Florida real estate enjoyed a strong September with sales and prices on the rise

In September, Florida’s housing market reported more closed sales, more new pending sales, rising median prices and more new listings compared to a year ago despite the ongoing pandemic, according to the latest housing data from Florida Realtors. Single-family existing-home sales rose 22 percent compared to September 2019. “Florida’s housing sector continues to be a bright spot for the state’s economy amid the ongoing pandemic,” said Florida Realtors President Barry Grooms. More from Florida Daily, the Tampa Bay Times, the Real Deal, the Sarasota Herald-Tribune, and the Daytona Beach News Journal.

Covid pummeled shopping centers, but their parking lots are thriving

While many traditional streams of income for landlords have slowed or dried up due to the pandemic, one has proven to be a surprising earner: parking lots. Landlords of large parking lots and garages have been renting out those spaces for a variety of activities, including open-air retail, job fairs, polling stations and drive-through COVID-19 testing, the Wall Street Journal reported. [Source: The Real Deal]

Landlords ask judge to stop CDC eviction moratorium in early hearing

A federal lawsuit challenging the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s sweeping eviction moratorium forged ahead last week, with lawyers from both sides arguing over Zoom whether the judge should invalidate the moratorium while the trial is ongoing. The plaintiffs are landlords, who argue that in addition to experiencing unsustainable financial harm from being forced to allow non-paying tenants to stay, they’re being deprived of their own properties and their rights to the court system. [Source: Tampa Bay Times]

Tampa Bay real estate: Commercial sublease availability hits record high

Sublease availability in Tampa Bay’s commercial real estate market is at a “historical high," according to a new quarterly report on the local office space market. The commercial real estate services firm JLL reported this week that 1.4 million square feet of space in Hillsborough and Pinellas counties is available for sublease, and nearly half of that has hit the market since March, when the coronavirus pandemic forced companies to send most workers home. [Source: Tampa Bay Times]

Headed to Iona, Rick Pitino selling modest Bal Harbour home for $1.6 million

Fresh from the sale of his swanky Miami Beach-area property for $17 million, the basketball coach Rick Pitino is once again dipping his toe in the Florida real estate market. This time, the college hoops legend is offering a more modestly priced waterfront home in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, for $1.55 million. The listing comes just a few months after the well-traveled coach landed a job at Iona College in New Rochelle, New York, to inject new life into the Gaels basketball team. [Source: South Florida Sun-Sentinel]

ALSO TRENDING:

› Knock brings Home Swap service to Orlando, Tampa markets [Orlando Sentinel]
It’s an old dilemma: “Do I sell my house first and move in with the in-laws or do I buy my new house first and worry if the old one will sell in time?” tech entrepreneur Sean Black asked. Black is the founder and CEO of Knock, one of the latest names in internet-based real estate sales. On Tuesday, Knock will debut its Home Swap service in Orlando and Tampa, making them the first Florida markets to fall under the company’s umbrella.

› Gainesville’s affordable housing crisis worsening amid pandemic [The Alligator]
For the last decade, more and more renters in Gainesville have struggled to find affordable housing. The COVID-19 pandemic has only made it worse. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development defines housing as a cost burden when it costs more than 30% of one’s income. Florida has the highest cost-burden rate for renters in the country at 54.1%, according to the Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University, which used data from the US Census Bureau’s 2016 American Community Survey.

› Ryan Cos. promotes Bosso [Business Observer]
Ryan Cos. USA Inc. has promoted Max Bosso of its Tampa office to vice president of real estate development. Bosso’s move up — he had worked as a director of real estate development for the Minneapolis-based company with 15 offices nationwide — is among a number of high-profile hires and promotions in recent months in Tampa, despite the impact the COVID-19 health crisis has had on the industry.

› Developer buys Miami Herald printing plant in Doral for $11.6M. What will it be next? [Miami Herald]
A former printing plant in Doral that produced tens of thousands of Miami Herald and el Nuevo Herald editions and other newspapers each day was sold Thursday to an Aventura-based developer for $11.6 million. People familiar with the deal say the building will become a school.