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Market News
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Author: |
Allyson Chambers |
Created: |
6/9/2006 9:21 AM |
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MalibuFL.com's Market Blog |
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August 2008 Amendment 5 Property Tax reform |
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By Allyson Chambers on
8/5/2008 6:56 AM
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Crist announces support for Amendment 5 property tax reform
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Aug. 5, 2008 – The property tax reform amendment advocated by FAR has a new backer – Florida Gov. Charlie Crist. Concerned about the Florida economy, Crist offered his first full endorsement yesterday, and says he will stump for passage.
“If this Amendment 5 were to pass in November, which I hope it does, people will look at that as a lot more than a tweak,” Crist says. “I think it could be a significant stimulant for Florida’s economy.”
Crist’s position puts him firmly on the side of Florida’s Realtors but at odds with a number of other groups, including schoolteachers, business groups and some fellow Republicans. But even opponents admit that Crist carries significant weight in Florida, and say that his support will go a long way to pass the Amendment 5 at the polls in November.
“I think the governo ...
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July 2008 Market News |
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By Allyson Chambers on
7/2/2008 6:01 AM
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A recession-proof home sale
ORLANDO, Fla. – July 1, 2008 – It’s a buyer’s market, but sellers can increase the chance of a sale in today’s climate by working with a Realtor and considering these eight things.
1. Don’t count on open houses to sell your home. According to the California Association of Realtors, less than 5 percent of buyers find their home at an open house. An open house should never be the center of a prospective real estate agent’s marketing plan.
2. Target your marketing. Know what buyers in your area look for and emphasize your home’s appeal accordingly. This includes everything from the description (whether you highlight transportation and parks, or restaurants and nightlife) and how you stage the home (whether the third bedroom becomes an office), to where you advertise the listing (a newspaper in addition to online).
3. Tour similar homes in the area to better unders ...
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March 2008 Interest Rates on the Rise |
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By Allyson Chambers on
3/1/2008 9:09 AM
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Rates on 30-year mortgages rise
WASHINGTON – Feb. 29, 2008 – Rates on 30-year mortgages rose for a third straight week, hitting the highest level in more than three months.
Freddie Mac, the mortgage company, reported Thursday that 30-year, fixed-rate mortgages averaged 6.24 percent this week, up from 6.04 percent last week.
That is the highest level since the week of Nov. 15 when 30-year rates also averaged 6.24 percent. It marked a significant reversal from the beginning of the year when 30-year rates dropped below 6 percent for six straight weeks reflecting a significant slowdown in the economy. That slowdown prompted the Federal Reserve to aggressively cut the short-term interest rate it controls by 1.25 percentage points in January, the biggest one-month cut in this rate by the Fed in more than a quarter-century.
While Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke again signaled during congre ...
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Forclosures up ........ |
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By Allyson Chambers on
2/8/2008 11:43 AM
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MIAMI – Feb. 7, 2008 – With more than a thousand foreclosed homes queued up for the auction block in February, the Miami-Dade County Clerk of Court’s office is expanding the number of days it auctions properties from two to three per week.
“We’ve been running into some serious problems,” said Michael Henderson, a spokesman for the clerk’s office. “We’ve needed [an extra day] now for a couple of months, because it is already unmanageable with two days and we expect the caseload to increase further.”
The extra auction day is expected to be added starting in March, most likely on Fridays. Henderson said the office was trying to find the resources to pay staff and make other arrangements for the change.
Huge numbers of foreclosures have made the extra day necessary. Nearly 320 homes are being auctioned weekly in Miami-Dade, as homeowners and investors go belly-up on spiking adjustable rate loan payments. Foreclosure filings in 2007 soared 168 percent over t ...
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Market News January 2008 |
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By Allyson Chambers on
1/8/2008 3:48 PM
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Florida real estate market reached bottom in 2007, report says
ORLANDO, Fla. – Jan. 8, 2008 – A new report from the Attorneys’ Title Insurance Fund Inc. (The Fund) finds that Florida’s housing market slowed in 2007 in nearly every county analyzed. The report also shows that real estate markets flattened out in spring 2007, before the subprime mortgage crisis in August knocked markets down another 10 percent across the state. Since then, the state’s housing market has flattened and is expected to begin to recover during the next several years.
The 2008 Fund Real Estate Forecast, commissioned by Florida-based Attorneys’ Title Insurance Fund's Consumer Education Campaign, was created by economist Dr. Hank Fishkind of Orlando-based Fishkind & Associates, Inc., using deed data for more than 30 Florida counties. The report provides a snapshot of the national economic outlook and 33 county-specific forecasts for 2008 through 201 ...
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November 2007 |
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By Allyson Chambers on
11/20/2007 12:03 PM
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Housing, credit markets may hurt economy
WASHINGTON – Nov. 19, 2007 – The painful collapse of the housing market along with the credit crunch will weigh down economic growth in the final three months of this year and cause economic activity to lag in 2008.
It all means that the risk of a recession has increased, economic forecasters say.
The latest look-ahead from the National Association for Business Economics says the gross domestic product is on track to expand at just a 1.5 percent pace from October through December. If that proves correct, it would mark a sizable decline from the July-September rate of 3.9 percent.
The group’s new fourth-quarter projection compared with September’s prediction of a 2.5 percent growth rate. The GDP - the value of all goods and services produced in the United States- is considered the best barometer of the country’s economic fitness.
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Market News October 2007 |
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By Allyson Chambers on
10/4/2007 9:25 AM
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TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Oct. 3, 2007 – State Farm bowed to pressure from Florida officials by agreeing Tuesday to cut customers’ home insurance prices. The agreement also says State Farm can’t drop a homeowner policy because someone doesn’t buy automobile or life insurance from them.
The state Office of Insurance Regulation launched an investigation into Florida’s largest private property and auto insurer recently after the company made a series of moves, including plans proposed this summer to drop property policies of 50,000 customers who live within two miles of the beach.
The agreement calls for State Farm Florida to trim property insurance rates by 2 percent, saving policyholders $23 million on top of another recent 7-percent price cut. The insurer also must return millions the insurer overcharged customers.
With the state sending a strong message to State Farm, other companies are taking notice.
Though the state insurance department ...
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