Realtor News

NAHB forecasts 2% more single-family homes will be built this year – but it’s not enough. Frustrated buyers want about 3.8M homes, mainly at the low-end of the market.

Multifamily and “mammoth” mansion sales are strong. One investor predicts it’s the end of a cycle before large-scale land acquisition and development starts up again.

A property owner pays an agent to manage his property, and the contract says an additional commission must be paid if his tenant eventually buys the property. Why?

Bank of America Global Research: In 2018, low- and lower-tax states, which includes Fla., gained $32B more in adjusted gross income than higher tax states. The four states with highest average SALT deductions lost about 455K people compared to 408.5K the year before.

If a local government follows the standards of certain specified building codes, they’re ensured “safe harbor” status under Fair Housing Act accessibility requirements.

How will lawmakers change the Fla. real estate business? Here’s the current status of bills focused on vacation rentals, affordable housing and emotional support animals.

Fla. Senators Marco Rubio and Rick Scott send a letter to the Army Corps that requests funding for Fla. environmental projects. The list includes 70 items with impacts across the state, from the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway in South Fla. to Pensacola Harbor.

In some golf communities, the additional buy-in fee can be more than $80K with annual fees as much as $30K, so the cost of amenities overrides the cost of real estate.

Two Fla. property insurers with about 67K policies – Anchor Property & Casualty and Centauri Specialty Insurance Co. – will be folded into larger, more stable companies.

It’s the highest level in 13 years as the single-family home-start component rose 11.2%. For all of 2019, builders broke ground on 1.29M homes – the most since 2007.

A research partnership working with eight universities says its online tool, searchable by address, will offer flood histories and future risk estimates by mid 2020.

2020 will mark a 40-year high for new apartments – but 80% are luxury, a niche with light demand, and a smaller percentage will appeal to lower-income families.

Water Conservation Area 3 – an area spanning the western side of Broward County and in the Everglades Protection Area – will be permanently spared from oil drilling.

The slight increase from last week’s 3.64% keeps rates solidly in the “good time to apply for a home loan” category. One year ago, the average FRM was 4.45%.

Total 2019 U.S. foreclosure activity – default notices, scheduled auctions and bank repossessions – was down 21% compared with 2018 and 83% from its 2010 peak. 

Many renters think they save money when they look at closing costs and upkeep, but that’s a short-term outlook. Over the long-term, ownership is financially better.

Even a fair credit score costs you money: A buyer with a fair score pays $41.4K more than a good score over 30 years – and all other forms of credit cost more too.

The index gauging builder confidence bumped one point lower to 75 this month, but each of the two previous months broke 20-year optimism records.

The top U.S. city for bedbug infestations? Washington, D.C. But even if Fla. metros seem safe, every out-of-state visitor is a potential carrier of bedbug hitchhikers.

During the recession, “more jobs” was cited as the solution for “more home sales.” But now “home prices” appear to impact employment in some metros. NAR’s study found that areas with unaffordable home prices are starting to see a decline in job growth.