Florida Trend | Florida's Business Authority

Home sales up double digits in county hardest hit by Michael

Home sales up double digits in county hardest hit by Michael

Real estate experts say investors and demand caused by Hurricane Michael's destruction led to a 15.5 percent increase in home sales for the first half of the year in the Florida county hardest hit by the Category 5 storm. Almost 2,050 homes were sold in Bay County, Florida from January to June, according to Florida Realtors. The industry group also said home prices were up 1.1 percent year-over-year. More from the AP and the Tampa Bay Times.

See also:
» Florida Home Sales Dip in June, Mimic National Sales Dip

Column: Are referral fees in real estate ethical?

Referral fees are a fixture in the real estate industry. It is legal for your old agent’s broker to share commissions with any real estate broker in your state, or for that matter, brokers in other states. Those brokers share the revenue or expense with the agents involved in the transactions. Real estate agents cannot pay referral fees to individuals that do not hold a real estate license. [Source: Northwest Florida Daily News]

Florida realtors seeking more business from short-term rental owners

A boom in short-term rentals in Florida is spawning niche brokerages that solely focus on listing and managing investment properties on Airbnb, VRBO and other home-sharing platforms. It's a sign of how quickly the do-it-yourself business of renting out your home is becoming a an entrenched segment of the real estate industry. [Source: Forbes]

South Florida is a top home buyer’s market for millennial veterans, study finds

Millennial veterans and service members looking to put down some roots are keen on South Florida. A new study found that the Miami-Fort-Lauderdale-Pompano-Beach metro area ranked No. 6 nationally in the number of millennial veterans purchasing homes. That’s according to an analysis by Veterans United Home Loans, which defined millennial veterans or service members as people who were born between 1981 and 1996. [Source: South Florida Sun-Sentinel]

Tips and strategies for investing in real estate in Florida

Florida is the third-largest state in the US and the biggest state in the southeast. It also has the fourth-highest GDP in the country. It boasts a booming tourism industry, and other thriving sectors like healthcare, international banking, aerospace, and the military. These stats make it a great place for investing, thanks to a lot of demand for real estate in Florida. Owning properties here is a worthwhile investment. [Source: ]

STAT OF THE WEEK
$1,002,880
South Florida’s real estate market is known for being pricey, but what are those millionaires paying for their not-so-humble abodes when the taxman comes? Coming in the top slot in Broward is this oceanfront manse, which was charged $1,002,880 in property taxes in 2018. [Source: South Florida Sun-Sentinel]

ALSO TRENDING:

› Lakewood Ranch ranked No. 1 in U.S. home starts
Two of Southwest Florida’s master-planned communities — already among the fastest sellers in the nation — are now ranked at the top for housing starts. Lakewood Ranch was No. 1 in the U.S. with 1,561 new annual home starts as of the second quarter, according to a new report from data supplier Metrostudy.

› 'Zillow Offers' joins growing iBuyer market in Orlando
In Central Florida's hot housing market, there's a new way to sell your home that claims to be a lot more predictable and convenient than traditional real estate sales. Homeowners can sell their house with the click of a mouse on Zillow.com. Zillow Offers launched in Florida last month and has already purchased its first property.

› Big Palm Beach sales set a July real estate record
Nine single-family properties generated nearly $300 million in sales in Palm Beach since July 1, according to courthouse records. Take a look at those deals, which totaled $287 million.

› Pompano upzones Ocean Boulevard site for 19-story condo next to city park
Pompano Beach city commissioners rezoned land adjacent to an oceanside city park to allow for construction of a 19-story condo development. By a 4-2 vote, the commissioners lifted the maximum building height at 1508 North Ocean Boulevard from 105 feet to permit the planned condo, which would be 205 feet tall.