A home for sale in Islamorada

The total number of sales and the average sales price both dropped by 5 percent in the first quarter compared to the same period in 2011, according to a report from Marathon-based Coldwell Banker Schmitt. There were a total of 497 home sales in the first quarter, which still represented the second-highest total in the Keys in a first quarter since 2006. The average sales price in the area fell to $379,000. The Middle Keys, from the 7 Mile Bridge to Long Key, did show strength, however, with an 8 percent increase in sales, despite flat pricing. There are now 19 months of inventory remaining in the Keys, according to the report. — Alexander Britell

The Jills

Coldwell Banker Residential Real Estate’s The Jills, led by Jill Eber and Jill Hertzberg in Miami Beach, closed $80 million in transactions in the first quarter of 2012, the company announced. “The Jills provide an exceptional real estate experience to their customers through their professionalism and hard work,” said Clark Toole, president of Coldwell Banker Residential Real Estate Florida. The total was led by the $19.2 million sale of 9 Indian Creek Drive in Indian Creek Village, a vacant lot sold by Calvin Klein Chairman Barry Schwartz in March. [more]

Terri Bersach has been elected as the District 4 president of Florida Realtors. Bersach, managing broker of Coldwell Banker Residential Real Estate in Weston, has previously served as the president of the Broward Board of Governors of the Miami Association of Realtors. District 4 covers Miami-Dade County and the Florida Keys. Bersach, who has been in real estate since 2004, has already been installed in the position in Orlando. — Alexander Britell

Are open houses as effective as they used to be, or are they merely used to make sellers feel better? Agents say that it’s the former, one of a number of broker secrets divulged in a piece in Reader’s Digest. “It does give the seller some exposure, but the real motivation for a Realtor wanting to do them is to pick up clients,” said Terry Story of Coldwell Banker in Boca Raton. [Sun Sentinel]

Coral Gables is the most expensive college town in Florida, with an average home listing price of $521,767, far above the next-highest town, Boca Raton, according to a report from Coldwell Banker. The city is also the 11th-most-expensive college town in the country. Boca Raton, the site of Florida Atlantic University, has an average home listing price of $322,662, which is followed by the Miami area around Florida International University, which is at $246,431. — Alexander Britell 1 Comment

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Realogy’s net revenue for the third quarter was $1.2 billion, an increase of 10 percent from third quarter of 2010, the company announced today, largely due to an increase in transaction volume at the company’s franchises, which include the Corcoran Group, Citi Habitats, Coldwell Banker and Sotheby’s International Realty.

“Despite difficult macro-economic issues, our third quarter produced 10 percent revenue growth before restructuring and other items,” said Richard Smith, Realogy’s president and CEO. “Given the macroeconomic headwinds facing the housing market, our operating performance has shown resilience. We believe we are substantially advantaged with our leaner, highly variable cost model, a capital structure that includes $2.1 billion of convertible debt and the continued support of our largest investors.”
– Katherine Clarke [more]

If the national real estate market behaved as Coldwell Banker brokers say their baby boomer clients do, a recovery would be in full force.

According to a survey of 1,333 agents conducted by the national brokerage and released today, 87 percent of Coldwell Banker agents reported having at least one baby boomer client who owns or is looking to own a second investment property. Twenty-two percent of respondents said at least half of their clients in the demographic own or covet such a property.

“Our survey clearly indicates that those boomers who are financially secure are actively seeking to buy their retirement home, or a second home, and they are taking advantage of the opportunities and value available in today’s market,” said Coldwell Banker CEO Jim Gillespie. – Adam Fusfeld
[more]

From left: Judy Zeder of Esslinger-Wooten-Maxwell Realty, Jill Eber and Jill Hertzberg of Coldwell Banker and Alicia Cervera LaMadrid of Cervera Real Estate

The Miami Herald named the top 10 South Florida real estate power brokers today, based on sales performance, innovation, accolades and market influence.

The list includes Alicia Cervera LaMadrid, managing partner at Cervera Real Estate, who was named top condominium broker by the Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce, the chamber’s top single-family home sales agent Judy Zeder of Esslinger-Wooten-Maxwell Realty and Jose Fente of Tropical Realty. Fente was the only South Florida broker to crack the 2011 Wall Street Journal Top 1,000 list in two separate categories. [more]

David Stevens, chief executive of the Mortgage Bankers Association,
and Richard Smith, CEO of Realogy

Housing market experts remain divided over the Obama administration’s proposal yesterday to sell government-owned foreclosed properties and convert them to rentals. The administration’s suggestion would involve teaming up with private-sector partners, who may be willing to purchase pools of similar properties for conversion, in order to clear the foreclosure backlog and meet increasing demand for rental units. Yesterday’s request for information by the government, was primarily aimed at potential investors, the Journal said.
Solutions that rely on investors to clear the overhang of foreclosures have “extraordinary value,” said David Stevens, chief executive of the Mortgage Bankers Association, who previously served as the commissioner of the Federal Housin [more]

German real estate firm Engel & Voelkers, which entered the Miami market in 2009, has announced plans to expand with three more branches in the area. The three new branches will open in Pinecrest, Coral Gables and Coconut Grove. They will bring the firm’s total Miami office count to seven. “It was our intention, from the acquisition of the franchises back in 2009, to expand south,” said Phillip Yaffa, a licensed partner of Engel and Voelkers in Miami, who is leading the expansion with fellow partner Jose Luis Bueno. [more]