Tighter Lending Makes it even harder....

Ok...when is it going to end? Just today we were barely scraping by to get a wonderful gulf front condo to close. That's right...lending is getting tighter and tighter. It's enough to drive us all crazy right! Well, it's everywhere. Take a look at the article below that sheds a little more light on what we are seeing. We are continuing to get people to upload their stories to www.InvestSmarter.com so we can share information with one another. Let us know what you are seeing about things like this:

Daily Real Estate News June 23, 2008

Tighter Lending Stalls Housing Recovery

Rising foreclosures and tightening credit standards are making it more difficult for the housing market to recover from the current downturn than it has been for the market to rebound from previous slowdowns, according to a Harvard University study."Historically, housing markets recover only after the economy has entered a recession and a combination of falling mortgage interest rates and house prices have improved housing affordability," Nicolas P. Retsinas, director of the Joint Center for Housing Studies at Harvard, said in a statement."It will take longer this time to rebound given the unusually high levels of foreclosures and constrained credit markets," he said. "The slump in housing markets has not yet run its full course."The center predicted that income growth over the next 10 years would be constrained, reducing demand for homes. Much of employment growth will be in part-time and low-wage positions, the study said."The somber conclusion is that if the economy slips into recession or job losses keep racking up, household growth and homeownership demand could fall even more," the center said in the release.Source: Reuters News, Lynn Adler (06/23/2008)

For more information on condos for sale in Panama City and Panama City Beach Florida visit www.panama-city-beach-florida-condominiums.com for what's hot in this ever changing market!

Panama City Beach Condo Blog Launched and New Tax Credit for Buyers

The Panama City Beach Condo market keeps us all on our toes and wondering about what the future might hold. There are so many options and such diversity in price points it can be a little overwhelming. That being said, there are valuable resources for analyzing condominiums in Panama City Beach these days. The most important aspect of any business decision, yes real estate should be considered a business decision, is open communication and knowledge of the property type. We have set up this Panama City Beach Condo blog to hopefully take care of one part of that point and keep communication open and follow with what is going on in this ever changing market. One new piece of information is the new Tax Credit that Congress thinks will get buyers "Off the Fence." We think a little differently, but welcome everyone's comments when it comes to this new proposal:

Daily Real Estate News June 6, 2008

Tax Credit Would Get Buyers Off Fence

A temporary tax credit would be the best incentive to move hesitant home buyers into the market, the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® told Congress on Thursday. NAR said the tactic has been successful before; A 1975 temporary tax credit helped to “clear an over-supply of newly constructed homes during an economic downturn.”“We urge Congress to move quickly to conference and final passage of this tax incentive,” said Jim Helsel, NAR treasurer and a partner in RSR, REALTORS®, in Lemoyne, Penn. “Failure to act quickly could further stall the housing market, hurting many of our members, who are predominantly small businesses owners and self-employed individuals.” Testifying for NAR before the House Committee on Small Business, Helsel said there are “three critical features for an optimal home buyer tax credit.”

The credit should apply to all residential real estate — not solely foreclosed properties.

It should be temporary and only apply for a short period of time.

It should provide higher income limits than those the House has imposed, particularly for single individuals. “If these measures are put in place, many individuals who are sitting on the fence will take steps to buy a home. This would not only help homeowners, buyers and sellers, but also it could expand activity as individuals furnish, paint and improve their homes. This would help boost the nation’s economy,” Helsel said.NAR also discussed the importance of updating the “passive loss” rules that were enacted in 1986 to bring small investors back to real estate. The passive loss rules were not indexed for inflation, making the tax incentive irrelevant in most cases, Helsel said.— NAR

Now this could potentially apply to condominiums also, it really will completely be determined on how it is written and how lenders view condominiums not only in the Panama City Beach Condo market, but across the nation. For more information or your feedback please help us help everyone keep communication lines open on the Panama City Beach Condo front!