Sarasota-Manatee foreclosures kicking up

Foreclosure rate rises 23% in Sarasota and Manatee counties. More Southwest Florida homeowners are struggling to pay their mortgages. The number of residential properties with a foreclosure filing rose 23% as of mid-year in the Sarasota-Manatee region, according to a new report from real estate researcher ATTOM Data Solutions. While foreclosures nationwide were down during the first half of 2019, the local increase was not that unusual. Foreclosure starts were higher in four out of 10 metros across the country. [Source: Sarasota Herald-Tribune]

Midtown Tampa signs two co-developers to help create its shopping experience

The two Ohio-based companies, Jeffrey R. Anderson Real Estate and Casto Southeast Realty Services, have developed and owned more than 30 million square feet of retail real estate nationally. Midtown Tampa is a $500 million mixed-use development being planned near the southeast intersection of Interstate 275 and N Dale Mabry Highway by the Bromley Companies, based in New York. It is expected to include a 390-unit Crescent Communities apartment complex, 48,000-square-foot Whole Foods Market and 750,000 square feet of Class A office space, plus two boutique hotels and more than 200,000 square feet of retail, restaurants, entertainment, fitness and other uses. Rendering courtesy of the Bromley Companies. [Source: Tampa Bay Times]

Report: Real estate brokers among top four occupation most vulnerable to automation

With an estimated 47 percent of jobs in the U.S. vulnerable to automation, a new report has Florida dominating the top 25 metro areas at risk. The North Port-Sarasota-Bradenton market ranked 25. Depending on the knowledge, skills and abilities an occupation requires, as well as the variety of tasks it involves, certain jobs will be more susceptible to automation than others. According to the report by SmartAssets, some popular occupations most vulnerable to automation include tax preparers, real estate brokers, cashiers, secretaries and administrative assistants. All four of those occupations have over a 95 percent chance of computerization according to their findings. [Source: Bradenton Times]

Florida travel: Large group vacation homes latest housing trend in this city

Traveling with a group? Multi-million-dollar deluxe beachfront houses designed for large groups of vacationers are the latest housing trend in Panama City Beach. Amid the surge in residential and commercial developments throughout the Panama City Beach “island,” one particular trend has emerged in recent years: the proliferation of multi-million-dollar deluxe beachfront houses designed for large groups of vacationers. During a 15-year span beginning in the 1990s and running through the real estate collapse after Hurricane Katrina in 2005, developers favored 22-story high-rise condominiums with anywhere from 150 to 260 units. [Source: Sarasota Herald-Tribune]

Zillow ‘Offers’ is coming next year to Arizona, Ohio, Oklahoma, and Florida

Attention, homeowners: Zillow may soon be offering to buy your home. Zillow Groups Inc., which now owns a plethora of sites and services related to real estate, has been expanding into a new realm—buying and selling homes. Since launching Zillow Offers in 2018, a segment of the business that buys homes and sells them, the company has expanded into 15 markets in the U.S. And now Zillow plans on growing even bigger. [Source: Fortune]

ALSO TRENDING:

› From greyhound racing to affordable housing? [Sarasota Herald-Tribune]
What should be done with a tract of land near the airport so sprawling that for decades, superswift greyhounds had plenty of room to stretch their legs on demand, and hundreds of humans had places to park so they could gamble on the outcome?

› Southwest Florida homeowners capitalize on lower interest rates [WINK]
Across the country, interest rates are down and homeowners are rushing to refinance their home. Bob Vaughn, a mortgage broker, has had a busy week. He has gotten many phone calls from homeowners looking to refinance after the Federal Reserve cut interest rates for the first time since the 2008 recession.

› Check out one of the priciest homes for sale in Central Florida [Orlando Business Journal]
The Sunshine State's housing market continues to see climbing prices and dwindling supply. Central Florida's housing market has been hot for several years, leading to a surge in prices and quick sales – even for homes at the upper end of the price range.