Florida's median home price is up 17% from the same time last year

In the first quarter of 2021, Florida’s housing market reported more closed sales, higher median prices and more new pending sales compared to a year ago, according to the latest housing data released by Florida Realtors. Closed sales of single-family homes statewide totaled 78,353 in 1Q 2021, up 19.4% from the 1Q 2020 level. “A year ago, in early March, the first coronavirus cases were confirmed in Florida,” said 2021 Florida Realtors President Cheryl Lambert, broker-owner with Only Way Realty Citrus in Inverness. “Looking back at that first quarter, considering everything that we have all endured with the pandemic, and where we are today in the first quarter of 2021, it’s almost impossible to believe."  [Source: Palm Coast Observer]

Priced out of Jacksonville: Realtors say affordable housing bill doesn’t address needs

A rush of people moving from out of state to escape the pandemic has made the affordable housing crisis unlivable for some in Northeast Florida. Part of the problem is that many of the rentals are being sold as investors swoop in with cash offers. In 2019, the median income in Duval County was $56,000, which equates to an average of about $300,000 for a home, which is the same price point investors are looking at. “If nothing else came on the market today, everything would be gone — everything would be gone in less than a month,” Missi Howell, the president of the Northeast Florida Association of Realtors, said. [Source: Action News Jax]

Column: Like our sunshine, the future of Florida real estate looks bright

Although 2020 was a challenging and difficult year, when it comes to Florida’s real estate, 2021 is encouraging. Commercial real estate developers, investors, lenders and most businesses were significantly and painfully impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic. Fortunately, the government provided significant financial relief through the Paycheck Protection Program and Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act, and these programs significantly reduced and delayed what otherwise might have been inevitable and painful defaults and collection activity. [Source: Tampa Bay Business Journal]

Locked Out: Low pay, soaring rents, pro-landlord laws set up Florida renters for eviction once COVID hit

Housing experts argue Florida has some of the harshest eviction laws in the country, written so landlords can evict people as quickly as possible and without going to court. During the COVID-19 outbreak, those landlord-friendly laws, coupled with the state’s severe shortage of affordable homes, rising rents and years of stagnant wages, left thousands of suddenly jobless renters exposed. And even after the government ordered a halt to eviction proceedings and federal dollars were made available to help people pay rent, many tenants were not spared. [Source: Orlando Sentinel]

Fresh recruits mitigate pandemic’s blows to South Florida office leasing

Office tenants new to South Florida – many with roots on Wall Street – are easing the impact of the COVID-19 recession on office owners and developers, particularly in Miami and West Palm Beach. The biggest city between them, Fort Lauderdale has been bypassed by corporate newcomers looking for ample space in South Florida. But that may change as a commercial migration to South Florida unfolds alongside a residential migration. [Source: Commercial Observer]

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› Real estate broker goes from the Hamptons to Sarasota [Business Observer]
Working with ultra-luxury buyers is just one interesting stop on Mark Baron’s career path. He’s worked on a glass-bottom boat and was a project manager in South Africa, where he grew up, involved in building shopping centers. Baron and his wife, who has a degree in fine arts, also owned art galleries, first in Delray Beach and then in the Hamptons. But Baron kept feeling a yearning to get into real estate, so he joined a top luxury brokerage in the Hamptons. “Most of my clients are very high-profile individuals,” he says. “My clients are celebrities and titans of industry.”

› Florida’s first affordable housing unit for LGBTQ+ seniors opens in Broward [Daily Business Review]
LGBTQ+ senior citizens in South Florida have a new housing option in Broward County. The Residences at Equality Park, on a five-acre campus north of Fort Lauderdale in the City of Wilton Manors, is the first affordable housing project in the state with services supporting the population — which is often overlooked and discriminated against.

› Industrial facility serving Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show, other events sells for $29M [The Real Deal]
Realterm Logistics bought a Fort Lauderdale industrial facility used by major local events for $28.6 million. The Annapolis, Maryland-based industrial and logistics real estate investor bought the property at 1900 Northwest 21st Avenue from an affiliate of Jonathan Cox, founder and chairman of commercial real estate firm The Federated Companies, according to records.

› Powerful new rush of buyers sends Miami-Dade housing prices soaring [Miami Today]
So far in 2021, residential real estate experts are reporting a powerful new wave of buyers, increasing the demand on an already low housing inventory throughout Miami-Dade County. While no one has a crystal ball to know exactly how long the strong demand will last, in the next three to five months more properties will start to come on the market and will affect the pricing, according to Ivory Cooks, a realtor at Coldwell Banker Realty and Master Brokers Forum’s advisory board member.