Florida Trend | Florida's Business Authority

COVID-driven real estate frenzy levels off: You can start looking for that home again

COVID-driven real estate frenzy levels off: You can start looking for that home again

The influx of these “COVID buyers” dramatically shook up the local housing market, leading to bidding wars and buyer mania unlike anything we’ve seen in recent memory. This priced many locals out of the market and caused them to give up looking. Good news for those buyers: You can start shopping for a house again. Based on fresh data from RelatedISG Realty and ISG World’s Q3 Miami Report, there appears to be a shift in urgency from buyers signaling the end of the COVID-19-driven mania in the single-family home market: The data shows August and September have marked a decline in single-family home transactions. [Source: Miami Herald]

Florida Bar post-Surfside report calls for tougher condo rules on reserves and inspections

The report released last week proposes making it easier to dissolve condominium associations when a building falls into disrepair, requiring updated maintenance plans every five years. The recommendations also included forcing condo associations to set up borrowing options if they choose to waive current requirements for maintaining cash reserves for repairs as structures age. [Source: Miami Herald]

Palm Beach real estate: A look inside Florida’s million-dollar mansion market

FOX Business’ "Mansion Global" toured two estates in the Palm Beach area, the first bringing Italian villa vibes to Florida’s shores. 1160 S Ocean Blvd. in Manalapan faces a 160-foot stretch of beach and sits on 1.7 acres of oceanfront yard, totaling 20,075 square feet in property space. The asking price -- $29.5 million. Listing agent Holly Meyer Lucas stressed that the Manalapan area is home to an "exclusive who’s who" of residents. Lucas detailed that this home is only one of 30 which features front yard beach access and inter-coastal canal access in the backyard for the option to dock a yacht. [Source: FOX Business]

How the homeownership rate in Florida compares to other states

Homeownership is a longstanding aspiration for millions of Americans. According to a Gallup poll, more than nine in every 10 American investors consider owning a home to be either an essential or important component of the American dream. Homeownership can also be one of the best and most practical ways to build wealth -- both through appreciation of equity and tax deductions. The past year has been historic for the American housing market. [Source: The Center Square]

Money laundering more prevalent in real estate than anywhere else

A new report from Global Financial Integrity, a Washington-based think tank that studies the flow of illicit finances, says America has become a “safe haven” for money laundering. The group says that “at a minimum,” $2.3 billion has been laundered through real estate over the last five years. And given that GFI only studied cases already reported or adjudicated, it ventured that the total value of property purchased with laundered money is even more “staggering.” [Source: Miami Herald]

STAT OF THE WEEK
2.32%

Report: Fla. Closing costs are 2.32% of home price.

In the U.S., closing costs, including taxes, were up 10.5% year-to-year, and almost $7K for an average price home. In Fla. it’s a bit higher: $8.5K for the average home. [Source: Florida Realtors]

ALSO TRENDING:

› Sarasota's newest apartment developer answers 5 questions about multifamily market Headline
Gainesville-based The Collier Companies entered Sarasota's multifamily market at the end of September with a $5.4 million purchase of a 13.2-acre parcel off Fruitville Road.

› Moishe Mana buys more land in Miami’s Allapattah
Portion of the assemblage was in contract to a different buyer until pandemic

› As rents in South Florida soar out of reach, more people are finding themselves priced out — and onto the streets
It’s been two weeks since Sean Jeremy’s landlord raised his rent beyond what he could afford. For now, the only place he can afford to live is in his car.

› Non-profit organization rebuilds several homes in north central Florida
Hattie Martin's home is one of eight projects apart of [Re]building Together North Central Florida's October Fall re-build month.