Notes From the Palm Beach Housing Market

In its running housing blog, the Palm Beach Post has an interesting tidbit concerning the sluggish Florda real estate market has become: some agents are only accepting 12-month listing agreements.

Six months is the typical term for a listing agreement, the contract signed between seller an agent. But with buyers skittish, inventory still growing and days on the market expanding, some are requiring sellers to give them more time to move a house.

Soaring property tax bills and insurance premiums (on top of staggering housing prices) are killing the Palm Beach housing market. Despite the fact that interest rates have declined by nearly half a point since June, Florida mortgage costs are still too high for many prospective buyers to handle.

Also in the Post, DiVosta was rated highest in customer satisfaction among home builders in Palm Beach County and the Treasure Coast.

According to a J.D. Power and Associates survey, Minto Builders and G.L. Homes ranked second and third in a survey of home builders who sold at least 150 homes last year in 34 of the largest markets in the country.

Despite the good scores of some builders, buyers in Palm Beach, Martin and St. Lucie counties, which made up one market in the survey, experienced an average of 15 problems with new homes, one more than the U.S. average.

The most frequent problems faced by local home buyers involved landscaping, the quality of kitchen cabinets, and cracks in sidewalks, driveways and foundations. More than 90 percent of all local buyers surveyed reported at least one construction problem.

The local average satisfaction index score was 102, which is 10 points below the 34-market average — and five points lower than last year’s local satisfaction index score of 107. Local builders’ index scores ranged from DiVosta’s high of 140 to Ansca’s low of 53.

After the top three Florida builders were, in order: 4. Centex, 109; 5. Kenco Communities, 97; 6. Renar Fine Homes, 86; 7. Levitt, 82; 8. Kolter, 81; 9. D.R. Horton, 75. The top builders nationwide were Pulte Homes and Centex Homes. Pulte, including its DiVosta and Del Webb brands, ranked highest in 14 markets in the survey, while Centex ranked highest in 13 markets.