Melbourne Florida Homes for Sale

Auburn Lakes is a great entry level community for the Viera East Homeowner’s Association. The homes were built by Holiday Builders between 2003 and 2004. The community is within walking distance of Ralph Williams Elementary school and the Viera East Community Park which features a pavillion, tennis courts, basketball courts, volleyball court, playground and facilities.

Here is what is happening with homes in Auburn Lakes as of February 2011.

There are currently 4 homes on the market available to purchase; 1 HUD home, 2 short sales and 1 home offered by traditional sellers. The homes are all 4 bedroom, 2 bathroom homes and they are priced between $135,000 and $190,000.

There are 5 homes currently under contract and 3 closings in the month of February.

That is the latest with Auburn Lakes in Viera, Florida. If you need some details on any of the homes on the market or what has closed, do not hesitate to ask.

Coral Key is a small community located just off Malabar Road west of I-95 in Palm Bay, Florida. It is really close to shopping, restaurants, medical facilities and within a quick drive of the Indian River and public boat launches.

D.R. Horton’s newest community is going to feature large home sites, brick paver driveways, 18″ tile in all wet areas, double pane low-E windows and stain resistant Shaw carpets. The builder is currently charging no premiums on any of the home sites and they are in pre-sales so it is the best time to choose where you would want your home to be.

The homes in the community start at $179,990 and go up to $252,990 without any selected options. The homes offer 4 or 5 bedrooms and 2 up to 4 bathrooms. There are also floor plans with 3-car garages versus 2-car garage options for the other floor plans. There are some pre-selected homes already available to purchase:

*Lot 5 – 4 Bed/3 Bath/3 Car – 2,546 sqft – $212,585
*Lot 4 – 5 Bed/4 Bath/3 Car – 3,340 sqft – $244,180
*Lot 3 – 4 Bed/2 Bath/2 Car – 2,046 sqft – $193,770
*Lot 2 – 4 Bed/3 Bath/3 Car – 2,546 sqft – $214,955

These are large homes and there are only a limited number of home sites. If you are interested in these homes or any other new construction, give me a call. Coral Key may be the newest builder community by D.R. Horton but there are many other options like Brentwood Lakes, Manchester Lakes, Hammock Trace, Lynnwood and Holly Trace. That is just for Palm Bay, Florida – there are more cities to choose from. Let me know how I can help you find what you need.

For those that like to crunch numbers, here are the home sales statistics for Brevard County, Florida for February 2011. The trends at the end of last year and into the beginning of this year seem to be on a slow steady continuation. It is far from a time to scream recovery but it begins to paint an optimistics outlook on the real estate market for 2011 overall.

Homes that sold in Feburary 2011 versus February 2010 are up more than 25% with over a 70% increase in condo sales and a 20% increase in single family home sales. For those that have been shopping condos in the last couple of years, they are aware that there were much stricter guidelines for loans on condos which is why we have seen a surge this month and possibly will see that all year long. Prices have come down in condos too which could be a factor that will affect overall average sales price. The average sales price is down more than 15% but that probably has to do with the number of condos that were sold this month which were down more than 36% in average price from the previous year. Watch the condo market this year, it could mean that there are going to be a lot of good bargains.

*New Listings are down from February 2010 – (19.04%)

*Sold Listings are up from February 2010 – +25.66%

*Volume Sold is down from February 2010 – +6.57%

*Average Sale Price is down from February 2010 – (15.19%)

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

$0-$49,999 – 169 units sold (24.7%)

$50K-$79,999 – 153 units sold (22.3%)

$80K-$99,999 – 79 units sold (11.5%)

$100K-$159,999 – 114 units sold (16.6%)

$160K-$199,999 – 53 units sold (7.7%)

$200K-$249,999 – 45 units sold (6.6%) *That’s a surge upward!!

$250K-$299,999 – 27 units sold (3.9%)

$300K-$399,999 – 21 units sold (3.1%)

$400K-$499,999 – 11 units sold (1.6%)

$500K+ – 13 units sold (1.9%)

58.5% of all homes sold in Brevard County were priced between $0 and $99,999. 24.4% of homes were priced between $100,000-$199,999. The average median sales price in Brevard County for February 2011 was $119,522. 59.6% of all homes sold in February 2011 were paid for with cash.

Current inventory on the market is broken down like this:

Residential Homes 4,097 on the market – 1,099 are short sales – 517 are bank owned

Condos 1,112 on the market – 159 are short sales – 121 are bank owned

Townhomes 314 on the market – 78 are short sales – 40 are bank owned

Total 5,523 homes on the market – 1,336 are short sales – 678 are bank owned

Just over 24% of homes on the market in Brevard County are listed as a short sale. Over 12% listed on the market are bank owned properties. There are concerns that as the overall listings are dropping that there is the prospect of a lot of shadow inventory in the pipeline. Shadow Inventory refers to homes that are in the foreclosure process or the banks have taken back that are not on the market. Those numbers are hard to speculate but they are out there. However, if inventory continues to drop, expect more homes back on the market from banks needing to unload or prices starting to creep back up.

That is how Brevard County, Florida looks in February 2011. We are working towards a better year in 2011 with a solid start.

I got an email the other day from a buyer I just started to work with on their home purchase in Florida. I sent them to a lender for a pre-approval and their score was not quite where it needed to be. So the buyer asked me what I thought she could do first to help improve her credit score the most. So I had a little conversation with her to help her understand how her credit score is established.

FICO scores are probably the most common scores that lenders review from the big three credit reporting agencies (Equifax, Experian and Transunion) in regards to a home purchase. There are other scoring models and items that a lender could or does review, but the FICO is a good one to understand. Most loan programs base their qualifications on some sort of FICO score minimum or basis.

So What Makes Up the FICO Score Results??

*About 35% of the score is a result of an individual’s payment history.
*About 30% of the score is based on the amount of credit lines that are used or the amount owed. For instance, if you have 2 credit cards each with a $5,000 limit and you only owe $1,000 in credit card debt then you are using only 10% of your available credit which is scored favorably.
*15% is based on the length of the credit history.
*10% is based on the number of new accounts like when was the last time you opened a new account and how often are you applying for new credit. If it is frequent you may be scored more as a risk.
*10% is based on the types of credit. For instance, are all the credit lines for an individual, specialty credit cards or is there a home loan, auto loan, student loans and major credit cards. An individual is scored more favorably if they have a mix of loan products that are paid on time.

As I explained the make up of her score, it became apparent that there are things that she could do more easily than others. She cannot at this point really positively impact the length of her credit history (she could negatively if she closes her oldest account which would be a HUGE mistake). She should not open new accounts because that would impact her negatively and her mix of credit usage should be fixed at this point if she is not opening and closing accounts.

So my advice was for her to focus on being current on all her accounts and be sure to pay those accounts on time monthly. I also thought that it would be best for her to try and bring down her credit balances so that she was showing more available credit on different trade lines. I explained that I was not a financial expert and that she may want to consult someone who is but based on what I know about credit scoring those are the best places to start. It is not an overnight fix but really there is not an overnight fix to repairing your credit. I also advised her to contact the lender and see what they recommend to their consumers if she wanted other adivce.

Of course, if there were disputable items on her report then she should start working to remove those . . . but that’s for another blog!!