Home construction can't keep up with new jobs

Florida has one of the nation's largest disparities between home construction and job creation — making it harder for people to find affordable homes, according to a study from the National Association of Realtors. [Source: South Florida Sun-Sentinel]

Florida leads U.S. for FAA drone approval in real estate

Florida drone pilots have gotten 97 exemptions in the Federal Aviation Administration's first year of granting them, making the state second only to California. Uses include photography for events or more general use such as cityscapes; surveys of agricultural property and crops; and law enforcement searches and inspections, according to a new report. [Source: Orlando Sentinel]

Florida Trend Exclusive
Dueling standards for investment advice

Under rules that have been in place since the 1970s, stockbrokers can receive commissions for stocks, mutual funds and other investment products they sell. Meanwhile professionals known as registered investment advisers, who typically charge a fee for their services and do not take a commission on project sales, follow different guidelines. Access full story.

Mom and pop eateries lose ground to chains

Business has been tougher for independently owned restaurant owners during the recession, when people didn't have as much money to spend eating out and smaller restaurants didn't have the resources to stay afloat [Source: Orlando Sentinel]

How did Halloween turn into such a huge holiday?

157 million Americans are expected to celebrate the holiday this year, and they will spend $6.9 billion doing it. So what transformed Halloween — that once tiny fall holiday before the biggies Thanksgiving and Christmas — into such a mammoth? [Source: Tampa Bay Times]

ALSO AROUND FLORIDA:

› Venezuela's economy squeezes students in South Florida [South Florida Sun-Sentinel]
With money in the bank and visas in hand, thousands of Venezuelan students headed for South Florida with dreams of college educations. Now their country’s financial crisis is making it difficult for them to afford it.

› BP settlement agreement announced in July to be filed Monday [AP]
The public is about to get a look at details of an $18 billion settlement agreement announced in July to resolve years of legal fighting over damage done by the 2010 Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill.

› Office Depot survival in question if merger with Staples fails, analysts say [South Florida Sun-Sentinel]
Office Depot will have to "get creative," as one analyst puts it, if the Federal Trade Commission blocks its acquisition by Staples. Deeper inquiries into the merger have fueled speculation on Wall Street that the proposal could be struck down.

› Enterprise Florida names new chief marketing officer [Orlando Sentinel]
Joseph Hice Jr. takes the marketing job as Enterprise Florida faces criticism in the Florida Legislature for the financing structure of its economic development incentive program.

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› Bentley brings new $225,000 SUV to Miami [Miami Herald]
America’s favorite workhorse auto, the SUV, is going seriously uptown. Thursday, Bentley previewed its Bentley Bentayga at Braman Motors in Miami, one of Bentley’s top three U.S. markets.

› Drill prepares emergency nurses for mass casualties [Orlando Sentinel]
During the Emergency Nurses Association's annual meeting on Friday, a mock shooter blew himself up, killing and injuring 100 local volunteer actors.

› Gatorade: 50 years of the thirst quencher [Gainesville Sun]
The lightning bolt logo. The sideline showers. The celebrity athlete sponsors. The slogans. No other commercial product is more closely associated with a university than Gatorade is with the University of Florida.

› FTC sues Sarasota firm, alleging false claims [Sarasota Herald-Tribune]
The Federal Trade Commission has sued a Sarasota company, claiming its aggressively advertised weight-loss products do not work as promised.