Climate change is coming for Florida’s real estate. Why don’t prices reflect it?
A wave of reports in the last five years has pegged the size of the so-called "climate denial bubble" in the billions and suggested a correction is looming, potentially a major one. It has yet to come. So, despite dire warnings from environmentalists and some economists, the Florida real estate industry looks at the numbers and doesn’t see evidence of a bubble ready to burst. Rafael Corrales, a senior Redfin agent in Miami, acknowledges hearing more questions about flooding but says it’s not a deal-breaker for most buyers. Yet. [Source: Miami Herald]
Challenge to springs rules rejected
An administrative law judge Monday sided with the Florida Department of Environmental Protection in a challenge to proposed rules about water withdrawals that could affect systems designated as “Outstanding Florida Springs.” The Florida Springs Council filed the challenge in January, after the department proposed the rules, which are designed to carry out a 2016 law. The challenge made a series of arguments, including that the proposed rules largely mirrored already-existing rules and that the Legislature intended for increased protections for Outstanding Florida Springs from water withdrawals. [Source: News Service of Florida]
Florida’s Brightline booked 3 million trips in 2024, and lost $550 million
In 2023, Brightline completed an 11-year plan to run high-speed train service from Miami to Orlando. How's it doing? According to the privately run passenger train company, Brightline lost about $549 million in 2024, even though its revenue more than doubled compared to 2023. A big chunk of that, more than $214 million, happened in May 2024 when Brightline refinanced its debt of about $4.6 billion. [Source: Palm Beach Daily News]
Group sues Florida over constitutional amendment petition law
A group behind an effort to expand Medicaid is taking Florida to court over a law Gov. Ron DeSantis approved Friday that changes the state’s ballot initiative process. The campaign, Florida Decides Healthcare, is pushing for a proposed constitutional amendment in 2026. To get on the ballot, it first needs to collect nearly 900,000 petitions from Florida citizens. The group said in its lawsuit that the law DeSantis signed “imposes vague, punitive, and excessive requirements” and violates the First Amendment protection for political speech. [Source: Tampa Bay Times]
42 apex predators that feast on venomous snakes released in Florida. What to know
Biologists trudged through the grassy nature preserve carrying cloth bags that contained fearsome-seeming cargo: 42 snake-eating apex predators. The conservation program has now released 209 Eastern indigo snakes in Florida as part of efforts to revitalize the population of the rare species, The Nature Conservancy announced. During the ninth annual release, the team let 42 snakes loose into the Apalachicola Bluffs and Ravines Preserve, where the species hadn’t been seen since 1982 until reintroduction efforts began. [Source: Miami Herald]
ALSO AROUND FLORIDA:
› Feeling squeezed? Miami apartments are getting smaller, a new survey says
In a city that doesn’t have a whole lot of room, builders are making apartments smaller. The average size apartment in Miami has shrunk to below 900 square feet for the first time in at least a decade, according to RentCafe, an affiliate of California-based Yardi, a national real estate company. A Florida survey by Rent Cafe puts Miami No. 8 on the list of apartment size, with an average of 895 square feet. On the other end, Tallahassee and Gainesville lead the pack with the largest apartments in the state.
› New reverse osmosis desalination facility opens in the Florida Keys
A state-of-the-art seawater desalination water treatment plant designed to provide clean, reliable drinking water for Key West and the Lower Florida Keys during emergencies, is now open. A $30.7 million grant from the Florida Department of Commerce’s Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery program and matched by the Florida Keys Aqueduct Authority, funded the new $47 million Kermit H. Lewin Stock Island Reverse Osmosis Facility.
› Luxury home market thrives in Naples
Typical ebbs and flows of the single-family home market do not have much of an impact on the ultra, high-end luxury home market, with Exhibits A and B proving just that in Naples. For three years, the sales price record for a single-family home in Naples held at $62 million. Then, in an early-April span of three days this year, with the volume of single-family homes on the market trending upward and the prices trending downward, the sales price record fell twice.
› Space Coast tourism officials express concerns about future, in light of political climate
Space Coast tourism officials have some concerns about the outlook for their industry, in light of the national political climate and proposed legislation in Tallahassee. Tourism officials say their concerns include uncertainty about the U.S. economy; declining consumer confidence; Canadians who are hesitant to visit the United States because of political friction between the two countries; and cutback in budgets for travel by government employees.
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› Orlando brothers bet big on insurance market with 20 new Estrella locations planned
The insurance industry continues to find itself in flux, particularly in Florida, but this hasn’t stopped a franchisee for one growing insurer to continue to bet on metro Orlando. Orlando brothers Rey and Jorge Martinez have 25 owned franchise locations for Miami-based property and casualty insurance franchisor Estrella Insurance and recently announced they have about 20 more in the pipeline.
› After 56 years at its Southbank home, MOSH will close by summer's end
Jacksonville will go without a MOSH for a few years. The Museum of Science & History, located near Friendship Fountain on the Southbank of the St. Johns River, will close by Sept. 1. Groundbreaking for a new MOSH, across the river near EverBank Stadium, is scheduled for 2026, and construction won't be finished until 2028.
› Martin County Sheriff's Office launches new 911 live video calling system
The Sheriff's Office launched a 911 live video call system on May 1 that allows first responders to see what's going on at the site before they arrive. Sheriff's officials began testing the system earlier in the week, working out the bugs, but it's now live. It works with iPhones and Androids. The Sheriff's Office, Martin County Fire Rescue, Stuart Police, Sewall's Point Police, and Jupiter Island Public Safety all are using the new system.
› Florida Memorial University partners with developer for multi-million dollar upgrades
William McCormick and his staff had been trying to recruit professors to Florida Memorial University, the only historically Black university in South Florida, but ran into an issue: new hires couldn’t find affordable housing. The solution that the university found was to partner with a Miami-based developer to build workforce housing for its employees and residents and additional student housing with the hopes of accommodating its current student population and increasing enrollment.