Florida Trend | Florida's Business Authority

Reverse snowbirds making long-term moves to the Sunshine State

Reverse snowbirds making long-term moves to the Sunshine State

Florida’s snowbirds traditionally head to the Sunshine State for Thanksgiving and stay or visit repeatedly until early April to escape icy weather in the North and Midwest. In recent years, the trend shifted, with “reverse snowbirds” spending nine or 10 months in Florida and migrating north to escape the humid southern summer. Like many trends, this one was accelerated by the coronavirus pandemic, with some snowbirds heading south in March and April to escape areas hit by the virus and others deciding not to return north at all. [Source: Mansion Global]

The COVID impact on home prices: Are home prices headed toward bubble territory?

Talk of a housing bubble is beginning to crop up as home prices have appreciated at a rapid pace this year. This is understandable since the appreciation of residential real estate is well above historic annual averages. According to the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), annual appreciation since 1991 has averaged 3.8%. [Source: Space Coast Daily]

In Miami, rising seas threatening the few affordable neighborhoods

New research shows that Miami’s affordable housing — already in short supply — is at risk of flooding from sea level rise in the coming decades. The University of Miami found that more than half of all affordable housing in Miami-Dade county lies below Miami’s average elevation of seven feet above sea level. Jennifer Posner, program manager for the University of Miami’s office of civic and community engagement, said the impact can already be felt. [Source: Tampa Bay Times]

More downtown Orlando office space available as people work from home

Working from home has changed the game for a lot of companies around the world. That includes increased productivity and savings. Mark Allen a commercial realtor said many of the office spaces downtown have been cleared out. “A lot of the businesses that were occupying large amounts of space downtown had figured out that it's more cost effective and it works well for more employees to work from home,” Allen said. [Source: WESH]

Buying a house? Here’s where all-cash deals are most competitive

The highest share of all-cash sales is in Nassau County, New York, on Long Island, according to Redfin. Nearly half of sales there are all-cash. Then the next six top markets are all in Florida, including large cities like Miami, Tampa, Fort Lauderdale and West Palm Beach. Atlanta and Tucson, Arizona, are also having a higher share of cash buyers. [Source: CNBC]

STAT OF THE WEEK
$3.3 million
The singer and songwriter Nicky Jam wants to record a real estate hit. The musician is looking to sell his pitch-perfect Miami Beach mansion for $3.3 million. The reggaeton star purchased the property just two years ago for $3.4 million, but he will most likely take a loss on the deal. [Source: Orlando Sentinel]

ALSO TRENDING:

› RE/MAX Advance Realty acquires Florida Keys brokerage
Miami’s RE/MAX Advance Realty acquired RE/MAX All Keys Real Estate, adding offices in Key Largo and Key West. The deal marks the largest in the company’s history, and will make it the only RE/MAX office servicing the entire Florida Keys, according to a press release.

› First Coast home sales inventory plunges in November, again
Northeast Florida is seeing an even more depleted inventory of homes as housing sales remain robust, but are starting to decline, according to Northeast Florida Association of Realtors data released this week. The number of homes on the market along the First Coast dropped to 5,211 in November. That’s yet another drop in inventory in the region, falling from the October figure of 5,889.

› Thousands of Floridians on brink of eviction as protections near end
With coronavirus related economic hardships continuing, and eviction protection set to expire, it could get much worse for many Floridians in the coming weeks. More than 14 million American households are currently at risk of eviction and have an estimated $25 billion in rental debt, according to a report by Stout, a global investment bank and advisory firm.

› Allstate is insuring condos in Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach again
After a 10 year absence, Allstate is once again offering property insurance for condo owners in South Florida again. The national carrier, one of many that stopped issuing policies in South Florida due to billions of dollars in hurricane-related claims, is writing H06 [Condominium Owners Coverage] policies again.