Thursday's Afternoon Update

Will Short Gorham | 4/5/2012

Asking prices for homes increasing

Seller confidence appears to be rising in Florida, evidenced by a new list of the top 10 metro area where the asking price for homes rose from a year ago. Trulia.com, a prominent real estate website, released the list today and six of the top ten metro areas are in the Sunshine State. Cape Coral-Fort Myers was No. 1, with a 14.8 percent increase in the asking price. Miami was second, with a 14.1 percent increase. Read more from the Sarasota Herald-Tribune and see the full list.

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Investment Sounding Board Where are you advising clients to invest while still remaining cautious? Mari Adam, President of Adam Financial Associates tells us: "I think you still need to diversify off the well-beaten path. I see people who are afraid of the market, and they stick to ‘safe' investments like CDs. I advise not to do that. If you want a return over 1% and enough long-term growth to make sure your money doesn't run out too early, you have to get involved in the equities market to some degree." » Read more from Adam and other investment experts.

Job cuts at lowest level in nearly a year

In Florida, there were 888 planned job cuts in March compared to 1,380 in February, according to the latest job-cut report on Thursday by outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas. Nationwide, planned job cuts declined in March to the lowest level since May 2011, as U.S.-based employers announced layoffs totaling 37,880 during the month, Challenger says. [Source: South Florida Sun-Sentinel]

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Jacksonville looks for sports tourism boost beyond golf

This week, Mayor Alvin Brown said he wants Jacksonville to host more sports events of all kinds — the marquee events that attract big crowds and television coverage, and the smaller events that bring in amateur athletes and their families. For the big games, he talked about the NCAA Final Four basketball tournament being in Jacksonville someday and the city winning an NBA franchise within a decade. He said he also wants Jacksonville to host more events such as swim meets that bring families from out of town. [Source: Florida Times-Union]

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Digital effects firm's partnership with college draws artists' ire

Digital Domain, the award-winning effects company behind such movies as "Tron: Legacy" and the "Transformers" films, recently touted its new animation and digital arts institute as a "pioneering public-private partnership" with Florida State University's College of Motion Picture Arts. The project has created an uproar among visual effects artists in Hollywood, who fear it will encourage students to work for free at Digital Domain's planned visual effects studio in West Palm Beach, Fla. Read more from the L.A. Times and read about Digital Domain and other Southeast Florida companies..

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2011 a banner year for Miami tourism

Anyone notice Miami-Dade felt a little more crowded last year? Thank the 13.4 million overnight visitors who came to the area — and set a new record, according to numbers released Wednesday by the Greater Miami Convention & Visitors Bureau. The year’s total visitor count was 6.7 percent higher than the 2010 total, which was itself a record. [Source: Miami Herald]

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Architecture Trends Florida’s Top 100 buildings For most of the past month, Floridians have had the engaging opportunity to vote on their favorite buildings across the Sunshine State. This friendly competition has been a fun way to weigh in on the magnificent structures that give Florida its unique character. The competition has also cast a deserved spotlight on the architectural brilliance that shaped some of our most historic buildings. The good-natured Top 100 competition has given Floridians a chance to reflect on the importance of architecture in designing so many memorable buildings. The competition ends Friday. Read more from the Miami Herald and vote for your favorite building here.

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