March 28, 2024
Will rates go down? Answering questions from Florida's insurance session

Florida Trend Real Estate

Will rates go down? Answering questions from Florida's insurance session

| 12/19/2022

Will rates go down? Answering questions from Florida’s insurance session

During a hasty special session this week, Florida lawmakers passed sweeping changes to address the state’s ailing property insurance market. It’s the “biggest, meatiest, beefiest property insurance reform legislation that the state has ever seen,” said the House bill sponsor, Tom Leek, R-Ormond Beach. While that’s debatable, the changes lawmakers made to the insurance market this week were the biggest in years. [Source: Tampa Bay Times]

Real-estate attorney says 2023 could bring an uptick in foreclosures and evictions

In 2022, renters have been stretched thin by cost-of-living increases and month-over-month rent increases making them vulnerable to eviction. In Pinellas and Hillsborough counties, data from Eviction Lab show that eviction filings were up 121 percent in November compared to the average rate. In Florida counties also hit by Hurricane Ian in September, renters without insurance are especially hurting. In other cases, as reported by the National Low-Income Housing Coalition, renters are vulnerable to wrongful eviction after a natural disaster. [Source: WUSF]

US homebuyers may end up underwater on mortgages, Florida expected to weather it

Real estate company Redfin is reporting a drop in home values coming in for 2023. The company said about three of every 100 homeowners who bought during the pandemic would end up underwater thanks to home values dropping while mortgage rates remain elevated. However, Florida may not face those headwinds. “Recent homebuyers in certain places, like Sacramento and Phoenix, are at higher risk of falling underwater on their mortgage, while Florida homeowners are at even lower risk,” Redfin reported. [Source: My Panhandle]

See also:
» About 8% of homes purchased this year are ‘underwater.’ Here’s how South Florida stacks up.

Florida realtors react after Fed hikes interest rate for seventh time this year

Summary [Source: Source]

Florida lawmakers OK tax break for homeowners hit by hurricanes

Florida lawmakers on Wednesday approved a tax relief package to help people whose homes were destroyed or left uninhabitable after they were hit by Hurricane Ian or Hurricane Nicole earlier this year. Homeowners — including those in Fort Myers Beach, Sanibel and Captiva islands and coastal parts of St. Johns County — will soon be allowed to apply for property tax refunds if their residence was “rendered uninhabitable” for at least 30 days. [Source: Tampa Bay Times]

STAT OF THE WEEK
9%
In spring 2021, commercial real estate and investment firm CBRE Group Inc. reported that 26% of companies surveyed expected their office space needs to remain the same over the long term. But a year later, that number dropped to 9%. [Source: Yahoo Finance]

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Heartless. Offensive. Unimaginable. Disappointing. Irresponsible. Unconscionable. Those are just some of the choice words Gainesville commissioners used to describe their thoughts on their county counterparts' decision to pull out of a $25 million affordable housing project planned in east Gainesville.

› Over 20% of Tampa Bay’s senior homeowners are still paying a mortgage
At 76, Chrissy Gerulat is still paying off two mortgages. She’s not alone. In Tampa Bay, over a fifth of older homeowners in Tampa Bay remain saddled with mortgages. The metropolitan area ranks in the top 15 for communities with the highest share of older adults with a mortgage, according to a recent analysis of U.S. Census data for the nation’s 50 largest metros.

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Billionaire Miami newcomer Ken Griffin, who has received an effusive welcome from local politicians as he moves his Citadel financial empire to the Magic City from Chicago, wants them to do something for him: Take one of the city’s most significant historic homes off his hands.

› Florida home for sale resembles the ‘death star’
A property that has a hurricane-resistant home with a special shape – and unique purpose – has landed on the real estate market in Pensacola, Florida, for $1.5 million. The residence, which is seaside, has an arresting dome-shaped structure that was built with “resistant steel-reinforced concrete,” the listing on Realtor.com® says. It also looks a little like the Death Star from the “Star Wars” franchise.

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