The National Association of Realtors estimates that for each day Congress delays, 1,400 sales are tied up. In Florida, it’s affecting about 175 deals a day. The flood insurance program expired May 31. Since then, some lenders have been willing to accept binders, or promises, to write flood insurance policies as soon as Congress reauthorizes [...]
ORLANDO, Fla., June 22, 2010 – Sales of existing homes in Florida rose 18 percent in May, marking 21 months that sales activity has increased in the year-to-year comparison, according to the latest housing data released by Florida Realtors®. A total of 16,745 single-family existing homes sold statewide last month compared to 14,172 homes sold [...]
Fannie Tightens Interest-Only Requirements Fannie Mae announced last week that it plans to require borrowers using interest-only mortgages to put down 30 percent of the sale price. Fannie Mae also said it will only buy adjustable-rate mortgages underwritten to require that borrowers could afford the loans even if interest rates reset to the higher of either: 1. [...]
Pending home sales increased again in March, affirming that a surge of home sales is unfolding for the spring home buying season, according to the National Association of REALTORS®. The Pending Home Sales Index, a forward-looking indicator based on contracts signed in March, rose 5.3 percent to 102.9 from 97.7 in February, and is 21.1 [...]
Legislators propose raiding state trust funds to balance budget TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – March 31, 2010 – Facing a budget shortfall, Florida’s legislators are proposing raiding a controversial source of cash: trust funds, the accounts used to pay for everything from road building to health care to patching leaky gas pipelines. The funds typically earmark money [...]
WASHINGTON – March 22, 2010 – Self-employed and seasonal workers historically have struggled to meet eligibility criteria for loans. Their plight has worsened of late, however, now that changes to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac rules governing “no doc” and “no ratio” loans have kicked in. Under the revised guidelines, self-employed individuals, 1099 filers, and [...]
Lawmakers: No sprinklers for new houses TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – March 5, 2010 – A House committee moved Wednesday to block the Florida Building Commission from adopting a provision that would require all newly constructed homes to install fire sprinklers. The proposal (PCB GAP 10-22) was unanimously adopted by the House Governmental Affairs Policy committee, but [...]
Per a Florida State law passed in 2009 (SB-360) Hillsborough County is considering a MOBILITY FEE. Buried in the law is a requirement for local government to consider having builders and developers pay for the impact to public roads and transportation brought on by development. This sounds reasonable enough in it’s simplest form, doesn’t it? Please understand that since [...]
This Month in Real Estate November 2009 Commentary Budding signs of recovery continued last month. The encouraging news arrived in a number of closely followed economic indicators. On Thursday, October 29, the U.S. Commerce Department stated the country’s recession has officially ended, at least as leading data indicates. U.S. GDP expanded 3.5 percent in the third [...]
