Online Real Estate Investment

After years of decline, housing prices are expected to stabilize or even increase in some parts of the Bay Area this year, according to a new forecast.

Stabilizing prices are a sign of a healthier market, even though homebuyers still face challenges — tight credit, not many homes for sale and competition from investors paying cash.

In a report to be released Monday, Clear Capital, a real estate valuations company in Truckee, predicts that prices will remain almost flat this year — compared with a 4.7 percent drop in 2011 — in the San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont metropolitan area, including Contra Costa County.

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How big a whack did your credit score take during the grim years of economic distress following the housing bust? Was it 20 points, 50 points, 100 points — or maybe no drop at all?

These are key questions affecting millions of potential home buyers who hope to qualify for mortgages as well as current owners looking to refinance. New research from a major credit-risk evaluation company suggests that the drop in huge numbers of Americans’ scores was dramatic.

FICO , which developed and markets the eponymous score that dominates the home mortgage field, found that during 2008-09, about 50 million people saw their FICO scores plunge by more than 20 points. Nearly 21 million of these lost more than 50 points. Man

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FORT LAUDERDALE – Brenner Real Estate Group has announced new leases and lease renewals in Broward County.

Jeffrey Scott, senior vice president, brokerage, closed the following new lease:

- Shred Trust, LLC, a provider of corporate document shredding and storage in operation for five years, has leased 7,438sf of office/industrial space within Enterprise Center, 1500 S. Powerline Road, Deerfield Beach, for its corporate headquarters. Scott represented the landlord, Sterling Properties FL, LLC. The tenant represented itself.

Adam Starr, vice president, commercial brokerage, was responsible for the following transaction:

- Oncology Analytics, a medical billing company, has leased 2,500sf of office space within Plantation Place at 8751 West Broward Blvd., Plantation.

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The nation’s housing collapse appears to be winding down, with analysts predicting a gradual recovery in 2012.

In South Florida, home sales are on the rise as prices approach a bottom, but burdensome mortgages taken out during the boom continue to hurt the market and test the resolve of tens of thousands of homeowners across the region.

Here’s a guide to help buyers, sellers and homeowners who are “underwater” navigate the improving market in the new year:

Sellers

DO:

DON’T:

Sellers have taken it on the chin in recent years, but 2012 appears to be a better time to sell because price declines have eased and there are far fewer homes on the market than a year or two ago.

Many analysts expect another wave of bank-owned homes, bringing lower values and new competition for buyers.

“I’m encouraging anyone who’s thinking of selling: Put the home on the market now,” said Terry Story, a real estate agent in Boca Raton.

Still, not everyone is worried about the bank-owned inventory: “We’ve been hearing about these foreclosures for awhile now, but we haven’t seen them,” said Dean Sklar, an agent in Weston.

Even with fewer homes on the market now, sellers still must price theirs within the range of nearby properties that sold in the past six months, agents say.

During the height of the housing bust, sellers often hired stagers to help put their homes in the best light.

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