Metas
Naples Real Estate News - 06/29/07
HOMEOWNERS INSURANCE - Five homeowners insurance companies want to raise rates just weeks after the state ordered providers to lower premiums. The state has been asked to approve requests from Auto Owners (average of 41.9 percent), Cincinnati Insurance (37.5 percent), Florida Farm (30.3 percent), Hartford, (29.5 percent) and Metropolitan Property and Casualty (14.9 percent).
Personnally I don’t know of anyone that is using any of the above mentioned insurance companies to insure their Bonita Springs real estate holdings.
AFFORDABLE HOUSING TRUST FUNDS - Florida has affordable housing trust funds, but a bill introduced yesterday in the U.S. Congress would take it to the next level – creating a national affordable housing trust fund.
Using a national affordable housing trust fund may have a negative impact on the state’s affordable housing issues, especially in the Naples real estate market, due to the high cost of housing here, if national medians are used to determine housing cost and income guidelines.
CITIZENS PROPERTY INSURANCE - It’s big and getting bigger: Citizens Property Insurance, the state-run insurer, surpassed 1.3 million policies in May. It’s taking on new policies at an even faster pace this month with the biggest growth coming from outside Florida’s riskiest coastal areas.
Riskiest coastal areas does include the Naples, Bonita Springs and Estero Florida real estate markets.
MORTGAGE RATES - Rates on 30-year, fixed-rate mortgages averaged 6.67 percent this week, compared with 6.69 percent last week, in the second decline after five weeks of increases, according to Freddie Mac’s weekly nationwide survey.
INTEREST RATES - Feeling more optimistic about economic growth and lower inflation, the Federal Reserve on Thursday left the key federal funds interest rate unchanged at 5.25 percent, where it has stayed for the past year. Most analysts think the Fed will remain on hold for the rest of this year and well into 2008, giving a bit of stability to ARMs.
Naples Real Estate News - 06/28/07
HOME INSPECTIONS - It’s official: Gov. Charlie Crist signed SB 2234, which creates a program to license home, mold and wind mitigation inspectors working in Florida. But don’t expect quick changes. The new law becomes effective July 1, 2010.
This is a law that many thought would not be signed by the governor.
I would still recommend any one buying a home in the
Naples Real Estate News - 06/27/07
REAL ESTATE TAXES - Wait until voters have a chance to approve or reject the current real estate tax proposal, Allan Bense urged colleagues on the Taxation and Budget Reform Commission that met yesterday. If that proposal fails, the commission has the power to put another plan before voters as early as November 2008.
Lately, it is becoming evident that legislative persons are not willing to grab an issue and find a resolution. Legislative officials need to take a stand rather than just take a proposal to the people. Guess it is why they are politicians!
HOMEOWNERS INSURANCE - How do homeowners insurance rates compare in your county? Homeowners and buyers can now find comparison info on a state-run Web site, which creates a fictional house and then shows how much it would cost to insure, by company and county, based on rate filings submitted to the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation.
The web site is “Shop and Compare Rates” – www.ShopAndCompareRates.com
If you are thinking about buying Naples real estate, Bonita Springs real estate, or Estero real estate - you might want to bookmark the "Shop and Compare Rates" web site. I plan on bookmarking it myself.
FLORIDA CONSUMER CONFIDENCE - Consumer confidence in Florida rose one point to 83 in June, one month after dropping to its lowest level in 19 months, according to UF economists. Florida residents are more optimistic about future economic conditions, the latest survey finds.
NATIONAL DISASTER INSURANCE - Florida Senator Bill Nelson’s proposal to create a commission to study national disaster insurance seems to be in limbo. A frustrated Nelson says the idea of a commission is the “only viable option” to get the Senate to start dealing with the costs of homeowners insurance in Florida and other disaster-prone areas.
AFFORDABLE HOUSING - To help address the need for affordable housing for people of all income levels throughout the Sunshine State, the Wachovia Foundation is giving $500,000 to UF for a three-year research project. UF plans to create a software model that helps communities evaluate and rank areas identified as suitable for affordable housing.
Will be interesting to see how the Naples, Bonita Springs and Estero real estate markets can locate areas for affordable housing.
Naples Real Estate News - 06/26/07
Not too much to report on today’s Naples real estate news, so it will a rather post.
FLORIDA HOMEOWNERS INSURANCE - Florida’s catastrophe fund is facing a decision: Spend money now so we have more insurance backing if a big one hits; or save money now by gambling that hurricane damage, if any, will be relatively minor. Currently, leaders are leaning toward the latter.
Naples Real Estate News - 06/25/07
FLORIDA HOME INSPECTOR LICENSING - Gov. Charlie Crist recently received SB 2234 by Stephen Wise (R- Jacksonville) regarding state regulation of home inspectors, and has until the end of this week (June 30) to sign it. However, there’s reason to believe the governor may consider vetoing it since he’s already vetoed a bill that instituted higher standards for nail technicians (under DBPR/cosmetologists).
FLORIDA HOME SALES - Statewide sales of existing single-family homes in Florida totaled 12,607 in May, an amount more in line with activity in May 2002 – prior to the housing boom years – than May 2006 numbers. A total of 19,072 homes sold in May 2006 for a 34 percent decrease in the year-to-year comparison. The statewide median price was $237,000 last month.
FLORIDA REAL ESTATE TAXES - “Local government has shut down the No. 1 industry in the state of Florida, and the No. 1 industry isn’t tourism, it’s growth,” said Sen. Mike Bennett (R-Bradenton). Bennett said he approved the recent real estate tax reform measure, which does not go far enough, because there was no other bill on the floor.
FLORIDA HOMEOWNERS INSURANCE - According to Florida Insurance Commissioner Kevin McCarty, the homeowners insurance market has started to stabilize, major insurers don’t plan additional cutbacks and new insurers will take on new policies. But other experts don’t paint a picture quite so rosy.
NEW FLORIDA HOMES - A higher percentage of all homebuyers opt for new construction rather than an existing house, at least according to a report released in Central Florida. Builders with deep pockets and aggressive marketing campaigns pull out all the stops, making it more difficult for single homeowners to compete. The same can be said for the Estero FL real estate, Bonita Springs FL real estate and Naples FL real estate markets.
Naples Real Estate News - 06/22/07
HOME VALUES - Homeowners still have an amazingly optimistic attitude about the value of their homes, with almost 75 percent believing they could sell their home within the next six months at a price they set. That’s good for the industry but presents a challenge for real estate agents working with home sellers. Although this is a national study, it does hold true for Naples Fl real estate homeowners.
MORTGAGE INTEREST RATES - As investors digested news that suggested the economic drag from real estate could last longer than expected, interest rates on 30-year mortgages edged down this week to an average of 6.69 percent, according to Freddie Mac’s weekly nationwide survey.
HOMEOWNERS INSURANCE - It’s old hat in Florida, but homeowners in other coastal states are now finding out what it’s like to have a significant number of property-insurance policies issued by a state-run agency.
FHA MORTGAGES - Over the past eight years, the FHA has become less and less important. Subprime lenders took away many homebuyers; home prices rose far above FHA lending limits; and FHA approval takes far longer than 24 hours. But the FHA’s resurrection may be at hand.
Naples Real Estate News - 06/21/07
FLORIDA REAL ESTATE TAXES - The first phase of real estate tax reform crafted during the Florida Legislature’s special session is now law after Gov. Charlie Crist signed it on June 21st. The first phase offers savings of about 6 or 7 percent to all property owners, both homesteads, second homes and commercial property.
NATIONAL REAL ESTATE MARKET - Blue skies ahead? U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said yesterday that the real estate market’s major slump is nearing an and should not have a significant impact on the overall economy.
SUBPRIME MORTGAGES - Many subprime mortgage borrowers these days are more likely to pay their mortgage late than their credit card, according to a new study from Experian Group. Why? Most put down small or zero downpayments, so they may not be as worried because they don’t have much to lose.
Naples Real Estate News - 06/20/07
FLORIDA MORTGAGE FRAUD - In 2005, Florida ranked No. 1 in mortgage fraud. But the rules will change Oct. 1, 2007, when a new law – signed on June 19th by Gov. Charlie Crist – tightens lending rules. Homebuyers can expect more detailed mortgage disclosures, a good faith estimate they must sign and date, notification of any lender changes no later than three business days before a closing, and details on how much a lender paid a mortgage broker to originate a loan.
HOME BUYERS - Legislators and many others in the Florida real estate industry hope voters will approve the proposed property tax constitutional amendment, and that the reform will jumpstart the state’s slow real estate market by encouraging would-be home buyers to take action.
HOME PRICES - The news isn’t surprising, but it’s not happy either. The PMI U.S. Market Risk index that rates the chance of a home price decline in U.S. cities over the next two years finds a better than 50-50 chance of falling prices in five Florida markets - neither the Naples real estate, Bonita Springs real estate nor Estero real estate markets were specifically sited in the index. The index does not estimate how much prices will fall, only the probability that they’ll go lower.
CITIZENS PROPERTY INSURANCE - A task force examining how Citizens Property Insurance is handling unresolved claims from the 2004 and 2005 storms got an earful from frustrated policyholders with still-open claims and unrepaired homes. Homeowners cited poorly trained adjusters as the biggest problem.
Naples Real Estate Overvalued
You just have to believe everything that is published on the Internet! Even if it potentially has flaws within it. Naples Florida real estate may not be overvalued as the title of this article implies.
On June 16, a staff writer for CNNMoney.com released an article Overheated Housing Markets Cool Down and reflects that the Naples real estate market is overvalued by 63.4%. The source of the data comes from National City Corp and Global Insight. Read more
Naples Real Estate News - 06/19/07
HOUSING MARKET - Florida’s housing market, thought to be stabilizing earlier this year, deteriorated in the latest quarterly UF survey, a situation likely brought on by uneasiness about lending practices, insurance rates and the state’s property tax structure, according to UF analysts. Unforeseen circumstances sometimes cause the market not to improve as well as improve. The "sub-prime" mortgage market did have a negative on the Florida real estate market. As well as the mortgage increases over the past few weeks.
This can be seen in the Naples real estate market by the following statistics 2,448 homes went under contract in 2007, compared to 2,651 in 2006 from January to May.
Also, the Bonita Springs real estate market shows the following statistics 766 homes went under contract between Jan. 1 and May 31 this year. That compared to 721 last year, down nearly 6 percent.