Florida remains top destination in great COVID migration

Florida has become a particularly popular destination this year as remote workers and retirees flock to the state in search of beaches, warm weather, low taxes and more affordable housing than big cities on the East or West Coast. Net inflow into Miami has nearly tripled since this time last year, and net inflow into Tampa has nearly doubled, with New York as the number-one origin for Redfin.com users moving to both areas. [Source: Real Estate Weekly]

Lofty home prices expected to squeeze middle-class buyers. South Florida migration will drive 2022 housing market.

Escalating costs to buy homes in Miami-Dade could reach a point next year in which many people can’t afford homeownership, while more wealthy professionals from other parts of the country keep relocating here and buying houses and condominiums, area economists and real estate experts say. The hot housing market also has certain homeowners sitting on the sidelines, opting to stay in their homes rather than looking to sell and buy another house at seemingly the high end of the residential real estate cycle. [Source: Miami Herald]

Homes for Heroes: Foundation helps Florida’s most deserving

50,000 teachers, nurses, first responders, veterans, and service members. That is how many people “Homes for Heroes” has helped since it was founded 20 years ago. A local Navy veteran has been a big part of this effort. Mario Gonzalez and his team at Navy to Navy Homes have helped 1,000 local heroes. Over the years, he has gotten to know some of northeast Florida’s most deserving. For more than 20 years, Gonzalez flew helicopters in the Navy. He knows what it is like to serve. Now as a real estate agent, he serves in a different way. [Source: WJXT]

Firm to offer real estate brokers payment in cryptocurrency as part of 'natural progression'

Major athletes and musicians have gotten paid in cryptocurrency – and now real estate agents can as well. A specialty finance firm called RLTY Capital is the first to offer brokers the option to get their commissions paid up front, in crypto, underscoring how digital coins are becoming a more mainstream part of financial transactions. Currently, RLTY’s services are available in New York and Florida, and are expected to go national within the next six to eight months. [Source: Yahoo Finance]

Tampa Bay’s rent increased by a record 24% in 2021, the highest in nation

It was clear by the summer that Tampa Bay’s rent increases were shattering records. But as 2021 comes to a close, the verdict is that the price changes were stratospheric. Rent prices in Tampa Bay increased by a record 24 percent in 2021, according to an analysis by CoStar Group, a commercial real estate data firm, which included Pinellas, Hillsborough, Pasco and Hernando counties. Tampa Bay had the highest rent spike in the nation for markets with at least 100,000 apartments, CoStar found. [Source: Tampa Bay Times]

ALSO TRENDING:

› 1 million square feet: Developer surpasses property milestone after buying 3 more downtown Miami buildings [Miami Herald]
Billionaire developer Moishe Mana on Thursday acquired three more properties in downtown Miami in the Flagler District, pushing his real estate holdings there over 1 million square feet. Mana bought the buildings at 100 N. Miami Avenue, 173 N.E. 1st Street, and 124 N.E. 2nd Avenue for $25.4 million, giving him over 60 properties.  

› Bay County to oversee affordable housing program for all areas outside of Panama City [Paama City News Herald]
Affordable housing programs in Bay County might look a little different in the coming year. The Bay County Commission recently voted unanimously to approve both the creation of the county's own Affordable Housing Advisory Committee and the Bay County Local Housing Assistance Plan contract.

› Will real estate in Sarasota, Manatee stay hot in 2022? Experts think so [Sarrasota Herald-Tribune]
Real estate experts have gushed about record-high prices, unprecedented appreciation, and off-the-charts demand for homes in Sarasota and Manatee counties over the past year. But with interest rate hikes anticipated in the coming months to combat rising inflation, a new COVID variant spreading, and supply chain issues still prevalent, will area residential real estate stay hot in 2022?

› Here are South Florida’s biggest retail deals of 2021 [The Real Deal]
The largest retail deals in South Florida this year confirm renewed investor demand for well-performing shopping centers. The tri-county region’s biggest retail sale of the year, the $108 million trade of a northwest Miami-Dade shopping plaza, was more than double last year’s top deal of $47 million. Buyers involved in 2021’s largest five deals paid an average of $424 a square foot, roughly $28 more than investors paid in the top five sales last year.