Port Saint Lucie Ranked as #3 in Best Cities to Retire in Florida

Port Saint Lucie Ranked as #3 in Best Cities to Retire in Florida

According to the US News report dated December 3rd, 2019, Port Saint Lucie is ranked as the 3rd best place to retire in Florida. The following list of the recent awards and accomplishments of Port St Lucie may help to better understand the reason for this popularity:

Beaches of St Lucie County

Port St Lucie activities

• Port Saint Lucie as a Safe City – According to Realtor.com, the city of Port Saint Lucie is ranked #3 as the safest city in the US. https://www.realtor.com/news/trends/10-safest-affordable-us-cities-where-youd-actually-like-to-live/
• Dynamic City and Urban Center – Point2Homes have ranked Port Stain Lucie as #2 among the small cities in the US as the most dynamic. Also, the same source has given Port Saint Lucie the #15 ranking in comparison to all cities in the nation.
https://www.point2homes.com/news/us-real-estate-news/americas-dynamic-urban-centers-150-u-s-cities-ranked.html
• Best City to Retire – Port Saint Lucie has been ranked as #5 for the Best Cities to Retire by US News.
https://www.usnews.com/info/blogs/press-room/articles/2019-10-08/us-news-unveils-the-2020-best-places-to-retire
Retiring in Florida has been the cliche for many decades with over 900 people making it a reality every single day. There has never been any doubt about the Sunshine State’s popularity with retirees and non-retirees. However, the dilemma for the future residents has been deciding on what part of Florida to move to. Coastal Florida has been a top choice for many years until the baby boomers reached the retirement age and start changing the norm, as they have been doing it all their lives.

The rise of the Villages, The Tradition, and Margaritaville communities that are located away from the coastline is a perfect example of the change. This has also had an immense impact on the growth of some cities offering close proximity to the coastlines without the housing and insurance costs associated with living by the ocean.
Port Saint Lucie, FL has been quietly leading the rest of the State as a near-coast city with the highest rate of growth during the last two decades. According to the census bureau, the population of Saint Lucie county was 89,155 in 2000 and 193.400. This is while the same source reports Port Saint Lucie population for 2017 at 189,344 and St Lucie County at 313,506 a whopping 100.12% increase in 17 years.
There are many reasons for such an increase in population for a city known for keeping a low profile to become the 7th largest city in Florida in a short time. The close proximity to the wonderful beaches of the Atlantic Ocean, low housing expenses, and safety are a few reasons to mention for the increase in the migration to Port St Lucie and the Treasure Coast area.

Retiring in Port St Lucie

Beaches in St Lucie County

Best Homes in Best City at Best Prices in Poet St Lucie

I have been living in South Florida for over 40 years and it took me 33 years to find the city which offers the best lifestyle and home prices at the same time! Port Saint Lucie, FL has been my home since 2102 and the only regret I have is why I didn’t make the move earlier. Being involved in the real estate industry for 19 years has afforded me the ability to appreciate and recognize good real estate opportunities with future appreciation, and Port Saint Lucie offers both. I have worked in the real estate markets in Miami/Dade, Broward, and Palm Beach Counties and appreciate the unparalleled values we offer in Port Saint Lucie and the Treasure Coast area. The price difference for some areas could be higher than 50% to 75% when compared to home values in Port St Lucie. The great housing values combined with an amazing lifestyle, safety, and a short driving distance to the famous beaches of Hutchinson Island and Jensen beach have resulted in the popularity of Port Saint Lucie.

Port St Lucie Real Estate Market Report 2020

Port St Lucie Real Estate Market Report 2020

St Lucie County Real Estate Report January 2020

The report contains the local real estate activities for the homes sold by Realtors® and homes sold by owners are not a part of this report. The Florida Association of Florida, FAR,  shows the continuation of the established trend of rising prices.  Although there is an increase of 4.2% on average home prices the area still offers some of the best bargains when compared to other nearby counties. This has brought an influx of homebuyers from southern counties to Port St Lucie and Tradition area.

St Lucie Real Estate Market

St Lucie Real Estate Market January 2020

The most notable changes for single-family homes in the St Lucie County real estate are:

  • Median Price- Rose to $230,000 in January of 2020 from $220,644 in the same period in 2019, a 4.2% increase.
  • Average Days on Market- Drop to only 45 days in comparison to 54 days in January of the last year. This is a clear indication of low inventory and high demand, which in turn fuels the rising prices.
  • Inventory- The total inventory for single-family homes for sale in St Lucie Country is only 3.9 months in comparison to 4.8 months in January 2019. Considering the shortage of inventory of homes for sale in 2020, a drop of 18.8% representing a bustling sellers’ market. This is in addition to the construction of the new homes which home builders have been adding to the inventory.  Ultimately, with the continuous shortage of inventory, the higher prices are inevitable. The problem for surrounding counties is more severe as some like Palm Beach County has reached the boiling point of maxed out prices much earlier in 2014.

Overall the Port St Lucie real estate report for January 2020 indicates a stronger seller’s market which combined with anxious buyers has resulted in some listings ending up in the multiple offer situation.  This is a reminder of how the market went crazy in the last decade’s real estate boom.  Multiple offers, price war, anxious buyers trying to buy before prices increase even higher while sellers holding back in the hope of cashing out even more in tomorrow’s market.  With Port St Lucie real estate prices being lower than the neighboring counties the market is destined to stay active attracting buyers from other areas who can no longer afford their local real estate.

 

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Florida Supreme Court Ruling on Foreclosure

Florida Supreme Court Ruling on Foreclosure

Florida Foreclosure Homes

Foreclosure Homes Port St Lucie

Foreclosure News

​Florida Supreme Court’s latest ruling is destined to influence the Florida foreclosure homes and real estate market. The Court’s bank-friendly ruling on Bartram v. US Bank National Association has made many lenders happy while creating a new sense of uncertainty for homeowners.  The ruling allows lenders to simply circumvent the statute of limitations rules set by the State and refile on some dismissed cases from years back.  In the past, the banks had 5 years to foreclose on homeowners who defaulted on their mortgages but the new ruling is giving another lifeline to the lenders to refile the foreclosure process on the delinquent homeowners.  This is regardless of the possibility that the cases began over five years ago, passing the statute of limitations.

Although, it is difficult to predict the exact effects of this ruling on the number of the new Florida foreclosure homes, but experts believe the outcome could introduce noticeable new cases to the courts.  The spokesman for the Florida Supreme Court has pointed to the possibility of only a minimal increase in the number of the foreclosure filings, while the real estate experts think otherwise.  Most real estate attorneys and other professionals think the Bartram ruling will eventually result in a massive increase in foreclosed homes through refilling of the old cases by the lenders.

The problem started in aftermath of the 2006 real estate crash, which resulted in the hundreds of thousands of delinquent mortgages.  Banks struggled to process the unexpected workload caused by the widespread number of unpaid loans.  Since lenders weren’t prepared to face such a huge problems, the cases dragged out and some thrown out of courts.  After the 5 years of the statute of limitations expired, the delinquent cases fell into a black hole of uncertainty.  The homeowners occupied their homes, most without making their mortgage payments and banks could not refile the dismissed cases because of the statute of limitations.

Effects of The Supreme Court Ruling on Florida Real Estate Market

In our opinion, since the Florida real estate market facing a constant shortage of inventory, the Florida Supreme Court ruling and its aftermath will not have any negative effects but perhaps it will even help the market.   Most of Florida real estate markets have been facing rising prices and lack of homes for sale, creating a solid sellers’ market.  Adding foreclosed properties will only fuel the market and bring more buyers to the State.  The number of the new inventory is unpredictable at this time pending the lenders’ position on modifying the loans and homeowners ability on repaying the unpaid balance.  So far, the signals from lenders indicate their willingness to negotiate instead of going through the costly and time-consuming foreclosure process.  But, it is very difficult to predict what the homeowners will do since each has their own financial challenges and cannot be analyzed as a group.  Our understanding is that the lenders, due to the statute of limitations, could only demand the unpaid balance of the last 5 years, which could be beneficial for homeowners whose foreclosure cases were dismissed prior to 2011.  The question remains if those homeowners will be able to pay the delinquent amount even if a big chunk is dismissed.

The number of the new inventory is unpredictable at this time pending the lenders’ position on modifying the loans as well as the homeowners’ ability on repaying the unpaid balance.  So far, the signals from the lenders indicate their willingness to negotiate instead of going through the costly and time-consuming foreclosure process.  But, it is very difficult to predict what the homeowners will do since each person faces their own financial challenges and cannot be analyzed as a group.  Our understanding is that the lenders could only demand the unpaid balance of the last 5 years, due to the statute of limitations, which could be beneficial for homeowners whose foreclosure cases were dismissed prior to 2011.  The question remains if those homeowners will be able to pay the delinquent amount even if a big chunk is dismissed.

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Port St Lucie Market Report

Why Port St Lucie Real Estate?

Hillmore Park Port St Lucie

Walk nature parks in Port St Lucie

​Port St Lucie is known as a city which resonates “Old Florida”.  The area beaches are considered some of the finest in Florida and remain environmentally friendly with minimal urban condo sprawl.  The beauty in Port St Lucie in part is the natural landscape.  Unlike so many Florida cities that have been stripped of their natural habitat in the aftermath of the housing developments, the development of the City has not resulted in the removal of the trees, shrubbery, and wildlife.  Not only is the City beautiful it is also continually recognized and awarded for outstanding management, budget, and safety.  The City of Port St Lucie Office of Management and Budget including the Finance Department was awarded by different associations nationally for excellence for the last 20+ consecutive years.  The Florida Department of Law Enforcement has rated Port St. Lucie as having the lowest crime rate in Florida for a city with a population of 100,000  for the past 11 consecutive years.  Environmentally friendly, well budgeted, and low crime rate to make the City of Port St Lucie a desirable place to call home.  It is no wonder it is one of the most sought-after housing markets in the US for 2015.

 Based on Statistics released in the first quarter of 2015 from the National Association of Realtors the following companies have named Port St Lucie as the 2nd hottest housing market in the US.

  1. Investors Daily Business – Named Port St Lucie 2nd Hottest Housing Market
  2. Wall Street Journal – Listed the City of Port St Lucie as one of the Top 10 Metro areas

Contact Hamid Hakimi Port St Lucie Realtor for Custom Property List:

Email: info@portstlucie.city

Phone: (772) 323-6730

Port St Lucie Market Report

In the aftermath of the real estate crash of 2007 the Port St Lucie home prices dropped to the lowest in the region, while new construction projects halted to become ghost projects.  The recovery prove to be slow and difficult but it eventually improved toward 2012 and became noticeable by 2013 and never looked back from that point on.  The upward trend has been steady and continuous attracting many out of area buyers to Port St Lucie real estate opportunities, which with today’s higher prices are still lower than the neighboring counties like Martin County and Palm Beach County.   The following monthly or quarterly reports published by the Florida Association of Realtors, FAR are the best indicators of the market trend in Port St Lucie real estate.

Port St Lucie Market Report June 2015

Port St Lucie Market Report First Quarter 2015

Port St Lucie Market Report Third Quarter 2015

 

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St Lucie County Home Buyers

St Lucie County Home Buyers

St Lucie County Home Sales Report

Homes for Sale in Port St LucieThe new report for St Lucie County Home Sales Report for November 2015 is released and there are few changes when compared to the same period last year.  The first important statistic belongs to the median price homes for sale in St Lucie County.  With home prices on the rise, there is no major surprise in the median prices jumping from $139,900 to $155,000.  Actually, this is lower than some of the previous months when the median prices were above $160,000.  Although the 38.3% increase for November is very significant but the overall prices of homes for sale in the county and especially in Port St Lucie are still below the average prices in the neighboring Martin County, Indian River County, and Palm Beach County.  The lower prices in great communities have prompted many home buyers of these Counties to join the home buyers in Port St Lucie to purchase homes before the prices go up even further.

The second number in the report is the Number of Days on the Market statistics.  This number along with the active inventory are the main indicators of the type of market we are currently experiencing.  The low numbers representing the Sellers Market while the high numbers is an indication of the Buyers Market.  For a balanced market, we expect the Days on the Market to be between 60 to 90 days and an inventory of 6 months.  The Number of Days on the Market for the November report is 29 days versus the 47 days in the previous year.  The inventory of the available homes for sale in St Lucie County, on the other hand, has stayed the same for 3.7 months.  Both of these numbers are well below the numbers in what is considered as a normal real estate market, a perfect portrait of a seller’s market.  We can expect higher prices in upcoming months, based on these two statistics alone.  The only break for slowing down this trend is an increased interest rate, which is destined to rise by the Federal Reserve.  If the increased interest rate is not substantial we might witness the continuation of the seller market for rest of the year till either the interest rate or higher home prices become obstacles in obtaining mortgage loans for home buyers.

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2015 Sold Home Report St Lucie County

2015 Sold Home Report St Lucie County

The report on local real estate activities by Realtors®

St Lucie County Real Estate Report Q3, 2015

Port St Lucie Real Estate Market ReportAssociation of the Palm Beaches (RAPB) shows the continuation of the established trend of rising prices. The most notable changes for single family homes in the St Lucie County real estate are:

  • Median Price- Rose to $167,000 in the 3rd quarter of 2015 from $137,000 in the same period in 2014, a whopping 16.8% increase in one year.
  • Average Days on Market- Drop to only 26 days in comparison to 49 days in the 3rd quarter of last year. This is a clear indication of low inventory and high demand, which in turn fuels the rising prices.
  • Inventory- Considering the shortage of inventory of homes for sale in 2014, the drop of 14.7% in inventory represents an even bigger problem. With home builders struggling to add to the inventory and continuous shortage of inventory the higher prices are inevitable. The problem for surrounding counties is more severe as some like Palm Beach County has reached the boiling point of maxed out prices much earlier in 2014.

Overall the Port St Lucie real estate report for 2015 indicates a stronger seller’s market which combined with anxious buyers has resulted in listings ending up in the multiple offer situation.  This is a reminder of how the market went crazy in last decade real estate boom.  Multiple offers, price war, anxious buyers trying to buy before prices increase even higher while sellers holding back in the hope of cashing out even more in tomorrow’s market.  Unless the new home construction catches up with the shortage of inventory, the rise in interest rate seems to be the only unfortunate remedy for slowing down the train before the wreckage arrives like it did only a few years back.

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Real Estate and Economic Recovery

Real Estate and Economic Recovery

Economic_Real_Estate_RecoveryApproaching Economic Recovery  

Although the signs of the economic recovery are appearing in almost every sector of the economy, but the good news is that instead of talking about gloomy days of recession and depression, we are finally talking real estate economic recovery.
 
1) The number of notices sent out to homeowners in default in their mortgage payments in May 2015, was the lowest since 2006.
 
2) The sales of existing new homes have increased for 9 straight months in June 2015, for a total of 9.6% increase in when compared to the same time last year.
 
Although there are other positive signs in different sectors of the economy and we are following a cautious path toward recovery, but some factors still dampen the optimism of a recovery.  While the decrease in both default notices and foreclosure filings by are welcoming news but these numbers do not portray the reality of the real estate market.  The fiasco of hew year ago, with Robo-signing and other mishaps by the lenders, has forced a major overhaul in the foreclosure process, which in turn has delayed some of the new filings.  There is no actual data of how many foreclosures have been delayed because of the Robo-signing but the following data by Realtor Magazine might shed some light as to where the real estate and construction industry are heading: 

States with the Most Foreclosures 

  1. Florida
  2. New Jersey
  3. Tennessee
  4. Maryland
  5. Nevada
  6. New Mexico
  7. Ohio
  8. Illinois
  9. Indiana
  10. South Carolina

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Under Contract Homes Increase in May

Under Contract Homes Increase in May

Homes_under_ContractMore Homes Under Contract in May 

The number of Pending Home Sales, or homes under contract, rose by 0.9% in May 2015 compared to the month of April and 10.4% compared to the May of 2014.  Pending Homes Sales (PHS) is considered as an important guide in analysing the current market activities and strength.  Since Pending Home Sales is an indication of future completed sales, in next 1 to 2 months, it is also used to forecast the home sales status in near future.
 
According to July 22, 2015, article by National Association of Realtors, NAR, the sales of the existing homes witnessed the highest paste in June 2015 over the previous 8 years.  The report indicates the highest pace in sale of existing homes in 2007 of 53.9 million  homes while 5.1 million homes were sold in June 2015.
 
Following our series of previously published articles on market conditions, we will examine the recent “Pending Sale” statistics in this segment. The pending sales represent the number of homes that are under contract and have not closed yet.  The higher number of Pending-Sale is an indication of a good sign of positive momentum that the real estate market is enjoying these days.  As previously discussed, one of the biggest hurdle on the way to a healthy real estate market has been the number of foreclosed properties.  These properties need to be taken out of the market in order to reach any normalcy in the future real estate and construction sectors.  
 
The upward trend in pending sales started in June of 2010, which perhaps coins that date as when the market hit the rock bottom and the start of a steady increase in home prices.  The increase in sales contracts and home sales are great signs that we could finally see the lights at the end of the foreclosure era tunnel.  To witness further improvement the   under-priced foreclosed properties needs to be out of the inventory before we could see any sign of new construction.
 
With the recent increase in the number of the permits for new home construction, only hurdle standing in the way of recovery is the lenders who are still sitting on thousands of delinquent and foreclosed files.  The fiasco of last year’s mishandling of these files has caused delays in the submission of delinquency notices to homeowners and subsequent foreclosure process. The banks and other lending institutions should move to get the remaining foreclosure properties into the market as soon as possible.  Furthermore, they need to ease up the lending process for the new home buyers that they could pick these properties up from the real estate market. 
 
Perhaps it is the time for these banks to help to rebuild the real estate market that they have so mercilessly destroyed.

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Drop in Foreclosure Filings

Drop in Foreclosure Filings

foreclosure filings Port St LucieForeclosure Filings Drops  

 The foreclosure rate dropped to approximately 18% in 2014 compared to the total number of the foreclosure homes in 2013 and also down 61% from the peak of foreclosure filings in 2010.  The  foreclosure rates have been on a steady decline for the past few years.  The slowdown in the foreclosure filings along with the increase in the number of sold homes is great news for the construction industry.  During the past four years, this sector has not been able to compete with the massive umber of lower-priced foreclosed homes that made the construction of new homes economically unfeasible.
Reducing the number of foreclosure properties from the inventory will help to kickstart the construction of new homes.  This in turn, will have a great effect in the creation of more jobs and stimulating the US economy.  As predicted in our recent articles the new home construction should end the slump by the end of 2011 and begin the new era for the construction industry in 2012.
For all these reasons, we have jump-started our efforts in resuming our services of pre-construction investment to offer unparalleled opportunities to the developers and pre-construction investors and home buyers.

The month of July 2010 was the 10th straight month that the foreclosure filings dropped to the lowest level since November 2007.  According to CNN Money, July filings fell by 35% compared to the same month in 2009.  The slowdown in the foreclosure filings along with the increase in the number of sold homes is great news for the construction industry.  During the past four years, this sector has not been able to compete with the massive umber of lower-priced foreclosed homes that made the construction of new homes economically unfeasible.

Reducing the number of foreclosure properties from the inventory will help to kickstart the construction of new homes.  This in turn, will have a great effect in the creation of more jobs and stimulating the US economy.  As predicted in our recent articles the new home construction should end the slump by the end of 2011 and begin the new era for the construction industry in 2012.

For all these reasons, we have jump-started our efforts in resuming our services of pre-construction investment to offer unparalleled opportunities to the developers and pre-construction home purchasers.

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