Clearwater Beach condos Archives

Clearwater Beach Real Estate Report May 2016

Clearwater Beach Real Estate – Working with a Realtor® in a seller’s market like the one we’re currently seeing in Pinellas County is vital. Only a Realtor® can see what can’t be uncovered in a simple online search, understands the local market and can help you win in a competitive environment.

The number of Closed Sales for Single Family and Townhome/Condo combined for May 2016 was 2,107, up 3.9% from 2,028 in May 2015. Year-over-year, closed sales for the Single Family segment was way up at 9.4%, and Closed Sales for the Townhome/Condo segment was down at -4.3%.

Median Time to Contract for Single Family was down 20% year-over-year, going from 28 days in May 2016 to 35 days in May 2015.
Median Time to Sale for Single Family was just 74 days in May 2016, down from 79 days in May 2015 (down 6.3%).
For Townhome/Condo Median Time to Sale was 83 days this May, versus 87 days in May 2015, a -4.6% change year-over-year.

Median Sale Price for Single Family was $200,000 this May, versus $185,000 last May, a sizable increase of 8.1%. Median Sale Price for the Townhome/Condo segment was also up from last May at 6.3%, at $138,250 for May 2016 versus $130,000 for May 2015.

Median Percent of Original List Price Received for Single Family was 96.4% in May 2016, up 0.9% from 95.5% in May 2015. Townhome/Condo was 94.6% in May 2016, up 0.9% from 93.8% in May 2015.

New Listings for Single Family for May 2016 were 1,460, up 2.7% from last May, when they were 1,422.
New Listings for Townhome/Condo for May 2016 were 859, up 2.9% from 835 in May 2015.

Months Supply of Inventory for Single Family continues to reflect the lack of homes listed for sale, down 15% year-over-year, with a 3.4 month supply this May, as compared to a 4.0-month supply in May 2015. Months Supply of Inventory for Townhome/Condo was down 8.7% year-over-year, with 4.2-month in May 2016 compared to 4.6 months in May 2015. Active listings for May 2016 Single Family and Townhome/Condo combined were 6,991, down 5.7% from 7,417 in May 2015.

Pinellas Realtor® Organization, June 2016

New Lifeguard Tower added to Clearwater Beach

With a recent rating as America’s No. 1 beach, and the addition of new resorts and hotels, more visitors are expected to stick their toes in the sugar sand beaches on Clearwater Beach. To help keep all those visitors safe, the city of Clearwater has constructed a new lifeguard tower, and is adding more lifeguards. Clearwater Beach prides itself on being one of the only beaches along the Gulf Coast with lifeguards.

Designed by Fisher Architects and built by Certus Builders Inc., the new tower will look much different from the other beach towers. The design is reflective of mid-century modern architecture that also was incorporated into the design of the newly opened Opal Sands Resort. The new tower is located north of the rock jetty near parking lot 32, and will bring the number of lifeguard towers on the beach to six.

The Beach Patrol provides lifeguards at designated areas on Clearwater Beach 365 days a year between the hours of 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. During spring and summer, the times are later.

There are six guard towers staffed during the season, March 1 to Labor Day, and three towers staffed the rest of the year. Currently there are six full time lifeguards. The remaining staff is made up of part-time and “seasonal” lifeguards, the number of which varies based on the season. All are under the direction of the water safety supervisor.

Clearwater Beacon April 6, 2016

Clearwater Beach Working to Handle Boom of New Hotels

New Hotels

new hotels The boom days never seem to end in Clearwater Beach. Even as a new resort, the Opal Sands, has just opened, several other hotels are under construction and are due to open in the year ahead. They will bring even more people to the already crowded beach.

That is not a bad thing, according to the CEO of the Clearwater Beach Chamber of Commerce Darlene Kole.

“Our beach is the number one beach in the USA and with the popularity of the beach come people,” she said. “The new accommodations on the beach will just offer more options for people to stay.”

There are five new hotels already under construction and a sixth that has gotten approval to begin.

Underway are:

Hampton Inn
The Windham Grand Resort
Springhill Suites
Fairfield Inn
Clearwater Beach Guest House.

A Courtyard by Marriott is the one with approvals in place but has yet to break ground.Observers might think that with all the new rooms coming on line, roughly 800 new ones this year, that Clearwater Beach will have more rooms than ever before. Not so. There were more rooms on the beach in 2002, but then the condo craze hit and many hotels were converted into condos or demolished to make way for condos.Geri Lopez, Clearwater’s director of Economic Development and Housing, said condos are not good for a tourist economy; hotels on the other hand are.

“It is important because tourism is such a big economic driver,” she said.

A condo resident will buy groceries and stay home; they might eat out once a week, whereas a hotel guest will spend money on all sorts of activities. Hotel rooms bring in more taxes; they help keep the economy going.”

For those who might argue that there is already enough congestion on the beach Lopez said the new construction is well within legal guidelines.

“It is all allowed by the city zoning laws and code,” she said. “And there are property rights for property owners. No one is doing anything they shouldn’t be doing.”

Back in 2002 there were 4,400 hotel rooms on Clearwater Beach. Then hundreds were lost because of the condo conversions. The numbers are just getting back to that level now nearly 15 years later. When all the new hotels are up and running, the total number of rooms on the beach will be 4,300, nearly but not quite the level of 2002.

Michael Delk, Clearwater’s director of Planning and Development, said the next big challenge is managing all the new development.

“We move now from a situation where we try to encourage an upgrade of the current product and expand it. I call it managing the success phase,” he said.

Part of managing the success is finding ways to make the guests comfortable.

“We’re looking at a new parking garage that is due to open on the north beach in a few months,” he said. “Now it is a matter of developing the transportation options and technique to help manage the success.”

Delk says little things are starting to happen on the beach, which make things more pleasant for the visitors.

“On the south beach the owner of the Surfstyle bought the old Walgreens pharmacy and turned it into a Surfstyle, then turned his own store into a neighborhood market, a brilliant idea,” he said.

Delk said the beach has become very pedestrian friendly.

“There is no back-out parking on our beach which makes it pedestrian safe,” he said. “If you are staying here you can park your car for a week and never need it. Everything is within walking distance.”

Chamber of Commerce CEO Kole agrees.

“We are a small island, there is no need of a car,” she said. “All the new structures that are being built include parking so once you arrive you can leave your car. We’re the only pedestrian friendly place in Pinellas County and perhaps in all of Florida that once you arrive you don’t need a car.”

A concern, however, is that there are too many vehicles in and around Clearwater Beach. There is a lineup on the Memorial Causeway every day of motorists trying to get to the beach, then clogging local roads trying to find places to park.

Kole said the remedies are coming.

Ferry Service

“The ferry service is what we are pushing now,” she said. “We’re trying to make it easier for day-trippers to come over and shop and eat and spend the day on the beach. The ferry has been operating for over a year now. There are already two of them and they are very popular.”

Ferry users can leave their cars on the mainland side of Clearwater and retrieve them on the return trip. The same holds true for the hundreds of employees who work in the hotels and restaurants and resorts.

Kole said the activity and success of Clearwater Beach is because everyone involved works hard to keep it that way. She pays particular tribute to the city of Clearwater.

“The city works very hard at keeping the beach clean and safe,” she said. “That is why we’re number one.”

Clearwater Beacon March 26, 2016

Housing Market Report – March 2016

Housing Market Report

market report In Florida, buyers closed on 18,159 single-family homes in January 2016, up 0.4 percent, but condo sales fell 5.4 percent to 7,658 units.

Homes statewide sold for a median $200,000, 11.1 percent more than last year, while condos traded for $150,000, a 5.6 percent gain.

“The trends we’re seeing in closed sales and new listings have led to two straight months of rising inventory levels in both property type categories,” said Florida Realtors chief economist Brad O’Connor. “Single-family home inventory was still 3.8 percent lower than it was at the end of February 2015, but this is still an improvement over January’s 7.4 percent year-over-year decline.

“Year-over-year inventory growth in the condo/townhome market, on the other hand, was strongly positive for a change, at 6 percent,” he said.

The trade group has revised prior-years’ results to reflect a new data collection system started last month, but it said revisions were minor.

In the nation

Nationwide, Americans retreated from home-buying in February, reversing months of prior gains as low inventories pushed up prices to levels that restrict sales.

The National Association of Realtors said sales of existing homes fell 7.1 percent last month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.08 million. The decline follows robust yearly sales rates of 5.47 million in January and 5.45 million in December.

The housing market enters the traditional spring buying season facing a quandary: There are relatively few properties listed for sale, even as steady job gains and low mortgage rates have bolstered demand from would-be buyers. The limited supplies have fueled rising prices that have, in turn, reduced affordability and limited sales levels. These cost pressures were further enhanced by a volatile stock market that hit down payment savings.

“We assume the plunge in the stock market in the first six weeks of this year persuaded some potential homebuyers to reconsider, at least temporarily,” said Ian Shepherdson, chief economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics.

Shepherdson noted that sales momentum “stalled” in February, but sales volumes might pick up in the spring.

The national median home sales price was $210,800 in February, a 4.4 percent annual increase from a year ago.

Herald Tribune March 21, 2016

Staging Your Home for Great Photos

Staging for great photos – here’s some great tips for getting the perfect look and making that property shine in photos.

Design for the camera, not for the end user.

When putting together a space, we always think of the camera first. Will this angle look right, will it show off the best feature of the house? Will the light hit these items correctly? The good news is you have a camera in your pocket as you read this. When we stage a house for market, we are constantly taking photographs of it and looking at it through the camera lens. It helps us to see errors in symmetry, lighting, cleanliness, etc.

No more wrinkles.

In real life, wrinkly sheets don’t make a lick of difference. The camera, however, hates wrinkles and makes them look 100 times worse than they really are. Our best advice on this one is to use a professional steamer. The hot steam will take those wrinkles right out and makes the sheets, pillow shams and draperies look perfect in the picture.

Light it up.

Light can be your best friend or your worst enemy. If you don’t know how to control it, you are destined to fail. The time of day and weather conditions can make a huge difference on how well your space photographs. If the afternoon sun is blazing into your room throwing harsh shadows all over, the shot is destined to look “blown out” with areas as dark as night and as bright as a nuclear holocaust. To help combat this problem, look for the best time for indirect sunlight outside and inside your space. It is also a great idea to turn on your interior lights and lamps, this will help to even out the lighting in the space.

Fluff the carpet.

So often we see houses photographed with harsh vacuum lines or matted carpet that looks old and tired. The best way to fluff up your tired wall to wall is to use a broom. Running the broom over the top of the carpet in random directions will bring new life to a sagging floor textile.

Look beyond the window.

It’s true enough you are photographing the interiors of your space but the outside of your windows will be seen in the photos. If there are piles of trash covered with blue tarps right outside your window, they are going to come through in the photos. Clean up the areas outside the window and make it visually quiet so it does not draw attention to itself. If the area can’t be cleaned up, consider a frosted film on the window.

Limit the color scheme.

There are neutrals and there are colors. The neutrals are black, white, grey, brown, beige, cream, silver, and sometimes gold. You can put as many different neutrals in a room as you want. They can form a great base for your color. The colors are the rainbow: red, orange, yellow, green, blue and purple. Colors must be used with great restraint. We endeavor to have only one “color story” per room. A color story might be blues or reds or colors of the peacock, or teal and yellow. If you have more than one color story per room, the photographs will start to look chaotic and visually noisy.

Rely on symmetry, repetition, rhythm.

Symmetry, repetition, and rhythm can be found throughout nature and humans find them to be aesthetically pleasing. Symmetry can be found in most animals and insects. Repetition is why we find flowers so pleasing. Rhythm can be found in the ripples of a sand dune. A quick and easy way to make a space more aesthetically pleasing is to use these simple principles of good design.

Look at the problem from a different angle, then design for the best one.

What is the first impression going to be? Design for that view and the rest will fall into place. Figure out where the camera will most likely be and make every decision for the room based on that. Chances are, it will turn out great.

Hire a professional.

Don’t invest the time to decorate and then run through with an iPhone and snap 16 horrible pictures. If you want great photographs, hire a great photographer.

Put down the toilet seat.

No explanation needed.

Get out of the mirror.

Make sure there is no one in the mirror reflecting back with a camera.

Furnish the house, but don’t over decorate the cake.

Empty houses are hard to see. Furniture provides scale, shows use, and adds light to spaces. Without it, the space is just walls, windows, floors, and ceilings. It is important to show how the space is used and how big the space is. Once you have taken care of these items, then stop decorating. There is a point when the decoration is no longer about the house but more so about the decoration. Stop before you get there.

Florida Housing Market Report December 2015

The year of 2015 saw a true rebound in Florida Housing Values

Statewide, single-family sales totaled 23,056 last month, up 2.9 percent over the year.
Condo sales fell 1.2 percent to 9,357, according to the Florida Realtors trade group.
Homes sold for a median of $206,500, which was 11.6 percent more than last year.
Condos traded for $156,500, up 5.0 percent.

“Florida’s real estate markets remained quite healthy in December,” said Brad O’Connor, chief economist at Florida Realtors. “Closed sales remain strong, and prices continue to rise.

“Inventory levels of single-family homes dropped to an annual low for 2015 at the end of December, to just under 100,000 active listings,” he added.

Nationwide
Nationwide, total home sales in 2015 were the most in nine years, as closings rebounded in December after new regulations had delayed the completion of purchases in November.

The National Association of Realtors said sales of existing homes climbed 14.7 percent last month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.46 million. Sales had previously plummeted as the industry adapted to new mortgage disclosure rules — a temporary downturn before delayed sales were finalized in December.

“This is a great way to cap off 2015,” said Jennifer Lee, a senior economist at BMO Capital Markets.

Last month’s rebound concluded a year that produced the highest annual sales total since 2006. Steady job growth and low mortgages drew more buyers into the market, causing both sales and prices to climb.

Americans bought roughly 5.26 million homes in 2015, a 6.5 percent increase over 2014. The median sales price rose 6.8 percent to $222,400.

The Realtors forecast that sales will stay flat in 2016 and that the median price will rise more than 4 percent. A price increase that big would compound a problem for many would-be buyers: A rising proportion of homes are unaffordable as home values rose last year at more than twice the rate of pay.

Herald Tribune January 22, 2016

Florida Housing Market Report – October

Florida Housing Market Report

Florida’s housing market reported higher median prices, fewer days on market and a constrained inventory of homes for sale in October, according to the latest housing data released by Florida Realtors®. Statewide closed sales of existing single-family homes rose last month with a total of 22,147, an increase of 1.2 percent over October 2014.

“October marked the 47^th consecutive month that statewide median sales prices increased year-over-year for both single-family homes and townhouse-condo properties,” said 2015 Florida Realtors President Andrew Barbar, a broker with Keller Williams Realty Services in Boca Raton. “Sellers received a higher percentage of their original list price, with single-family homes getting on average 94.3 percent and townhome-condos getting 93.3 percent. It also took less time for homes to sell in October: a median of 46 days for single-family homes and 50 days for townhouse-condos.

“The state’s housing market continues to benefit from more people moving to Florida, the increased job growth and stronger economy.”

The statewide median sales price for single-family existing homes last month was $198,995, up 12.4 percent from the previous year, according to data from Florida Realtors Industry Data and Analysis department in partnership with local Realtor boards/associations.
The statewide median price for townhouse-condo properties in August was $150,000, up 7.2 percent over the year-ago figure. The median is the midpoint; half the homes sold for more, half for less.

According to the National Association of Realtors®(NAR), the national median sales price for existing single-family homes in September 2015 was $223,500, up 6.6 percent from the previous year. The national median existing condo price was $209,200. In California, the statewide median sales price for single-family existing homes in September was $482,150; in Massachusetts, it was $340,500; in Maryland, it was $260,126; and in New York, it was $240,000.

Looking at Florida’s townhouse-condo market, statewide closed sales last month totaled 9,294, down 0.9 percent compared to October 2014. The closed sales data reflected fewer short sales in October: Short sales for townhouse-condo properties declined 47.7 percent while short sales for single-family homes dropped 33.1 percent. Closed sales typically occur 30 to 90 days after sales contracts are written.

“The Florida real estate market is catching its breath after a frantic summer and early fall,” said Florida Realtors Chief Economist Dr. John Tuccillo. “One month’s numbers do not make a trend, but the October numbers are signaling a return toward a more balanced market.”

Inventory remains constrained, with a 4.4-months’ supply in October for single-family homes and a 5.3-months’ supply for townhouse-condo properties, according to Florida Realtors. Most analysts consider a 6-month supply of inventory as the benchmark for a balanced market between buyers and sellers.

According to Freddie Mac, the interest rate for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 3.80 percent in October 2015, down from the 4.04 percent average recorded during the same month a year ago.

Florida Realtors® November 2015

The Balance of Success on Clearwater Beach

Balance of Success

About 15 years ago the city wrote policy designed to lure hotels and luxury resorts to the beach that was heavy with aging buildings and in need of an economic boost.

Clearwater is approaching a significant milestone in the beach’s history as a hotel density reserve created in 2008 has nearly run dry.

With intense redevelopment now accomplished, the next step should be better ways to handle the parking and traffic congestion that has followed, according to planning and development director Michael Delk.

“We’re at a point where we have to look at our transportation options,” Delk said.

Beach by Design required new hotels to provide parking for guests, but the city still struggles with accommodating the thousands of day-trippers who drive to the beach.

One parking solution in the works for nearly 15 years is the seven-story garage that broke ground last month on the north end’s Poinsettia Avenue. The structure is three stories higher than originally planned and will sit directly across from Day’s East Shore Resort, looming over bungalow homes and single-story structures.

William Selvidge, who retired to Clearwater Beach in 2010, sees the high rises and luxury resorts as benefits because development put everything within reach and created a walkable community.

For his move to Florida, Selvidge bought a convertible that has only 7,500 miles on it five years later. His only concern is congestion from what seems like a new development every day.

Buildings near the residential area are also getting bigger. Last month, the Community Development Board approved a complex of 22 three-bedroom units on a half-acre Avalon Street lot that was originally called Avalon Condos.

Beach By Design restricts condominiums in the district to 65 feet tall, but developers pitched the Avalon project instead as “resort attached dwellings,” a title that allows them to be used as residences or hotel rooms.

Promising the CDB they would reserve at least one unit at all times for a short-term rental, developers were granted the maximum height given to hotels of 75 feet.

Another north end project recently approved by the CDB is Somerset Vacation Townhomes, which will include 20 hotel rooms and a rooftop bar.

Charles Siemon, hired by the city from 1999 to 2001 to write Beach by Design, said redevelopment has been a balancing act of luring investment while maintaining quality of life for day trippers and residents.

But now that luxury hotels, restaurants, shopping and condos line the shore, Siemon said it may be time to re-evaluate whether the infrastructure has kept up.

“Success breeds success,” Siemon said. “The focus then was on getting something started. Now apparently there’s some perspective that they need to slow down.”

Siemon said Beach By Design called for parking strategies like city-run ferries, trolleys and shuttles to discourage cars on the island, but those alternatives have not materialized like he’d hoped.

To alleviate congestion, Siemon said the city could require more room between buildings, but limiting development once you’ve asked for it is tricky.

“You work like crazy to get people to invest, and when they do invest you tell them to slow down, so it’s not easy,” he said. “I think they should be going through the process of taking time to quickly analyze what’s good and what’s the bad and what’s the ugly. Fix the ugly. Promote the good and try to make it all work.”

TampaBay.com November 2015

Breathtaking Harbor Views – 400 Island Way

Take A Tour —

Starboard Tower
400 Island Way, #1511
Clearwater Beach, Florida

Stunning Views. Magnificent Location.

Breathtaking water views from the private balcony and from every room in this magnificent 15th floor 2 Bedroom, 2 Bath condo on Island Estates overlooking Clearwater and the ICW. Beautiful Kitchen offers Kitchen-Aid Stainless Steel Appliances- Built-in and Hardwood floors, custom Mahogany cabinets & custom lighting. Both baths offer custom granite and marble flooring and granite countertops. Don’t miss this well-appointed home. Amenities include a tropical heated pool, an over sized spa, Tiki huts, Grills, fitness room, billiard room, Locker rooms with shower & saunas. On-site daytime management & night security guard. Great location with shops, restaurants and easy access to Clearwater beach and the Gulf of Mexico…Sold “As Is” with right to inspect.

Florida Home to 1 in 4 U.S. International Sales

Profile International Home Buyers 2015

ORLANDO, Fla. – Oct. 9, 2015 – The National Association of Realtors^® (NAR)’ research division just released the Profile of International Home Buyers in Florida 2015 Report, which it creates in cooperation with Florida Realtors.

According to the latest report, international sales are not the exception in Florida, they’re simply a normal part of doing business: A majority of Florida Realtors members (69 percent) say they have international clients. Overall, one in four U.S. international sales take place in The Sunshine State.

For the survey, NAR looked only at clients who are “citizens of another country,” which includes:

Non-resident foreigners with permanent residences outside the U.S. who typically purchase property as an investment or vacations
Resident foreigners who immigrated within the last two years or who hold temporary visas that last longer than six months

Report overview

About 25 percent of foreign home buyers purchasing U.S. property buy in Florida
International unit sales totaled 44,000 properties
As a percentage, international sales made up 12 percent of Florida’s residential market (15 percent a year ago) compared to four percent nationally
The dollar volume of international sales: $23.7 billion
By dollar volume, international sales made up 24 percent of Florida sales (19 percent a year ago), compared to 8 percent nationally
69 percent of Florida’s Realtors have international clients (52 percent a year ago). The U.S. average: 35 percent
31 percent of Florida’s Realtors have more than five international clients (19 percent a year ago). The U.S. average: 15 percent
The latest report saw a significant spike in buyers from Latin America – 56 percent compared to 23 percent one year earlier
Approximately 50 percent of foreign buyers purchased in Miami-Miami Beach (36 percent) and Fort Lauderdale (14 percent)
The average price of property purchased by foreigners: $538,600 ($300,600 in 2014).
63 percent of Realtors said that clients found Florida properties less expensive than comparable ones in their home country (76 percent a year ago)
29 percent of Florida’s Realtors reported an increase in the percentage of their international business (45 percent a year ago). The U.S. average: 13 percent

The complete Profile of International Home Buyers in Florida 2015 Report can be downloaded at Florida Realtors’ website

The survey of Florida Realtors members took place July 7-Aug. 9, 2015; 1,203 Realtors provided information on their client interaction during the 12 months ended June 2015, and on the characteristics of their most recent sale during this period.

Florida Realtors 10/2015