JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The nation's housing market is slowly recovering but there are still some states that are struggling according to new research by the National Association of Realtors.
Both Florida and Georgia are in a list of 10 states who are not caught up with others in the housing recovery.
A local Realtor said although those numbers show Florida and Georgia have big strides left to take, the good news is we are on the right path. He said, even right here in Jacksonville, that the housing market is moving in the right direction.
"The housing recovery has been good. We went from 14 months worth of overhang at the height of the bubble or the housing crisis, and were now down below 4½ months worth of inventory on the market," said Howard Flaschen.
Flaschen works with Round Table Realty in Jacksonville and said even though data from November's RealtyTrac report shows Florida and Georgia are lagging in the housing recovery, he says not to get discouraged because numbers are heading in the directions they should be.
According to Credit.com, in Florida:
- The Mortgage origination per capita is 0.0042, the 11th lowest in the nation.
- The Foreclosure rate is 1 in every 462, which is the highest of any state.
- The Delinquency rate is 3.95%, also the highest in the country.
- The Average VantageScore is 657 which is the 16th lowest in the nation.
Flaschen said he thinks some of these numbers could be due to homes not being accurately appraised.
"When you're down the path that someone finds a home they like, there's an appraiser that comes in an appraises the value of the home for the bank, and I think appraisers can sometimes be behind the curve in regards to you finding a great house you love and that homes value is justified off short sales and foreclosures," said Flaschen.
Not all housing news is bad for Florida and Georgia. The National Association of Realtors reports that although mortgage rates are historically low, the rate of first time home buyers is the highest it's been since 2012. Flaschen said he predicts 2015 will be the year of new construction for home builders.
"They can add incentives to sales; for example, they'll pay all a buyers closing costs which will help a buyer come to the table with less money. Their sticker price on their home might, on average, be higher than if they went out to try and find something in resale market," said Flaschen.
Flaschen also said a reason Florida and Georgia could be in the list of 10 states not seeing full housing recovery, is because of mortgage credit being tight. He recommends people looking to buy a home, stay encouraged and of course check your credit and see how you can improve it in the months leading up to applying for a mortgage.