Central Florida Real Estate News
March 2019

March 2019 Recap

The Orlando housing market saw its median price continue a years-long upward trek with an economically healthy 3 percent year-over-year increase in February. Sales dipped a fraction and inventory increased for the fourth consecutive month, just in time for the start of Orlando’s homebuying season. 

“March and April typically herald the beginning of our most active period, when a great many prospective buyers begin getting serious about being settled into a home before the new school year,” says Orlando Regional REALTOR® Association President Jeffrey M. Fagan, Watson Realty Corp. “Despite a decrease in year-over-year sales, greater inventory combined with moderated prices

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Real Estate is American’s favorite long-term investment, according to a recent poll by Bankrate. In its Financial Security Index, which was conducted by Princeton Survey Research Associates International, they asked 1,002 adults via telephone—for money that wouldn’t be touched for at least 10 years—what did they think was the best investment?

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Twenty-eight percent said real estate, while cash investments came in a close second at 23 percent. Bringing up the rear was the stock market, at 17 percent; gold, at 15 percent; and bonds at 4 percent. Six percent of those polled answered “other.” Bankrate suggests that the reason real estate is the favorite is three-fold: rising home prices, perpetually low

Important Terms You'll Hear Your Real Estate Agent Use

There’s a lot to know when you’re buying real estate. This high-ticket purchase could be the largest investment you ever make. You can’t afford to let things get lost in translation, especially the language of the deal.

However, some real estate agents speak in industry lingo that brings back your worst high school foreign language class memories. It’s not their fault. Those confusing terms became permanently etched in their brains when studying for their real estate licensing exams.

While you might empathize, you can't be bamboozled or intimidated by jargon, because these terms can affect your financing. This plain-English guide is a strong start.

What Is Real Estate?

No, it’s not

Having a real estate lawyer is a wise choice to provide valuable assistance and general advice for anything throughout the fix and flip process that investors may be unclear about, according to a recent report from RealtyTrac.

According to the report, there are five specific problem areas that investors would benefit from having legal counsel in. These include: creating entity documents, reviewing loan documents, evaluating purchase and sales contracts, understanding the closing process, and dealing with title issues.

When starting a real estate investing business, the report states that one of the first pieces of legal trouble investors can potentially fall into is creating entity documents. The report also states that because many investors choose

Sean Becketti has been the Chief Economist with Freddie Mac since June 2015. His extensive experience in the private sector, government, and academia includes positions with Flagstar Bank (SVP and head of modeling analytics) and senior executive roles with Washington Mutual and Wells Fargo, where he led research functions focused on mortgage markets and capital markets. This is his second tour of duty with Freddie Mac; in his previous tenure, from 1996 to 2001, he served in several senior financial and analytical roles. Earlier in his career, he served as senior economist with the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City and as an assistant professor of economics at UCLA. Dr. Becketti recently spoke with DS News about his role with Freddie Mac and America's

Ask the Economist

Mark Fleming serves as the chief economist for First American Financial Corporation. In his role, he leads an economics team responsible for analysis, commentary and forecasting trends in the real estate and mortgage markets. Fleming's research interests primarily include real estate and urban economics, applied econometrics and mortgage risk. He has published research in the American Journal of Agricultural Economics and Geographic Information Sciences. His research has also been published in the book, "Advances in Spatial Econometrics," and is a U.S. patent author.

We have been hearing a lot about the “recovery” of housing. Do you think housing has “recovered” from the crisis?

“Recovery” implies backward looking. Rather than

Home-buying is multi-tasking on steroids. Home Buyers, are you up for the challenge?

On the surface, buying a home seems simple: find your dream home and buy it.

In reality, this seemingly-simple task requires buyers to make a continuous stream of under-pressure decisions, often concerning issues and consequences they do not fully understand. Instead of one task, buyers are faced with hundreds of tasks many of which must be decided on simultaneously, on very short deadlines. This makes decision-making a challenge, but it’s the knowledge gaps and “I’ve never thought about this before” perspectives revealed in smart home buying that add the real pressure.