Mortgage Rates Fall to Lowest Level Of The Year!

According to Freddie Mac, mortgage rates fell this week to a low of 4.72% for a 30-year fixed mortgage... down from 4.79% last week. We are skirting the LOWEST ALL TIME LOW set last December at 4.71%!!! As we observed back in February, a campaign by the Federal Reserve to reduce borrowing costs for consumers pushed rates down to extraordinarily low levels last year. Rates were expected to rise after the program ended this spring, but have fallen instead over the past two months.

The average rate on a 15-year fixed-rate mortgage hit 4.17 percent, down from 4.2 percent last week and the lowest on records dating back to August 1991.

Rates on five-year, adjustable-rate mortgages averaged 3.92 percent, down from 3.94 percent a week earlier. Rates on one-year, adjustable-rate mortgages fell to 3.91 percent from 3.95 percent. That was the lowest average since May 2004.

We do offer a great service to compare rates online directly from our website. To see what rate you might qualify for, CLICK HERE!

Annual John LeVique Pirate Invasion at John's Pass - Madeira Beach

There is certainly a lot of fascination with PIRATES around the Tampa Bay area! From January's Gasparillo along Tampa's shore to the pirate offering welcome at the entrance of Treasure Island, it's hard to miss. This time of the year, we turn to John's Pass in Madeira Beach to join the festivities with its 9th annual John LeVique Pirate Days!

Starting tomorrow, June 11th, the three-day weekend pirate themed event celebrates the discovery of John’s Pass by turtle farmer, John Levique after the hurricane of September 1848. Dressing in costume is encouraged! The Pirate's Ball kicks off the festivities Friday evening and naturally there will be a costume contest! Live music will be available Saturday and Sunday, but you won't want to miss the Pirate Invasion at noon on Saturday along with the fully decked out boat parade, fllowed by the "pillaging of the village"! And there is always face painting, story telling, photo opportunities, games and activities, and the infamous “Pirates Pub Crawl”.

Ahoy, Matey!! See you there!

May Statistics Confirm Growth Trend - Tampa Bay Beaches!

May 2010 Market Statistics for Pinellas County, located on the beach side of Tampa Bay were posted yesterday and have been added to the Home Page of our website. I think we are were waiting for these numbers to see what impact the Gulf Oil Spill crisis had on consumer confidence and the growth trend we were seeing take hold. In addition, there was a great deal of speculation about the April 30th deadline for the 1st time buyer credit and what that would mean in May... would this growth in sales be able to maintain its momentum???

Click on the Chart to View
As we do each month, we go directly to the Absorption Rate (or Inventory Turnover) to get the "overview". This is determined by dividing the number of units sold during the month by the total number of listings in MLS.

This is the first place we look and we were not disappointed. As a matter of fact, considering the oil spill and the end of the 1st time home buyer credit, we are actually looking at these numbers as tremendously impressive!

In Single Family Homes, the Absorption Rate was 12.5% (the second highest of the year). The 12.5% compares to May 2009's 8.9% and May 2008's 6.8%! And in Condos... 9.1% in May, compared to May 2009's 5.7 and May 2008's 4.7%!!!

What we are looking for is Inventory going down while Sales continue to climb... Here are the pertinent facts and you are welcome to review the entire report right from our website:

2010 Single Family Home Sales:
For the month of May, compared to 2009... sales are up 27.6%! Year to date, sales are up 22.6% over 2009, yet listings are down 15.5%!

2010 Condo Sales:
For the month of April, compared to 2009... sales are up 37.7%! Year to date, sales are up 52.6% over 2009, yet listings are down 17%!

We are still seeing the trend for CASH Sales... May's sales represented 52% cash and 26% conventional. Investors are picking up on this trend to take advantage of the best deals... ahead of the mainstream. Again, it was very enlightening to see the numbers hold up as well as they did for May!

Staying in Clearwater Beach... Need A Car?

If your plans are to stay on Clearwater Beach, you really won't need a car as everything is within easy walking distance. Tampa International Airport is just 19 miles from Clearwater Beach and taxis and/or shuttles are readily available to get you to your "home in paradise". Once you arrive, the meandering Beachwalk is a great pedestrian walkway along this award-winning beach.

If you do need a ride, consider the Jolley Trolley which travels throughout Clearwater Beach or catch the Suncoast Beach Trolley which runs between Clearwater Beach and all the beach communities to the south to Pass-A-Grille. Several companies offer tours, including transportation, to Tampa or Orlando attractions.

One of my favorite modes of transportation while on the beach are the bicycle pedicabs where you can sit back and let someone else pedal you in a comfy carriage to your destination. Then, of course, there are also rental bikes, scooters, authentic surrey bikes and mini coupes. Lots of fun and easy to enjoy!

Gulf Oil Spill - Impact On Florida Beaches

Throughout the gulf beaches and beyond... whether residents, visitors, potential home buyers or even vacationers planning their next trip... the Mississippi Canyon 252 Oil Spill incident is playing havoc in the Gulf of Mexico! No one knows how long it will take to completely stop the leak or what the final impact will be. Although other attempts are being made every day to stop or contain the spill, at the very least a second well is currently being drilled to move the oil over to it. The completion of that well is scheduled in August.

I have found one website very thorough in its information and maps of projected areas of concern are updated daily. Deepwater Horizon Response. Under the News/Info tab, go to Maps to find the projected track both near the shoreline and offshore.

If there is any silver lining for those of us on the west coast of Florida in the Tampa Bay area, the gulf stream appears to be working in our favor to keep any contamination away from us. The warm water of the gulf and sunshine does aid in breaking down some of the oil sheen. And yesterday, the NOAA announced changes to the fishing closed area that took effect at 6 p.m. Eastern, Friday. The changes include the opening of more than 16,000 square miles of water off the Florida coast, where oil had been projected to reach but was never observed. Approximately 2,200 square miles near the Florida panhandle are added to the closure. The closed area will now be about 32 percent of federal Gulf waters, down from 37 percent. This is good news.

St Petersburg Favorite! Taste Of Pinellas

Taste of Pinellas is an annual food and music festival for the whole family, held at Vinoy Park on the waterfront in St. Petersburg Florida. Definitely time to taste samples from some of the area's best restaurants while enjoying live music, a Kids' Zone for children and much more! A Taste of Pinellas is for a great cause, too -- proceeds from A Taste of Pinellas go to the All Children's Hospital Telethon.

Tampa Bay area's best restaurants that will be included. Entertainment begins this afternoon at 5pm until 10pm and features bands such as Huey Lewis. Entrance fee for today and tomorrow (11:30-10pm) is $5. The headliner tomorrow is Martina McBride. A huge fireworks display will be the finale Saturday evening!

Sunday is Family Day from 12-7pm and is FREE. All food and beverage sales throughout the weekend operate with tickets. A sheet of 10 tickets is $5 - items range in cost from 1 - 12 tickets.

See you there!