By Katlyn Brieskorn Tampa, Altamonte Springs and Sarasota make Money.com’s top 50 “Best Places to Live in the U.S.” for 2022-23. TAMPA, Fla. — Three Florida cities were recently ranked among the best places to live in the United States, according to a new list from Money.com. Money said it looked at economic opportunities, quality of life, diversity, and where the best futures lie to come up with the top 50 cities in America. The report ranked Atlanta as the best place to live because of its “booming jobs market and eye on equality.” Three Florida cities made the list:
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By Amy Connolly Experts said the growth is encouraging for homebuyers but other factors, including AI and green energy, will play a role. WASHINGTON – A panel of national housing experts expect U.S. home prices to continue to grow through 2025, denoting “an encouraging consensus” as the new year ticks closer, a new Fannie Mae survey showed. Fannie Mae’s Home Price Expectations Home Survey (HPES), conducted by Pulsenomics, found an annual national home price growth of 2.4% in 2024 and 2.7% in 2025. The HPES polls more than 100 experts across the housing and mortgage sectors and academia for forecasts
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EnergyRe, a startup backed by real estate executives, is working to shore-up the country’s electrical grid. NEW YORK – EnergyRe, launched by executives at real-estate company Related Cos., said it raised $1.2 billion from a group of European investors to build more transmission lines across the United States. The deal comes as the Biden administration is pushing to modernize the national power grid, which is not equipped to handle the increasing amounts of renewable energy that the country is hoping to produce. Already, surging electricity demand has strained the grid and led to more frequent outages in recent years. “If
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By Isabella O’Malley In Florida, whole neighborhoods are springing up with an eye on resiliency and green construction. Mexico Beach, Fla. (AP) — When Hurricane Michael hit the Florida Panhandle five years ago, it left boats, cars and trucks piled up to the windows of Bonny Paulson’s home in the tiny coastal community of Mexico Beach even though the house rests on pillars 14 feet above the ground. But Paulson’s home, with a rounded shape that looks something like a ship, shrugged off Category 5 winds that might otherwise have collapsed it. “I wasn’t nervous at all,” Paulson said, recalling
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By Kerry Smith Freddie Mac’s new tool makes it easier for lenders to determine if a specific condo qualifies for a mortgage loan. It says buyers can now get a firm answer in “just minutes.” McLEAN, Va. – Freddie Mac announced enhancements to its Condo Project Advisor to help lenders “bring greater efficiency to the financing of condominiums.” Under the new system, lenders can determine whether a specific finance loan to purchase a condo unit meets Freddie Mac’s guidelines – and it takes “just minutes.” The designation – known as “Project Certified” status for Project Assessment Requests (PAR) – confirms
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Analysts are increasingly encouraged by what they say is an unusually smooth adjustment to lower inflation. WASHINGTON (AP) — With inflation edging closer to the Federal Reserve’s 2% target, its policymakers are facing — and in some cases fueling — hopes that they will make a decisive shift in policy and cut interest rates next year, possibly as soon as spring.  Such a move would reduce borrowing costs across the economy, making mortgages, auto loans and business borrowing less expensive. Stock prices could rise too, though share prices have already risen in expectation of cuts, potentially limiting any further rise.
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Congress is reviewing proposed legislation that would remove HUD’s requirement that manufactured homes be built on a permanent chassis. WASHINGTON – The U.S. House Committee on Financial Services, Subcommittee on Housing and Insurance considered a proposal from U.S. Rep. John Rose of Tennessee as it held a hearing this week entitled “Housing Affordability: Governmental Barriers and Market-Based Solutions.” According to a press release from Rose, the hearing focused on “the continuing affordability challenges that many currently face in both the single-family housing and rental markets.” Witnesses discussed the factors that have contributed to those challenges, particularly government-created barriers such as
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By Amy Connolly A proposed rule would allow fair housing testers – volunteers who look for housing discrimination – to have prior convictions. WASHINGTON, D.C. – The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) extended its public comment period for a new rule that would allow fair-housing testers with criminal convictions to determine if landlords turn away renters based on criminal history. HUD extended its comment period for its Notice of Proposed Rulemaking by nine days to Jan. 11. HUD said it’s extending the period from Jan. 2 because some have requested additional time to review the proposal and
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By Aprile Osborne New building codes and regulatory changes are in the future as Southwest Florida continues to recover from Hurricane Ian’s wrath.   FORT MYERS BEACH – When it comes to once-in-a-generation hurricanes and Florida’s real estate market, one thing is clear: change is afoot. Consider Hurricane Andrew. More than three decades ago, that deadly 1992 storm led to the consolidation of more than 400 different building codes into a single statewide code. The statewide code also established high-velocity hurricane zones – essentially, Miami-Dade and Broward counties – with even stricter codes. Those stringent standards truly did make a
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