Home prices climb 12.4 percent in July

U.S. home prices jumped 12.4 percent in July from a year earlier, reflecting a housing market that's increasingly favoring sellers amid a tight supply of available homes for sale. South Florida home prices in July increased by more than 13 percent in each of the region’s three counties. More from the AP and the South Florida Business Journal.

» See the report from CoreLogic.

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Visit Jacksonville CEO: City leaders unintentionally hindering tourism

Paul Astleford, who was appointed CEO of Visit Jacksonville this year, said if the city wants to attract more tourists, it’s time for a major philosophical overhaul from community leaders. Astleford said Jacksonville can be “a destination of not only the national but the global market.” He said it would be “so much fun to be part of the emergence. There’s no reason it shouldn’t already be there.” More at the Florida Times-Union.

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Gov. Scott congratulates Southwest Florida on winning rowing bid

Special Report: Health Care Insurance Insurance overhaul impact on Florida employers Firehouse Subs CEO Don Fox realized that the Affordable Care Act would provide an opportunity to restructure, rewarding good employees with full-time status, more work hours and a consistent work schedule — and health care insurance. He plans to implement these changes next year, a year before the penalties kick in for employers who don’t offer health care insurance to full-time workers. » Full story See also: » Insurance overhaul impact on a small employer: Aegis Business Technologies » Insurance overhaul impact on a large employer: Bealls

Florida Gov. Rick Scott, who allocated $5 million this year toward development at Nathan Benderson Park, was one of the first to congratulate Southwest Florida officials on winning the 2017 World Rowing Championships bid. “It is great news to hear that the Sunshine State was selected to host the World Rowing Championships in 2017,” Scott said, in a statement. More at the Sarasota Herald-Tribune

and the Bradenton Herald.

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Norwegian opens new routes to California, Florida

Budget airline Norwegian Air Shuttle says it will open new routes from Scandinavian countries to Los Angeles, San Francisco and Orlando in the spring 2014. It said Tuesday it will be the first airline to offer direct flights from Stockholm and Oslo to the three U.S. destinations and from Copenhagen to Los Angeles. More at the AP.

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Florida dodging storms yields cash as bonds suffer

Florida’s government-run insurance system has amassed record cash reserves as hurricanes bypassed the state since 2005. That hasn’t helped investors in its bonds, with some trailing benchmarks by the most since February. More at Businessweek.

See also:
» Hurricane season a bit of a mystery

Out of the Box Study finds that savers are sexy Two researchers at the University of Michigan have done work that "sheds light on how a fundamental consumption behavior (spending and saving decisions) influences the formation of romantic relationships." • "The desire to attract a romantic partner often stimulates conspicuous consumption, but we find that people who chronically save are more romantically attractive than people who chronically spend," wrote Jenny G. Olson and Scott Rick in their paper, "A Penny Saved is a Partner Earned: The Romantic Appeal of Savers." » Full story from the Washington Post » Read the study

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