• Latest NE FL Housing Stats

The Sandberg Team @ Ponte Vedra Key Realty

Real Estate Sales & Service in Nocatee, Ponte Vedra & Jacksonville, Florida

Contact The Sandberg Team
904.703.4715 | Kim@KimSandberg.com
  • Home
  • About Us
    • Testimonials
  • Communities
    • Nocatee
      • Seabrook Village
      • Twenty Mile at Nocatee
      • Crosswinds at Nocatee
      • Crosswater at Nocatee
      • Coastal Oaks at Nocatee
      • Cypress Trails at Nocatee
      • Austin Park at Nocatee
      • Greenleaf Communities
        • Greenleaf Village at Nocatee
        • Greenleaf Lakes at Nocatee
        • Greenleaf Preserve
      • Willowcove at Nocatee
      • Tidewater at Nocatee
      • Town Center Communities
        • Town Center West End
        • Siena at Nocatee Town Center
        • Enclave at Town Center
        • Lakeside at Town Center
        • Addison Park
        • Daniel Park at Town Center
      • Del Webb Nocatee
      • Del Webb Ponte Vedra
      • Artisan Lakes
      • The Palms
      • Kelly Pointe at Nocatee
      • Timberland Ridge at Nocatee
      • Brookwood at Nocatee
      • Oakwood at Nocatee
      • The Villas at Nocatee
    • Golf Course Communities
      • Atlantic Beach Country Club
      • Queens Harbour Yacht and Country Club
      • St. Johns Golf & Country Club
      • The Plantation at Ponte Vedra Beach
      • Players Club & Seven Mile Dr.
      • Cimarrone Golf & Country Club
      • South Hampton
      • Jacksonville Golf & Country Club
      • Palencia
      • Marsh Landing Country Club
      • Marsh Creek Country Club
      • Windsor Parke
    • Oceanfront Condos
      • Ponte Vedra Beach Oceanfront Condos
      • Jacksonville Beach Oceanfront Condos
      • Atlantic Beach Oceanfront Condos
    • Ponte Vedra Beach
      • Plantation Oaks
      • The Woodlands
      • Odom’s Mill
      • The Plantation at Ponte Vedra Beach
      • Sawmill Lakes
      • Players Club & Seven Mile Dr.
      • Ocean’s Edge
      • Seaside
      • Azalea Point
      • Eagle’s Cove
      • Ocean Grande Condos
    • Ponte Vedra/St. Johns
      • Shearwater
      • Beachwalk
      • Middlebourne
      • Julington Lakes
      • Durbin Crossing
      • Aberdeen
      • Celestina
      • Oxford Estates
      • Rivertown
      • St. Johns Forest
      • Marsh Harbor
      • Walden Chase
    • St. Augustine
      • Beacon Lake
      • Silverleaf
      • Cordova Palms
      • Sandy Creek
      • Twin Creeks
      • Palencia
      • Bridgewater
      • Waterford Lakes
      • Ravenswood Village
      • Markland
      • Wingfield Glen
      • Villages of Vilano
      • Bannon Lakes
      • Madeira
      • Kensington
      • Las Calinas
      • Trailmark
        • Reverie at Trailmark
      • Marsh Creek Country Club
      • Murabella
      • Samara Lakes
      • Stonehurst Plantation
      • Segovia Townhomes
      • Sea Grove
    • Jacksonville
      • Seven Pines
      • eTown
        • Edison at eTown
        • Granville at eTown
        • Marconi at eTown
        • Del Webb eTown
      • Olde Mandarin Estates
      • Tidal Pointe at Southside Quarter
      • Tamaya
      • Queens Harbour Yacht and Country Club
      • Jacksonville Golf & Country Club
      • Deerwood
      • Windsor Parke
      • Bartram Park Preserve
      • Bartram Springs
      • Terra Costa
      • Montevilla
      • James Island
      • Riverside
    • 55+ Communities
      • Watersong at Rivertown
      • Del Webb Nocatee
      • Del Webb Ponte Vedra
      • Del Webb eTown
      • Parkland Preserve
      • Reverie at Trailmark
      • Sweetwater by Del Webb
      • Stillwater
      • Everlake at Mandarin
      • Bridge Bay at Bannon Lakes
      • Artisan Lakes
      • Cascades at World Golf Village
      • Villages of Seloy
      • Del Webb Wildlight
  • Our Blog
  • For Buyers
    • Homebuyer’s Checklist
    • Florida Homebuyer Tips
    • School Attendance Zoning
    • Service Providers for Home Buyers
  • For Sellers
    • Sell with the Sandberg Team
    • When You’re Ready to List
    • What’s Your Home Worth?
  • Search for Homes
  • Contact Us
You are here: Home / Blog / Crystal Ball or Time Machine?

Crystal Ball or Time Machine?

September 14, 2010 By Scott Sandberg Leave a Comment

Like the in-laws or that old friend from high school, the economic downturn has been an unwelcome guest in all of our homes for some time now. And I’m starting to wonder if part of the issue isn’t our own timidity.

I was talking to a mortgage banker friend of mine here in Jacksonville recently who put this thought into perspective for me. For instance, she showed me an excerpt from an article in Time magazine:

“But the US economy remains almost comatose…. Unemployment is still high; real wages are declining…. The slump already ranks as the longest period of sustained weakness since the Great Depression.

That was the last time the economy struggled under as many “structural” burdens, as opposed to the familiar “cyclical” problems…. The structural faults … represent once-in-a-lifetime dislocations that will take years to work out. Among them: the job drought; the debt hangover; … the banking collapse; the real estate depression; the health care cost explosion and the runaway federal deficit.”

Thing is, the article isn’t from September of this year. It’s from 1992.

So what happened next? 16 years of explosive growth, that’s what. It’s easy to forget that now. And even in the midst of all that growth, it took awhile to recognize it for what it was.

In other words, lots of us missed the bottom back then. And if we don’t get off our bottoms now, we may miss it again.

Consider some simple math, also provided by my mortgage banker friend:

A 30-year mortgage loan of $200,000 at 4.5% equates to an interest and principle payment of $1,013.37.

A 30-year mortgage loan of only $170,000 at 6.0% equates to an interest and principle payment of $1,019.00!

The lesson is simple. When rates rise, it will cost us more to borrow less. We all understand that. But many buyers are still on the fence. Even at today’s ridiculously low interest rates.

Let’s look at it another way. Using the same figures from above, real estate values would have to drop an additional 10% or more to begin to make up the difference! How far do you think we have to go to reach the bottom? Or are we already there and we just haven’t figured it out yet?

What we do know is that rates will go up. The Federal Reserve has said as much while also stating that the US Treasury will dramatically drop its purchases of mortgage backed securities.

Of course, nobody has a crystal ball. We can’t predict the future. And the challenges are different, market by market. Housing in Jacksonville proper, for instance, face a different set of issues than those in Ponte Vedra Beach or Saint Augustine.

But I think it’s safe to say that today’s perfect storm of low prices and low interest rates make right now the best time to buy in years. And when the recovery kicks in full gear, and rates and prices go up, who’ll be left sitting on the fence wishing for a time machine?

Tip of the hat to my mortgage banker pal Ricki Taylor.

Filed Under: Blog, Real Estate Tagged With: Florida, home loan, Jacksonville, mortgage, Ponte Vedra Beach, Real Estate, remax, saint augustine

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Gated Communities

  • Coastal Oaks at Nocatee
  • Marsh Landing Country Club
  • Plantation Oaks
  • Queens Harbour
  • The Plantation

55+ Communities

  • Bridge Bay at Bannon Lakes
  • Cascades at WGV
  • Del Webb Nocatee
  • Del Webb Ponte Vedra
  • Stillwater

Golf Course Communities

  • Jacksonville Golf & Country Club
  • Marsh Landing Country Club
  • Queens Harbour
  • St. Johns Golf & CC
  • Stillwater

Copyright © 2025 | SandbergTeam.com | Privacy Policy