Forget “location, location, location” – it’s “timing, timing, timing.” Spring vs. fall 2022 buyers are now facing very different economic realities. NEW YORK – Recent mortgage rate changes have highlighted the importance of timing in real estate transactions. Rates increased so much and so quickly in 2022 that those who bought homes mere months apart are now on starkly different financial paths. Some buyers’ good fortune to lock in historically low rates could pay off for decades and impact their other life choices. “The real financial winners were the pandemic homebuyers who locked into mortgage rates around 2 to 3%,” says
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Gov. DeSantis recently signed SB 264, which restricts, in part, the sale and ownership of certain Fla. properties to “foreign principals, persons and entities.” TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – During the 2023 session of the Florida Legislature, lawmakers passed Senate Bill 264, called “Interests of Foreign Countries.” Gov. Ron DeSantis recently signed it into law. The new law, in part, limits and regulates the sale, purchase and ownership of certain properties in Florida by specific foreign principals, persons and entities. The highly technical bill goes into effect on July 1, 2023. To help Florida Realtors®’ members become familiar with the details, the
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Risk Rating 2.0 – FEMA’s updated method to price flood policies based on individual homes – has gotten bad press, but it’s a solution for old problems, according to NAR. WASHINGTON – There’s still confusion around the National Flood Insurance Program’s (NFIP) new pricing methodology called Risk Rating 2.0: Equity in Action, which went into effect in October 2021. Cyndee Haydon, chair of the National Association of Realtors®’ Insurance Committee and a broker-associate at Future Home Realty in Tampa, offers an update on what you need to know. Question: What is risk rating 2.0? Answer: When developing flood insurance prices
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By Mike Schneider Census Bureau: Orlando was No. 5 for growth in 2022, adding 65K new residents, but overall city growth was muted as the pandemic pushed people to rural areas. ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) – The flight from urban areas that took place during the first year of the pandemic either reversed or slowed in its second year, as last year metropolitan areas in Texas and Florida boomed and declines in New York and Los Angeles were halved, according to new estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau. During the first full year of the pandemic in 2021, more than half
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By Hillard Grossman By the numbers, there are more self-storage businesses in the U.S. than there are McDonalds. In Ocala alone, self-storage space surged to $166M in 2022. MIAMI – According to a recent report, Miami’s hyperactive real estate market has created an opportunity in a niche segment of the commercial real estate market. Miami’s commercial real estate had a busy year in 2022, as spending on self-storage space surged to $110 million. StorageCafe’s most recent industry sales report in which analysts gauged the state of the sales market and sought to identify the top self-storage markets based on investment
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By Marla Martin Fla. Realtors Chief Economist: At $410K, it’s the same as April 2022, ending an 11-year (135 months) run of rising year-over-year prices. But condo prices rose 4.8%. ORLANDO, Fla. – Florida’s housing market in April showed continuing trends from the past few months, with more for-sale inventory (active listings) and higher median sales prices for condo-townhouse units compared to a year ago, according to Florida Realtors®’ latest housing data. Across the state, economic factors like mortgage rates above 6%, and still rising – but easing – inflation impacted closed home sales. “More active listings spark buyers’ interest
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By Alex Veiga Rates reversed a two-week decline, edging a bit higher from last week’s 6.35%, though 30-year, fixed-rate mortgages haven’t fluctuated much in the past 7 weeks. LOS ANGELES (AP) – The average long-term U.S. mortgage rate edged higher this week after a two-week drop, a modest move in line with a mostly moderate shift in home loan rates in recent weeks. Mortgage buyer Freddie Mac said Thursday that the average rate on the benchmark 30-year home loan rose to 6.39% from 6.35% last week. The average rate a year ago was 5.25%. The average benchmark rate has moved
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Given recent public comments, Federal Reserve officials aren’t on the same page when discussing inflation and whether or not more should be done. WASHINGTON (AP) – The stubbornness of high inflation is dividing the Federal Reserve over how to manage interest rates in the coming months, leaving the outlook for the Fed’s policies cloudier than at any time since it unleashed a streak of 10 straight rate hikes beginning in March 2022. Many Fed watchers have expected the central bank’s officials to forgo another increase in their benchmark rate when they next meet in mid-June. Yet recent warnings from several
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By Kerry Smith Overall housing starts increased 2.2% in April and the single-family component rose 1.6% – a gradual improvement, though down 28.1% year-to-year. WASHINGTON – April single-family production hit its highest rate so far this year, due in part to a lack of existing inventory and stabilizing mortgage rates. Overall housing starts in April increased 2.2% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.40 million units, according to a report from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and the U.S. Census Bureau. The unit rate is the number of housing units builders would begin if development kept
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By Kerry Smith A free June 9-11 event in Washington will feature some outside-the-box affordable housing solutions. Two Fla. companies are exhibitors; some events will be online. WASHINGTON – U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) announced new details regarding the Innovative Housing Showcase, including the first round of exhibitors. The Showcase will be an open-to-the-public event on the National Mall. The goal, according to HUD, is to “raise awareness of innovative and affordable housing designs and technologies that have the potential to increase housing supply, lower the cost of construction, increase
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