Naples Real Estate News - 01/08/08

FLORIDA BUYERS - One in three Florida homebuyers is single, with 21 percent of home purchases made by single women and 12 percent by single men – just one finding from the newly-released Florida version of National Association of Realtor’s “2007 Profile of Florida Homebuyers and Sellers.” Another highlight: Over two-thirds of Florida buyers (64 percent) had no children younger than 18.

ECONOMY - Florida’s housing market slowed in 2007, flattened out and will begin to recover

in 2008, according to a new forecast report from the Attorneys’ Title Insurance Fund. “Florida has a very large and powerful economy that has gone through a cyclical downshift, but it is still outperforming compared to the rest of the nation,” says Orlando economist Dr. Hank Fishkind, who created the report.

A detail synopsis of the Dr. Fishkind’s report will be posted later this month on this blog for the Naples real estate market, as well as the Bonita Springs and Estero areas of Lee County.

HOUSING MARKET - The Bush administration is working to address the country’s severe housing crisis but there is no simple solution, Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said yesterday, adding that a correction in the housing market is “inevitable and necessary.”

ADVERSE POSSESSION - With land ownership, it’s use it or lose it. Under “adverse possession,” someone can claim Florida land that seems abandoned, even if the actual owner pays property taxes on it.

HOME BUILDERS - KB Home, one of the nation’s largest homebuilders, said Tuesday its fiscal fourth-quarter loss ballooned as home sales slowed and the company posted a loss of $772.7 million, or $9.99 per share. Prospective buyers of new construction homes should be constantly watching the financial news of home builders during this period to determine, if a home builder will be able to perform on a contract for construction of a new residence - this applies to not only the Naples area, but nationally.