Melbourne Florida Homes for Sale

August 30th was the kickoff date to start the new Florida Cash for Clunkers program. This program will grant a $1500 rebate to home owner’s that upgrade to a more energy efficient air conditioning system for their home. The state has pooled about $15 Million in funds from government stimulus money to fund the project. The program will be available until the funds run out or December 31, whichever comes first.

It is very similar to the cash for clunkers program that was done for appliances back in April. There is speculation that this program will be available longer than the appliance program because it requires a greater investment from homeowners. The appliance program offered rebates to homeowners that purchased more energy efficient appliances. However, there were so many Floridians that took advantage of the program that the government rebate funds were exhausted in a matter of days.

If Floridians want to take advantage of the rebates, they should contact their local A/C contractor and start getting bids. This might be a good time to get Florida Power & Light to conduct a home energy assessment also. If FP&L find problems with your duct work, they can also pay back some additional monies over the rebate for duct repairs but the work must be completed by a contractor on FPL’s approved contractor list.

Now could be the time for Floridians to upgrade to a more energy efficient. Other than the $1500 rebate, there are energy tax credits from the federal government for new air conditioning systems – 30% the price of the system up to $1500. There are also manufacturer rebates and incentives that can be claimed at the same time.

So, there are a lot of opportunities to save money with the installation process and then save money in the long run. I personally replaced my 3.5 ton 10 SEER unit in January 2009 with a 4 ton 16 SEER unit (the size of my home warranted either a 3.5 or 4 ton – it was on the edge). My energy bills use to run over $500 per month consistentyl but now they average about $275 per month. It was well worth the upgrade.

The trend over the last couple months since the end of the tax credit rush have not been promising. New listings for July are up from 2009 and the number of sold listings were down considerably. The annual trend is showing that listings are up a little more than 12% from last year while sold listings are down just over 1% from last year in Brevard County. The volume sold is down from last year but that is because the average home sales price has been in decline. The volume is down 6.47%. The average price is down from last year by 5.35%.

*New Listings are up from July 2009- +11.98%

*Sold Listings are down from July 2009- (25.58%)

*Volume Sold is down from July 2009- (34.54%)

*Average Sale Price is down from July 2009- (12.05%)

Here is what is selling in Brevard County, Florida in average sales price:

$0-$49,999 – 120 units sold (19.7%)

$50K-$79,999 – 131 units sold (21.5%)

$80K-$99,999 – 61 units sold (10.0%)

$100K-$159,999 – 107 units sold (17.5%)

$160K-$199,999 – 66 units sold (10.8%)

$200K-$249,999 – 51 units sold (8.4%)

$250K-$299,999 – 35 units sold (5.7%)

$300K-$399,999 – 25 units sold (4.1%)

$400K-$499,999 – 5 units sold (.8%)

$500K+ – 9 units sold (1.5%)

51.1% of all homes sold in Brevard County were priced between $0 and $99,999. This is likely a result of investors and first time buyers in the market. I think that there are more cash buyers purchasing homes in Brevard County and people are trying to take advantage of the depressed market. The average median sales price in Brevard County for July 2010 was $135.479. 48.2% of all homes sold in July 2010 were paid for with cash.

Current inventory on the market is broken down like this:

Residential Homes 5,113 on the market – 1,230 are short sales – 690 are bank owned

Condos 1,386 on the market – 252 are short sales – 177 are bank owned

Townhomes 385 on the market – 82 are short sales – 85 are bank owned

Total 6,884 homes on the market – 1,564 are short sales – 952 are bank owned

Heron’s Landing is a nearly 300 home community located in Viera, Florida. The community was built in multiple phases and features homes from Deville Custom Homes, Christopher Burton Homes, Salgar Homes and Schull Builders. The homes range from 1,578-3,056 sqft. of living space. The community is surrounded by natural preserves and maintains five lakes.

The community is located between Murrell Road and US 1 with quick access to I-95. It is also just a quick drive to Space Coast Stadium, the Avenues shopping mall, plenty of restaurants and the soon to be completed Viera Hospital from Health First. The community is zoned for Ralph Williams Elementary, McNair Middle Magnet School and Viera High School.

The community has two sets of HOA fees; an annual fee for community upkeep and another fee for Viera East Home Owner Association. The fees total $385 for the year. Heron’s Landing uses those fees to maintain the entry monuments, park benches, community pool and playground. There is also a bike path that enters the community at one side and exits through the 66-acre nature preserve into Auburn Lakes. The Viera East Association fees maintain all common areas for all communities as well as a private community park which features a playground, volleyball court, basketball court and tennis courts.

Viera is a master planned community that is the premier residential destination in Brevard County, Florida. Contact me to find out more about current available homes. They are priced on the market from $320,000 to $425,000.