Real Estate Market

Pending home sales in June edged lower in contrast to the spring surge when buyers rushed to take advantage of the home buyer tax credit, according to the National Association of Realtors®.

The Pending Home Sales Index declined 2.6 percent to 75.7 based on contracts signed in June. Down from 77.7 in May, and is 18.6 percent below June 2009 when it was 93.0. The data reflects contracts and not closings, which normally occur with a lag time of one or two months.

Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, said lower home sales are expected in the short term. “Over the short term, inventory will look high relative to home sales. However, since home prices have come down to fundamentally justifiable levels, there isn’t likely to be any meaningful change to national home values. Some local markets continue to show strengthening prices.”

Let’s take a look at the Orlando real estate sales statistics (residential) for July.

Orange County Real Estate Sales Statistics - July 2010

There were 56 more homes sold in Orange County in July 2010 than July 2009. A 4 percent increase! The average sales price decreased by 9 percent and the median sales price declined 20 percent from the previous year. 

Osceola County Real Estate Sales Statistics - June 2010

Osceola County home sales increased by 87 homes or +13 percent. Prices declined however with the average sales price down 5 percent and the median price down 9 percent.

Seminole County Real Estate Sales Statistics - June 2010

Seminole County residential sales decreased 3 percent with 16 fewer homes sold in July 2010. The averages sales and the median sales price decreased 5 percent and 9 percent respectively from July 2009 levels. 

Lake County Real Estate Sales Statistics - June 2010

Residential sales in Lake County decreased with 62 fewer homes sold for a 17 percent decrease. The average sales price remained consistant and the median sales price dropped 11 percent during the same time period.

Polk County Real Estate Sales Statistics - June 2010

Polk County followed the trend of the surrounding counties with 514 more homes selling, a 84 percent improvement.  The average sales price increased by  13 percent and the median sales price dropping 15 percent.

What do these numbers mean to you? An increase in sales is usually followed by an increase in prices. The number of homes sold increased in three counties in our local market in 2010.  The market appears to be at its bottom. Now is the time to get your best price on an Orlando home, before the prices move upward.

This Month In Real Estate - July 2010

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Renovating your home can be daunting. The last thing you want to worry about is the possible lead-related health risk of some common renovation tasks. Sanding, demolition and siding and window replacement can all disturb lead-based paint, placing you and your family at risk of lead poisoning.

Because of these risks, the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) developed the Lead-Based Paint Renovation, Repair and Painting Program to help protect homeowners. As of April 22, the legislation requires that workers, including contractors, painters and maintenance personnel, be trained to use lead-safe work practices. Additionally, renovation firms must be EPA-certified.

Because these common remodeling practices can be dangerous to a family's health, it's important for you to learn about a contractor's lead-safe practices before delving into such projects.

"While this legislation does not directly apply to product manufacturers, it has proved to be a challenge for the industry as a whole," says Rich Black, a replacement channel specialist with Ply Gem, a leading manufacturer of home remodeling and building products. "So manufacturers like Ply Gem have taken a lead on this initiative and are working with customers to organize EPA certification-training programs so that they, in turn, can provide clarification and peace of mind to homeowners."

What does the legislation entail?

Under the EPA, the legislation:
* Applies to all remodeling/renovation projects on homes, childcare facilities and schools built before 1978 that contain lead paint.
* Is related to on-site work practices.
* Renovation workers must take an eight-hour training course to become certified on lead-safe practices.

Exemptions include:
* Housing built in 1978 or after. If you are not sure what year your home was built and whether or not it contains lead-based paint, it is the contractor's responsibility to confirm that information.
* Housing for the elderly or disabled, unless a child under the age of 6 lives or is planning to live in the home.
* Homes with no bedrooms, including studio apartments and dormitories.
* Homes declared lead-free by a certified inspector or risk assessor.
* Minor repair work using 6 square feet or less of paint per room inside, or 20 square feet or less of exterior space.

Questions all homeowners should ask

When meeting with a home improvement company or renovation firm, the representative should bring up the issue and provide a government-issued certificate from the EPA showing that their firm has installers who are certified in lead-safe renovation practices. If they do not provide this documentation, homeowners should question if the company is certified.

Also, beware that this legislation may increase the cost of some renovation projects, so homeowners should be careful not to fall for a lower bid from a non-certified contractor.

What the EPA-certification entails

"Before hiring a contractor or renovation firm, it's important to understand the basics of the legislation and what you should expect from your home improvement company," says Keith Pigues, chief marketing officer of Ply Gem.

By law, at least one certified installer needs to be on the job site, with a valid certificate, if it was built before 1978 and contains lead-based paint. To become certified, the contractor must attend an eight-hour course that includes education on the dangers of lead-based paint, hands-on learning of safe demolition, installation and disposal of the debris, as well as a final examination. Those who have taken the course can then provide on-the-job training to his or her helpers, who must also be able to provide a certificate to the homeowner. (ARA)

Getting their dorm room organized, reconnecting with friends they met last year, making new friends, setting up a class schedule ... college students have a lot to look forward to as they head back to campus. Identity thieves eagerly anticipate back-to-school time too, because it often means more opportunity for them to purloin someone's private, personal information for their financial gain.

College students may not perceive themselves as being at risk from identity thieves or needing identity theft protection. After all, most of them don't have much money (so not much to steal) and they're pretty tech savvy about online security.

Those very qualities, however, leave them at higher risk of being targeted by identity thieves, who know how to take advantage of college kids' lack of credit history and use of online media. What's more, college students who feel secure because they're tech savvy may not be aware that a lot of identity theft still occurs in traditional ways, like going through someone's trash, mail or dorm room to steal identifying information.

Several factors make college students ideal targets for identity thieves, including:

* Lack of a credit history - It's easier to steal someone's identity and establish a credit account if that person has little or no credit history of their own.

* Use of online social media - Tech-savvy college kids may not realize just how much of their personal information identity thieves can cull from online social networking sites.

* Dorm/communal living settings - College dorm rooms and apartments may be accessed by a huge number of people every month, many of whom the student won't know at all. It's difficult to maintain a secure environment in such a living arrangement.

* Easy access to credit applications - Anyone who's ever been on campus has seen the tables, booths and kiosks set up to facilitate credit card applications by students. Completed applications are rarely secure throughout the day, making it easy for identity thieves to get their hands on important identifying information.

* Laissez-faire attitude - Nearly half of students polled in a survey by Impulse Research said they receive frequent credit card applications, and 30 percent of those students throw away those applications intact, with all their personal information still on it and easily accessible, according to the website Scambusters.org. The survey also showed that nearly 30 percent of students ignore their checking and credit card balances, the site reports.

To prevent identity theft, college students should follow some simple steps:

* Never keep identifying financial information like PIN or account numbers, or important documents like Social Security cards and birth certificates unsecured in dorm rooms or apartments. Don't carry anything more in your wallet or purse than you absolutely need, such as your driver's license, student ID and one credit or debit card. And never loan any of these items to anyone else, no matter how good a friend they seem to be.

* Be wary when ordering clothes, books, movies and merchandise online and only do business with sites that have the security lock symbol that shows they're taking measures to protect your information.

* Shred credit card offers before throwing them away and never complete a credit card application at an on-campus table or booth - even if they're offering a cool free T-shirt just for applying. Instead, go through the credit card company's secure website, or contact your bank for a credit card before you get to school.

* Be aware of who's around you when you're using your cell phone or netbook on campus, and never discuss or send personal information in public that could be used to steal your identity.

* Establish an identity theft protection account before you head back to school. Sites like ProtectMyID.com monitor your credit reports daily and send you an e-mail, text message or mail alert whenever something changes on your account, like an address or an application for a new line of credit. If your identity is compromised, ProtectMyID's experienced fraud resolution agents can help resolve issues. What's more, the program protects against the sale of your Social Security or account numbers online by using Internet scanning to detect the use of your personal numbers online.

You can learn more about identity theft and how it affects college students, as well as how to prevent it, at http://www.ed.gov/, the U.S. Department of Education's website.(ARA)

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