The South Florida housing market, along with fences and trees, took a slight hit from the recent hurricane Irma. According to figures shared by local Realtor boards, the tri-county area fell by 31% for closings of existing, single family homes. The reports showed combined closings for the tri-county area declined to 2,735 compared to the 3,964 deals seen last year in 2016.

“There is no doubt that Hurricane Irma impacted real estate activity throughout the month of September,” said Jeffrey Levine, First Vice President, Realtors of the Palm Beaches and Greater Fort Lauderdale. “In addition to most businesses losing up to five working days, no closings could take place until FEMA lifted our disaster area status.”

Chairman of the Miami Association of Realtors, Christopher Zoller, shared that federal backed lenders would be requiring new appraisals for properties that were under contract during the storm. Many buyers and sellers would see delays in closings due to the demand and added step in the process. A bump in sales in the upcoming months is expected once these re-inspected homes close.

The story on prices is that they continue to trend upward. The median price in Broward County for September was $357,600 which was an increase of 10% over last year according to the Realtors of the Palm Beaches and Greater Fort Lauderdale. Palm Beach County saw a near 3% increase to $325,000. Miami-Dade saw a 6.5% increase from $314,500 to $335,000 in their median prices according to the Miami Association of Realtors. They also added that single family home prices have risen for 70 consecutive months.

The median sales price for single family homes on a statewide level by comparison was up 7.6% over last year.

Townhome and condo closings had also declined by 22% in the tri-county area at 2,738 sales this year compared to last year of 3,543. Median prices for condos and townhomes also rose in all three counties with Broward coming in at $156,000, Palm Beach at $172,000 and $234,000 in Miami Dade.

Home prices in South Florida have increased over 5% from last year by this point which was surprisingly among one of the smaller surges for the country’s more popular metro regions. According to the S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller home price index which tracks pricing in 20 metro areas nationwide, only Chicago, Cleveland, New York and Washington D.C. showed smaller gains.

Before we may think this is alarming, we must remember that severe and steep price increases are not the norm for a healthy real estate market to last. South Florida’s tri-county region had experienced its time in the limelight during late summer/early fall of 2014 when it led the nation with price increases. Since then prices have been more of a consistent and steady increase year over year.

“The housing market will face two contradicting challenges during the rest of 2017 into 2018,” David M. Blitzer, chairman of the index committee, said in a statement. “First, rebuilding following hurricanes across Texas, Florida and other parts of the South will lead to further supply pressures. Second, the Fed’s recent move to shrink its balance sheet could push mortgage rates upward.”

According to Svenja Gudell, chief economist for the Zillow website, approximately half of the homes for sale across the country are priced in the top one-third of the market. This heats up the competition for starter and trade-up homes and pushes prices up further which affects affordability.

The housing market “looks largely healthy from a 50,000-foot view” because prices are rising and mortgage rates are still low, but the situation is far from ideal for buyers, Gudell said in a statement. “It’s certainly a great time to be a home seller,” she said. “But when so many sellers need to then turn around and become buyers, the decision to list a home for sale and willingly enter that buying fray is the worst kind of Sophie’s choice.”

The index is often regarded as the nation’s most valuable housing market barometers as it tracks the prices of the same house over time. With home prices increasing at a more steady rate, this could be a step in the direction to more of a balanced market where sellers still benefit with gains and buyers can more easily afford to enter the game.

Severe weather fosters purchases of some standard items including fans, portable air conditioners, flash lights and the like. With tropical storms and hurricanes in South Florida like we have recently experienced comes the threat of power outages where retailers have difficulty keeping portable generators in stock.

In certain locations across the country like ours, some storms cause power outages either more frequently or for longer periods of time. This has caused for homeowners to consider investing in a permanent home generator. Power outages are not only uncomfortable, but they can also be dangerous and cause larger issues. An outage during the extreme temperatures could lead heat exhaustion and even be fatal in some cases. A permanent generator can provide power to the whole house automatically making it very easy and safe for power to be restored.

Choosing the Right Generator
Generators are rated by wattage where smaller ones produce only 1,000 watts while whole-house models can put out anywhere between 6,000-22,000 watts. Most manufacturers have size calculators on their websites that can help determine your needs. Square footage and appliances that you have are all a part of the equation. As technology and models have progressed, there have been quieter models introduced as historically generators have been noisy.

Hire a Professional
Installing a permanent generator is not a DIY project. Prepare yourself to pay in the range of thousands for the installation of a larger 20kW model due to the cost of the unit and the necessary wiring for installation. Additional considerations include:

• Pull a permit
• Follow town laws
• Install unit far away enough from the home
• Properly secure or bury any wires/cords
• Install on a solid pad or foundation

Fueling options can really vary these days from gasoline, propane or natural gas. If you can connect to a natural gas line, then you shouldn’t have to worry about running out of power for fuel replenishment.

Although there are costs and efforts involved in installing a standby generator, it can be well worth the inconvenience and potential headache from the loss of power. Permanently installed generator systems can also add to the value of your home when it comes time to sell.

The United States has seen foreign real estate investors growing in numbers in recent years for many reasons. Some purchase real estate in our major cities for their children while they attend our universities, some buy investment properties for rentals while others seek vacation homes.

We have seen some of Canada’s Hollywood transplants purchasing here including Ryan Gosling and Ryan Reynolds while other investors from the North have been busy snapping up homes across the United States.

Canadians have maintained their ranking as the number two international investors in United States property. Florida has ranked as the most popular state among this investor group, according to the 2017 National Association of Realtors’ International Activity in U.S. Residential Real Estate Report.

Regardless of the weaker Canadian dollar, (one Canadian dollar is equivalent to approximately 79 US cents) Canadians remain popular homebuyers in our country. Of the nearly $20 billion in our country’s real estate purchases, $7 billion were in our state of Florida alone. Other popular areas include the states of Texas, California, New Jersey and Arizona.

Interestingly Canadians have more than doubled their spending on Unites States properties. Specifically, during the period between April 2016 and March 2017, Canadians spent $19 billion on real estate which is up from $8.9 billion the previous year.

In Canada, housing prices increased by 10% last year in 2016, compared to 5% in the United States. In particular, Vancouver home prices soared over the past year by 17%. The United States housing market has shown modest price growth compared to Canada’s housing markets, which may have played a role in increased spending on U.S. properties. Additionally, with harsh Canadian winters, it is no surprise Canadians flock to Florida to escape the cold.

As we all know many people across Texas and Florida have recently been affected by hurricanes in many different ways. Fortunately for Broward County things have been progressing and by now we are back to the norm for the most part since our visit from Irma. However, when it comes to real estate it does beg the question of what typically happens if you were amidst a real estate transaction. If you are ever in the process of purchasing a home when a hurricane strikes, what happens next? Here is a closer look at how things can progress.

When a storm is approaching it may be a little extra challenging to secure a homeowner’s insurance policy. Be prepared for this as it may cause for a delay in your previously agreed upon closing date.

Most real estate contracts will include a clause that speaks to the potential issue of a natural disaster like a hurricane. This may be referred to as “force majeure.” In most cases this pushes closings out until about a week after things return back to normal. In the event that a closing is delayed much longer and past 30 days, then buyer or seller would be able to cancel their interest in the contract. This is in many cases, however be sure to carefully read the terms in your particular contract.

Once the storm has passed and power and water services are restored you will want to inspect the home for damage. If you are securing a mortgage for the property a lender will want an inspection regardless. If in fact the home was damaged then you will need to carefully read the “Rise and Loss” section of your agreement to identify who pays for the repairs and how to handle it.

Just like in every real estate transaction – communication is key. Even more so when deals become more complex like in the event of a natural disaster. Be sure to stay in regular contact with your agent, lender and all parties involved to ensure that all steps are completed properly for the smoothest transaction possible.

Buying your first home is a significant milestone and saving your money can be challenging as this purchase is typically one of the largest ones that you will make in your lifetime.

In a report by Harvard University, it was shared that more people want to purchase a home these days yet they are not financially able for various reasons. In addition, Millennials in particular are waiting until they get married and purchase their first home. With various types of challenges that you may be confronted with, here are a few tips for saving for your dream home.

Pay down your debt. The most important thing to do is to focus on getting your credit score as best as possible. Review your credit report to see if there are any disputes, incorrect information or inaccuracies so that you can remove the blemishes. You will also want to pay down your debt as much as you can so that you will have more available credit. This all will help you get approved for a mortgage at the best rate.

Increase your savings. Saving money can be tough with so many expenses these days. One of the best solutions for saving is to automate it. You can do this by setting up a direct deposit on your paycheck and then select a regular amount to be deposited into your separate savings account each pay period. This way you will not spend the extra money and it will be put aside for your house fund.

Downsize first, then upsize. Another helpful strategy is to scale back your lifestyle. This can be anything from selecting a cheaper car to trading in your cable subscription for more economical streaming options. This can only be effective if you follow through and put aside all of the savings into your house fund. Similarly to the general increase of savings, figure out how much you are saving from scaling back and then add this amount to your automated savings plan so it is more fail safe.

Starting on these tactics as soon as you can will help you save as much as possible. If you can achieve 20% for a down payment you will save even more money eventually as you can avoid paying PMI and potentially get a lower interest rate.