The median sales price for a single-family home in Brevard County rose more than 19 percent in December 2017, to $227,789 from the same point a year earlier. For homeowners it’s pretty sweet as property values also increase and sellers are able to beef up their asking price if they’re in the market to sell.

But what were once whispers of an overheated housing market are turning into more of an open debate between the “yes, we are” vs. the “no, we’re not even close” camp of a housing bubble.

And what does it all portend for 2018?

Real estate experts are confident 2018 will be just as strong if not stronger than last year, especially if interest rates stay where they are today. Sales prices continue to rise, interest rates are low, and appropriate lending policies are in place. Combined with a strong employment base, 2018 continues to look good.

The latest housing news follows a positive jobs report released last recently by Florida’s Department of Economic Opportunity. In Brevard, the jobless rate last December fell to 3.7 percent over the year, with 3,330 more people working than the prior 12 months.

The health of the Brevard labor market also is helping fuel home prices. Sales price increases have been steady over the past five years.  Employers bringing in more jobs — at a higher base salary than average — account for an increase in new qualified buyers and due to lack of inventory the prices naturally rise due to supply and demand. To learn more about the Florida real estate market or to invest in Florida land, contact 9 Core Realty today.

With the national stock market reaching all-time highs in the past year, many real estate experts have indicated that the U.S. real estate market is bound for a bubble burst. That isn’t the case in South Florida, however, according to a new survey released by Berger Singerman. Results from the Florida real estate survey reveal that, thanks to e-commerce advancements, continued foreign investment and the newly signed tax bill, professionals expect South Florida’s real estate growth to continue in 2018.

The e-commerce boom is expected to make big waves in 2018 as 33 percent of survey respondents believe the warehouse/industrial sector will have the highest returns this year, and 48 percent believe that retail will have the lowest returns.

The expected industrial growth is consistent with the enormous activity insiders are currently seeing in the e-commerce marketplace. There is a greater need for warehouses to store products that people purchase online with expectations that they will be delivered in two days (or less). In addition to companies needing warehouse space for storage, real estate groups have seen many businesses purchasing industrial space instead of leasing it, and converting the space into open offices.

Results from the survey show that 31 percent of local real estate professionals expect 2018 will be even more successful than 2017. However, optimism was higher last year with more than half of respondents expecting 2017 to be more fruitful than 2016. Confidence in the market for 2018 was sparked by the improvements in the U.S. economy with 42 of respondents citing it as the primary reason.

The new tax law is expected to be positive for the real estate market. Local developers are upbeat about the new law and its benefits for real estate developers, as well as the anticipation that it will bring back more funds to the U.S. and potentially bring new residents to the sunshine state.

While overall results reinforce confidence, the survey reveals there is still concern over the uncertainty of governmental policies and oversupply, as a noteworthy 62 percent reported those two matters as the most pressing issues facing the South Florida real estate market.

Other key findings include:

• 69 percent of respondents believe foreign investment in South Florida will remain at 2017 levels or increase, which is up from 63 percent last year despite the new administration’s trade and immigration policies.
• 61 percent of respondents indicate that the biggest impact of hurricanes are increased building costs.
• 51 percent of respondents describe the 2018 South Florida real estate market as “competitive”, while 34 percent would use the term “cautious.”

To learn more about investing in Florida real estate and the state of the current real estate market, contact a member of the 9 Core Realty team today!

Southwest Florida’s residential real estate world is riding a winning streak, and current market conditions indicate continuing prosperity and growth. That’s the consensus evaluation of the robust home market in 2017 and the strong forecast for 2018 among industry insiders in Sarasota and Manatee counties.

Residential real estate in Manatee, Sarasota and Charlotte counties, in all price points, all home types, continued its consistent momentum through 2017.  Buyer demand has been consistently high and rising, inventory was strong and is expected to rise, and prices are seeing an appropriately steady increase.

The stock market gains of 2017 are translating into strong cash buyers coming into the market. That said, sellers are also feeling quite confident, making for neither a seller nor buyer’s market which makes a Realtor’s job more difficult!

Across the Sarasota-Manatee-Charlotte market, moderately priced home sales — between $200,000 and $400,000 — continue to be very strong with a 9 percent increase in pending and sold listings year-over-year and an 11 percent increase in the number of new listings over last year.

Homes in this price range make up the largest segment of the region’s market at 44 percent of total sales.  With high demand and an average supply, this will force buyers to move quickly and possibly deal with multiple offer situations.

In the midprice market — from $400,000 to $900,000, which comprises 15 percent of the market — new listings fell in 2017, sales dropped at the lower end and were flat at the higher prices. Sarasota proved to be the exception with a 30 percent increase in pending sales in November.

Across the three counties, the residential luxury market — $1 million and higher, with sales representing 3 percent of the total market — went from fairly calm waters to a tsunami over the course of 2017. Closed sales were up only 4 percent in the first six months year-over-year, but surged a staggering 61 percent from July to November. Pending sales rose 18 percent in the first half of 2017, but soared a staggering 59 percent from July to November.

Despite the market hiccup brought about by Hurricane Irma in September, home sales rebounded quickly. Multiple Listing Service data for the Sarasota-Manatee-Charlotte market confirm that point. In November, closed sales reached 546, an 8.8 percent increase from the same month a year ago. Plus, there were 677 new pending contracts, up year-over-year by 16.5 percent.

The Realtor Association of Sarasota and Manatee describes the current housing sector as a “healthy market” with combined numbers showing an increase in sales, new listings and prices.

The housing market across Florida also continued its positive streak in November, with more closed sales, more new listings, more pending sales and rising median prices, Florida Realtors data shows. To learn more about the region’s market contact a member of the 9 Core Realty team today!

Every day brings a new opportunity to make history at Babcock Ranch.  The environmentally-friendly new town rising northeast of Fort Myers is wrapping up a year jam-packed with historic ‘firsts’ — and looking ahead to many more milestones in the weeks and months ahead.

While construction of the first commercial buildings and homes got underway in 2016, when the history of this town is written 2017 will go down as the year that Kitson & Partner’s vision became reality.

Kitson’s team set ambitious goals focused on the environment, energy, education, technology, health, transportation and storm safety. The new town is the economic engine that made it possible to put 73,000 acres of the historic Babcock Ranch into permanent preservation, and it is designed to be a sustainable neighbor to the preserve. Half of the town’s 18,000-acre footprint will also be preserved as green spaces providing residents with opportunities to connect with nature.

Kitson partnered with Florida Power & Light (FPL) to lay the cornerstone for sustainable development at Babcock Ranch. FPL’s 75MW Babcock Ranch Solar Energy Center went online at the very beginning of 2017 — generating enough clean, renewable energy to meet total community demand before the first building was even completed.  The water utility facilities at Babcock Ranch were also completed in early 2017.  In addition to water and sewer, Town & Country Utilities is providing reclaimed water for all irrigation purposes within Babcock Ranch.

A partnership with CenturyLink delivers on Kitson’s promised technological infrastructure.  All homes and businesses are equipped with a full gigabyte of fiber-optic connectivity. Another strategic partnership is introducing autonomous shuttles to put Babcock Ranch on the cutting edge for alternative transportation.

Founders Square came to life in February 2017 as the first buildings in the initial downtown district were completed. During a Founder’s Fest weekend celebration in early March, a ribbon-cutting ceremony marked the public opening of the Discovery Center at Woodlea Hall, Curry Creek Outfitters and the lakefront Table & Tap restaurant. Founder’s Fest also marked the opening of the first model homes in the Lake Timber Neighborhood. More than 20,000 turned out over the course of that first weekend to preview the new town-in-the-making.

The buzz of daily activity stepped up in August with the opening of Babcock Neighborhood School for students in grades K-6, making Babcock Ranch the first new town where education really does come first.

With the school building already at full capacity and more than a100 students on the waiting list, Kitson stepped up the timeline for a central education campus. The full-size K-8 building will open next August with the high school slated to open the following year.

November saw a boom in home sales at Babcock Ranch with the launch of two additional neighborhoods with home prices starting in the $190s. Multiple contracts were signed during the first week of the “Make the Move” promotion and future residents are continuing to take advantage of the pre-construction prices and incentives being offered by all homebuilders. The sustainability features at Babcock Ranch are proving to be attractive to young families and empty nesters alike.

Babcock Ranch will mark yet another huge milestone during the first week of 2018 when the very first residents move in. They won’t be alone for long. The second closing and move-in is set for the middle of January with a steady stream of new neighbors coming close behind.

At Founders Square, the general store, Slater’s Goods and Provisions, will be celebrating its grand opening on Jan. 5. The Health and Wellness Center that takes up the entire east side of the lakefront downtown district is nearing completion starting the countdown toward the next big event in Babcock Ranch history. The town’s official grand opening is set for March 10.

To learn more about investing in Babcock Ranch land and real estate contact an expert member of the 9 Core Realty team today!

There are probably a more than hundred places to invest in the real estate business in the United States, but the Southern States come into mind a lot. These include Georgia, North Carolina, Texas and more which have great deals just waiting to be grasped. But if you are serious about investing in real estate, you will probably come down to one option which is Florida. The state is one of the best when it comes to attracting many outsiders of the states to buy even including international investors. Investments are made here because of some very solid reasons which are mentioned below. But before you finalize the decision of investing in South Florida, have a look at the following.

Let’s be honest, many of us want to get away from the cold weather in the Cleveland area, if only for a weekend here or there during those harsh winters!

Florida is More of a Rental Market Today

Thanks to the recession, South Florida was effected in many ways. A lot of apartments in the area were converted into condos which led to less and less construction in Florida which in return made it mostly a place where rental market was increasing and the demand for rental homes became the norm. So basically, it became more of a rental property owner’s market.

But the good news is that even if it is mostly a rental market out there right now, the rent is steadily increasing over time. For example, experts say that the rental rate of Florida went up by 5 percent when compared to last year. Many different communities in South Florida are having a different rise in rental demand and each have their own benefits. This makes this market a lucrative one to invest in.

And with rental rates being quite high these days, being a landlord means that you’ll be getting a lot of return on your investment, at least for the upcoming many years as the rent will only be increasing from here on. Since mortgage rates are also very good in Florida, a landlord may decide to give away their property to someone to rent it and pay of their mortgage while they live someplace else.

South Florida real estate is also a great place to invest simply because it attracts a lot of foreign investment in the area. Whether their South Americans, Canadians or Europeans, everyone has heavily invested in the state and more are coming. According to many experts Florida is one of the top housing markets in the USA to have most of its investment in foreign investment. Around 48% of investors from other lands put most of their money into rental properties and vacation homes because of the fact that many tourists and students come to the state. Due to universities in the state, the students are always looking to rent out a property. Hence Florida makes it a great place for someone to invest especially if they are going to turn it into a rental property.

Plus Florida is a great place to live and attracts a lot of people from other states who want to start a new life here.  If you are interested in investing in Florida real estate contact 9 Core Realty today!