“Housing analysts expect home prices to stabilize in 2012, but that doesn’t mean buyers and sellers won’t continue to be at odds over home prices.”

“While buyers are feeling good about the housing market and saying it’s a great time to buy, seller sentiment is falling to a record low, a new report by the Mortgage Bankers Association shows. Sellers say they’re unhappy because they can’t snag the prices for the home that they want.”

“The MBA report finds a large sentiment gap between homebuying and home selling that isn’t expected to narrow for at least five quarters.”

“From 1992 to 2005, seller sentiment remained high – between 40 percent and 60 percent, according to the report. However, since 2005, seller sentiment decreased to 7.6 percent. Meanwhile, homebuyer sentiment has remained high despite unemployment and economic conditions. Nearly 80 percent of American households say now is a good time to purchase a home.”

“As home values dropped over the last few years, many sellers refused to budge on their prices to reflect current market traditions. One reason why: About 20 percent of homeowners nationwide are considered “underwater,” owing more on their mortgage than their home is currently worth.”

“ Also, some sellers realize there may be a benefit in waiting to sell or keeping the home on the market to hold out for a higher price, says the author of the report, Gary Engelhardt, a Syracuse economics professor.”

“This (trend) could hold prices high enough to drive a substantial wedge between the existing buyer and seller,” Engelhardt says. “And a poor jobs market with limited mobility, a key driver of housing-market transactions, may exacerbate this.”

“A group that includes members of Roy E. Disney’s investment fund Shamrock Holdings is planning a 70-unit condo on Miami Beach.”

“Developer Palau Sunset Harbor has paid for public notices that announce it will make its case before a Miami Beach Planning Board on Jan. 24.”

“The five-story condominium would be built on an assemblage that includes Mark’s Quality Cleaners, at 1201 20th St. a 15,000-square-foot building constructed in 1947.”

“The project comprises 43 units with 500 to 999 square feet, 12 units with 1,000 to 1,200 square feet, and 15 units with more than 1,200 square feet, according to Condo Vultures, which examined plans for it filed with the Miami Beach Planning Department. It includes 13,100 square feet of ground floor commercial space.”

The developer paid a combined $8.2 million, or $150 a square foot, for the parcels, according to public records.

“ The late Roy Edward Disney was an executive at Walt Disney World and nephew of Walt Disney, founder of the entertainment company that spawned the theme parks, animation studio and other related pursuits.”

“His firm’s proposal comes as more than 4,500 units built east of Interstate 95 during the last residential real estate boom remain unsold in South Florida east of Interstate 95. The 20 towers currently being proposed in the tri-county area, if they are all built, would add 4,200 units into the market.”

“Florida, and especially South Florida, continues to face challenges: For a second straight month, home pricing in Miami shrank by 4 percent from year to year, a downward trend affecting 20 cities S&P/Case-Shiller tracked in October.”

“Florida Realtors data for November provides a more complicated picture of the market: Median pricing in Palm Beach County was down for both single-family homes and condos, while the median pricing for residences in both Broward and Miami-Dade were up.”