HOPE for Homeowners, a new program introduced by HUD this week could help homeowners prevent foreclosure. The program calls for the lender of an existing subprime mortgage to forgive a portion of the debt similar to a short sale, however instead of foreclosing on the homeowner the balance of the loan is rolled into a fixed-rate FHA mortgage.

While overall sales in Palm Beach have slowed, one area seemingly less affected have been the luxury homes and condos.

In the last three months several of our biggest sales were

•  820 W Ocean Ave sold for over 21 million
• 159 Via Del Lago sold for over 11 million
• 1428 S Ocean Blvd sold for over 10 million
• 231 Coral Lake sold for over 6 million
• 642 N County Road sold for over 4 million
• 232 Sandpiper Dr. sold for over 4 million
• 1006 Adam Rd. Sold for over 3 million
• 19647 Riverside Dr. sold for over 3 million
• 351 Bald Eagle Dr. sold for over 3 million
• 151 Seaview Ave sold for 3 million

When looking for a new home, many people are tempted to go it alone.  This usually ends up being quite a daunting task, even for the most tenacious and focused homebuyer.  Here are 10 ways that having a Realtor on your side can help:

1. Realtors research desirable neighborhoods and can relay important information to homebuyers such as home values in the area, amount of taxes paid and zoning restrictions.
2. Realtors can help find financing, prequalify you for a loan and can refer you to home inspection companies.
3. With knowledge about the way other homes in the area are selling, a Realtor can help determine a fair buying price.
4. A Realtor can suggest changes to make to the home to make you more comfortable and to make it a better investment, should you need to sell it in the near future.
5. Realtors can handle many of the tedious tasks – such as paperwork – for you, saving you time and energy.
6. A Realtor usually goes to the closing with you, giving you peace of mind that if an issue should come up, it will be taken care of effectively.
7. Realtors must abide by a code of ethics, treating everyone involved in the transaction fairly and equally.
8. A Realtor has the tools and ability to find the best suited home for you in the most affordable price range.
9. Simply put, a Realtor has the professional experience to put in the time and effort and do the job right.
10. A Realtor’s services are usually free to a buyer – commission is normally paid by the seller.

Despite the continued housing market hardships, Palm Beach real estate continues to provide unprecedented buying opportunities for intrepid and financially savvy buyers.  As everyone knows sellers are also quite willing to negotiate on price, sometimes resulting in over $45,000 dollars in savings on purchases of Palm Beach homes.

Obviously the continued news of dwindling home prices is not favorable.  But like many real estate experts have predicted, the glut of unsold Palm Beach real estate sitting quietly on the market awaiting buyers is finally beginning to come down for once as the year has progressed leading many to believe that the Palm Beach real estate market and--South Florida real estate market for that matter--are slowly approaching the bottom.  While there is still more than a year’s worth of Palm Beach condos and Palm Beach homes up for sale, the actual number has decreased considerably, brining it closer to two years.

Does this signal an impending real estate market renaissance for Palm Beach?  That’s still too early to say and for the time being there is still twice as many homeowners attempting to sell off their property than there is people wanting to buy them.  However, as was mentioned, the actual number of homes up for sale is considerably less than the figures of early 2008.

Most people will agree that a true market recovery will not be happening anytime soon since the country is still grappling and figuring out how to deal with the fallout of the poor lending practices that lead to the market collapse in the first place.  However, many realtors and followers of the housing market are looking at these recent decreases in inventory with a grain of salt and plenty of cautious optimism.  During a time when the market’s future is still uncertain and could potentially improve or get worse, any positive news is certainly welcome.

Over the summer, both Bruce Springsteen and Rep. Mark Foley bought homes in Palm Beach County.

The Boss purchased a 5 bedroom, 6 bath, 7,800 square foot home in Equestrian Club Estates in Wellington for a purchase price of $3.1 million.  According to reports, Springsteen’s daughter Jessica is interested in equestrian activities – all the better since their next door neighbor is Mark Bellissimo, owner of a show jumping stadium.

Rep. Foley, on the other hand, purchased a 1,000 square foot condo at One City Plaza in downtown West Palm Beach.  Foley paid $160,000 for the condo, which has been assessed at $214,000 and previously sold for $279,000 in 2006.