is used by the County to determine assessed value of property for tax bills 1/1-12/31/2008 which will not be sent until November.  But the die is cast.  There is just no way in my mind assessed values for most property owners here will not come down between 12 and 20 percent.   That is highly likely to translate, as long as our taxing authorities are held in check by citizens, into tax relief which is required by the real estate market and our local economy to recover. 

In addition on January 29 the voters in Florida have the chance to vote to allow homesteaders to move much of their Save Our Homes benefit to another homestead in Florida when they sell: and for non homestead property there would finally be a cap on increased assessments of 10 percent per year.  This 10 percent doesn't sound like much but it would have meant much lower taxes for coastal area property owners in 2004-2006. Yes, this new amendment if passed, is not great, but perhaps a first step to help real estate prices and sales in our marketplace.

So far not much has helped item 3-the insurance rates. This item will require our State Government to be alerted and seriously involved. 

We all know costs go up and over time things will cost more, but our real estate market, buyers, and sellers have been depressed beyond reason. Perhaps reduced mortgage rates and, with our vigilance, reduced property taxes will help our Southwest Florida economy slowly recover.

With prices and interest rates down and tax prospects on the horizon, now is the best time in 4 years to find a property you want at a great value price.  Call me to discuss your options 239-765-5478.  If you would like to receive my local price and market activity report for the year just email me with your name and in the headline enter "report please" jerry@765LIST.com