Florida Home Loan Brokers Pinched by Housing Market Decline

Last year, the Tampa Bay housing market experienced record-breaking home sales.

This year? Sales have dropped by a third.

As the demand for Florida home loans - and the overall real estate industry - weaken around the state and nation, evidence was on display at the Tampa Convention Center, where the Florida Association of Mortgage Brokers held its annual trade show.

Last Friday, the first day of the trade show, one exhibitor, Eagle Title, issued a common refrain: The company’s nine Florida offices closed about 600 home sales a month last year. This year it’s down to 150 a month.

A change in the housing market

Cammie Aucoin of AmPro Mortgage in Tampa said the latest trend in the industry is for people to dump their adjustable-rate Florida home loans in favor of fixed-rate mortgages. Anything to drum up more business.

“It’s not like it was. You sell what you have to sell,” Aucoin said. “Everything peaked out in November and December.”

The 375 exhibitors at the show were well-equipped with gimmicks and incentives to keep the Florida home loan applications rolling in. For example, Flick Mortgage Investors brought a steel drum-playing, dreadlocked reggae singer. Women in bikinis handed out literature. Even former NFL player, William “Refrigerator” Perry was there.

Over the last few years, the Florida real estate boom created hordes of new mortgage brokers. The number of license holders grew from 28,140 in 2000 to 67,266 in 2006, according to the Florida Office of Financial Regulation. Only a fraction make a living in the field, however.

Unfortunately, a few of these professionals aren’t in this for the long run. They try charging thousands for a Florida home loan in order to make a quick killing.

Which is rarely taking place for anyone so far in 2006. The Florida Association of Realtors reported a 35 percent dip in the sales of existing homes and condominiums from May 2005 to May 2006. Part of the reason for this decline would be the increasing home values around Tampa and other cities.

Rising Florida home loan rates catch most of the blame for the downturn, but brokers such as Rob Talley of Greenpoint Mortgage in Tampa insist the current 6.5 percent is a bargain … if anyone’s listening. Those seeking a Florida mortgage loan just need to speak with those inside the field and understand what it will take to be approved for an affordable deal.