March 29, 2024
Climate change's higher tides could threaten $34B of coastal real estate

Photo: Real Deal

Florida Trend Real Estate

Climate change's higher tides could threaten $34B of coastal real estate

| 9/12/2022

Climate change’s higher tides could threaten $34B of coastal real estate

Communities along the Gulf Coast face some of the biggest risks from rising sea levels. Among the 48,000 properties that could be completely below high tide lines by 2050, a majority are in Texas, Louisiana and Florida. An estimated $108 billion of real estate could be below those lines by 2100, excluding nearly 100 counties where tax assessor data wasn’t available. [Source: The Real Deal]

Lawmakers back insurer ratings proposal

With one lawmaker likening Florida’s troubled property-insurance market to a “mountain tumbling,” a legislative panel Friday approved a proposal to spend $1.5 million to look at alternatives for insurers to get adequate financial ratings. The move came after state officials in July publicly questioned the ratings agency Demotech, Inc., over the possibility that it would downgrade insurers. Adequate financial ratings are important, in part, because mortgage-industry giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac require homes to be insured by sound companies. If insurers lose satisfactory financial ratings, homeowners could be forced to find other coverage. [Source: News Service of Florida]

Population surge leads to developers shifting approach to mixed-use projects

By whatever name you call them, strip malls are every bit as much of the landscape of Florida as palm trees and sand. Drive down any major thoroughfare in any small to large city statewide and you’ll see block after block after block of shopping centers packed with fast food joints, grocery stores, chain restaurants, dry cleaners, national retailers and local ones. Wherever you stand on retail developments, the reality is these types of shopping centers have reached a saturation point in Florida and the state’s reign as the shopping center king may soon be over. [Source: Business Observer]

Slowing real estate market sees rise in luxury real estate auctions in Southwest Florida

Luxury real estate routinely received multiple offers throughout 2021 in the Southwest Florida region as demand exploded. But that deluge of interest has apparently faded some. Luxury properties throughout the region are sitting longer and receiving fewer offers than last year, according to some real estate experts. "We are seeing a normalization of the market," said Peter G. Laughlin, founder of the Peter G. Laughlin Group with Premier Sotheby's International Realty. "Properties are staying on the market longer than they had been." [Source: Sarasota Herald-Tribune]

Rate of rent increase is slowing in Central Florida, real estate economist says

The rising cost of rent is forcing many to get second and third jobs. Some people are finding roommates or new apartments due to the spike, but there are some signs of improvement for Central Florida renters. It's not a huge drop in rates or slashed costs, but apartment hunting now may go better for some than it did six months ago. "We are seeing signs that rents are coming down," Ken H. Johnson, a real-estate economist, said. Florida Atlantic University researchers, like Johnson, are seeing fewer spikes in rates. [Source: WESH]

STAT OF THE WEEK
400 yards
The historic home called Casa Feliz — “Happy House” in Spanish — looks like it has always rested resolutely next to the Winter Park Golf Course. Yet, in the summer heat 21 years ago, Casa Feliz was spectacularly moved, inch by inch, from its original site by Lake Osceola. [Source: Orlando Sentinel]

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› Got $52 million? State building, land near Fort Lauderdale Brightline station up for auction
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