Homes for Sale in Naples Florida
Home Valuation Code of Conduct Changes Effective May 1, 2009
The Federal Housing Financing Agency’s Home Valuation Code of Conduct (Code, or HVCC) will be effective on May 1, 2009, and will require that the lender order the appraisal. The intent of the Code is to help ensure that borrowers, homebuyers and secondary mortgage market investors receive fair and independent property valuations.
Jim Cramer: Florida Raises Hope for U.S. Real Estate
It appears that Jim Cramer thinks that Florida is the model for the nation’s real estate market. He thinks that Florida was the first state to feel impact of the real estate bubble and now after 2 years it has bottomed out with the rest of the country to follow. Below is his discussion from a recent interview he had on Wall Street Confidential.
Over the previous months subtle indications in the Naples, Bonita Springs, and Estero real estate markets have shown signs of improvement by the lowering of homes and condos for sale as well as less listings coming on the market than in previous 2 years.
Prices have declined to a point where multiple offers are being presented on properly priced properties.
Buyers need to be aware of the estimated market value of a property and
be prepared to rethink that a full price offer will be
the offer accepted and be willing to offer more than the listed price close to the estimated market value.
Sellers still need to be aware that they need to properly price their properties due to the competition from potential short sales and foreclosures.
In a surprise move, the Fed slashes rates by 50 basis points today.
How will this effect interest rates on mortgages?
Federal Reserve cuts in the federal funds rate have an unpredictable impact on long-term mortgage rates. So it’s impossible to know for sure when — or even if — rates will fall as a result of the Fed’s emergency rate cut.
Adjustable rate mortgages (ARM’s) may be more sensitive to Federal Reserve rate decisions, especially if the spread between the federal funds rate and the London Interbank Offered Rate — more commonly known as LIBOR — narrows. There could be an impact due to other countries also dropping their interest rates by their central banks.
Depending on the exact nature of their mortgage, some people with ARMs may see their rate adjust downward the next time the mortgage resets.
Hurricane Ike’s cone is still showing it is tracking to south and west. For the Naples, Bonita Springs and Estero areas of Florida it means the center of the storm may pass within about 200 miles of the coastline which disminishes the chances of the area feeling the full brunt of Ike.
The track towards the south does not help our friends in the Gulf Coast areas as the storm appears it will not pass over the mountainous areas of Cuba. It the storm passes over the mountainous areas of Cuba the storm will weaken. Currently the storm is a CAT-4 with winds of 145 mph.
The Florida Keys have started evacuations and hurricane preparations.
Hurricane Ike’s projected path as of this morning shows the cone just south the Naples area. This is better positioning than yesterday mornings projected path and cone. The Naples area may not be affected by Hurricane Ike. With this cone it does appear that Bonita Springs or Estero areas will have any affects from the hurricane. However it is advisable to prepare for the worst and hope for the best.
Updates will be posted throughout the day on this blog.