JANUARY 2009 Newsletter The National Changing of the Guard is the news of the moment – however it does not overshadow the housing market. Fed Chairman Bermanke lead the Central Bank beyond traditional boundaries in 2008 creating lending programs to shore up banks and specialty markets. Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae had halted foreclosures over the holidays and now have extended that to the end of January. Citigroup is supporting a congressional bill to grant bankruptcy judges the authority to reduce what debtors own on home mortgages to slow down the foreclosure rate. Hopefully others will get on this bandwagon. Finally, Fannie Mae is proposing pre-approved short sale amounts on property – agreeing to a price and the loss the bank will incur before the deal is made. These programs are expected to reduce the foreclosure rate. On top of this, mortgage rates have fallen below 5%, the lowest mark since Freddie Mac started tracking the data in 1971. “Don’t be surprised to see the rates dip into the 3’s” say some of the experts. The market is strengthening because of these programs. Locally we are seeing the numbers of prospects visiting the open houses on Sunday climb steadily. Naples had 11 straight months of increased Pending Sales in 2008 while Marco Island held steady in December even though the first eleven months were greater than a year ago. Personally, we had an outstanding year. Positives are reflected in our website (www.naplesgolf-marcobeach.com) seeing an average of 38 visitors per day viewing an average of 22 pages. Our expanded listings on Realtor.com had up to 1120 views per listing in 2008. Another longstanding statistic is the Florida Consumer Confidence Survey (by the University of Florida Research Center). They measure consumer confidence on 5 criteria. The overall confidence level rose 5 points in December to 67, as Floridians feel the new administration will resolve the economic crises. The sub-categories include “is it time to buy a big ticket item?” “the perception of the US economic condition over the next year” “and 5 years” “the perception of personal finances now verses a year ago” as well as “a year hence”. A very interesting study to follow. Florida just released their profile of the average home buyer and home seller in 2008. The average buyer was 43 – married – with no children at home, buying a single-family home with 1760 sq. ft. and took out a mortgage. They used the internet to narrow their search with the great majority using a Real Estate Professional to finalize the deal. The typical seller was 52 – married with no children at home and lived in his current home for 6 years. Over 90% used a Real Estate Professional to market their home, insisting their home be marketed on the Internet. A few neat sites to check out. www.coast2coastrx.com/collierfl provides a downloaded prescription discount card to be used at Walgreens, Publix, Wal-Mart or Sam’s Club provided by Collier County Housing and Human Resource. www.coupons.com a growing site where you can download hundreds of coupons for almost anything. www.familywatchdog.us/search.asp just given me by a neighbor, that identifies sex offenders in any area of the country. Check out our website (www.naplesgolf-marcobeach.com) to view some great properties of interest. We currently have an estate home in NLCC at $799,900 turnkey furnished with 3/3/den, 2-car garage, pool and spa with an eastern view across the water and golf course. We also have six single family villas, many furnished from $594,900 to $749,000; condos ranging from 1,394 sf to 1,778 sf ($220,000 to $399,000)– all with great views; Coach homes (2/2/den, 2030 sf) are available in the low $400’s and carriage homes with 1,672-1,908 sf are priced in the low to mid $300’s. We also have direct and indirect residential building lots on Marco Island starting at $495,000 and a single-family home in Madison Park – turnkey furnished at $525,000. So check them out. REMEMBER… if you need assistance or have questions about your investment in Paradise or any other property in the area, please give us a call at 239-793-6493. We will be happy to provide any information you may need when making a Real Estate decision. And don’t forget to visit – and make part of your favorites – our website at www.naplesgolf-marcobeach.com where you can find all types of information including a nationwide MLS plus Naples Lakes active listings updated weekly.