Despite being ranked by LendingTree as two of the worst housing markets in the nation, recent data show that Florida and Illinois are on a positive track towards a recovery.
LendingTree has Florida as the 48th unhealthiest housing market with Illinois coming in at 44. The seven elements evaluated in the online lenders’ healthiest housing index are debt-to-income ratio, unemployment rate, homeownership/vacancy percentage past due, foreclosure percentage, loan to value ratio and equity.
However, according to data from Florida Realtors, there may be improvements in the Sunshine State as pending sales and median prices rose in February, while the inventory of homes for sale dropped.
“Growing optimism about the economy, gains in the state’s jobs market and continued low mortgage rates are generating interest in Florida real estate,” said Summer Greene, president of Florida Realtors.
Pending sales increased 36.1% for single-family homes and 19.8% for townhouses. Meanwhile, new listings were down 0.4% for detached homes and 4.3% for attached properties.
The statewide median sales price for single-family existing homes in February was $134,000, up 7.2% from last year. The statewide median for townhouse-condo properties was $95,000, an increase of 15.9% from February 2011.
The interest rate for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage in Florida averaged 3.89% in February 2012, down from the 4.95% a year ago, according to Freddie Mac.
Prospective homebuyers have substantially less inventory to choose from whether they are looking for single-family or condominium properties. The year-over-year inventory for single-family homes dropped 34% to about 117,000 properties on the market, while there are nearly 62,000 townhouses available to purchase, a 38.6% fall from the same time period a year ago.
However, statewide sales of existing single-family homes experienced a 4.8% decrease compared to last year, totaling 14,270 assets sold. For townhouses and condos, a total of 7,545 units sold in February, down 16% year-over-year.
The overall picture that theses statistics show is of a stabilizing housing market,” said John Tuccillo, chief economist for Florida Realtors. “While closed sales are down, so are listings and so is inventory. These are signs of a market that’s moving from being a buyer’s market to a balanced market.”
According to the Illinois Association of Realtors, February was the eighth consecutive month of year-over-year increases in home sales. Statewide home sales totaled 6,487 homes sold, up 15.1% from last year.
In terms of sales, this is the best for February since 2008 when 7,058 homes were sold.
The median price for a home was $117,000, down 8.2% from $127,500. Nationally, single-family homes in January were selling for about $154,000, which is 2.6% less than previous year, NAR said.
Housing analysts continue to point out that sales of foreclosures and other distressed properties nationwide are distorting median prices because they generally sell at a discount relative to traditional homes.
“People seem to be feeling better about where the economy is going,” said Loretta Alonzo, president of the Illinois Association of Realtors. “When you have interest rates and housing prices this low homebuyers are highly motivated to get back into the market.”
Geoffrey J.D. Hewings, director of the Regional Economics Applications Laboratory of the University of Illinois, said the mild winter helped the housing market move upward. Hewings also attributed the increase to the unemployment rate remaining at 8.3%, therefore increasing consumer confidence.
“For Illinois, the most relevant factor would be a surge in job creation and the state’s economy has been showing consistent signs of life in the last 12 months,” Hewings said.
