The following letter was received by the Editor of the Florida Association of Realtors Editor, Back in July 2005 I was writing a weekly real estate column for the local newspaper. The column I wrote that particular week changed my life. In the column that day, I made...

Sales are picking up in markets where prices are deflated, but the business is different than it was before the bubble burst, observers say. The housing market in deflated markets--like Arizona, California, Florida, and Nebraska--are beginning to show signs of a...

ORLANDO, Fla. – April 23, 2009 – Florida’s existing home sales increased in March, making it the seventh month in a row that sales activity demonstrated gains in the year-to-year comparison, according to the latest housing data released by the Florida Association of...

Housing Predictor - which monitors over 250 residential property markets nationwide - says Florida appears to be emerging from the realty slump before any other state, including California.The Sunshine State is seeing population growth, and single-family home and...

WASHINGTON – March 27, 2009 – Rates on 30-year mortgages fell this week to the lowest level on record after the Federal Reserve launched a new effort to assist the staggering U.S. housing market. Mortgage finance giant Freddie Mac said Thursday that average rates on...

More than three-quarters (78 percent) of potential first-time home buyers say that now is a good time to buy a home, despite widespread concern about the economy. Out of the 1,000 prospective U.S. first-time home buyers surveyed in early March for the CENTURY 21...

ORLANDO, Fla. – March 23, 2009 – Florida’s existing home sales rose in February, making it the sixth consecutive month that sales activity showed increases in the year-to-year comparison, according to the latest housing data released by the Florida Association of...

WASHINGTON – March 23, 2009 – Small banks could play a key role in spurring the nation’s economic recovery, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke said Friday, as many appear strong enough to make new loans while bigger institutions have pulled back. Bernanke urged...

It is now $1,901 cheaper to build a new home in Polk County. Answering pleas from the local development community, the Polk County Commission voted Wednesday to reduce impact fees for new home construction by nearly $2,000. In addition to adopting a revised road...

WASHINGTON – March 20, 2009 – Rates on 30-year mortgages plunged to a record low Thursday after the Federal Reserve launched a new effort to prop up the flailing housing market. The national average rate on 30-year, fixed mortgages was 4.94 percent on Thursday,...

WASHINGTON – March 11, 2009 – Homeowners who decide to rent out their properties have to stop thinking of themselves as homeowners and instead consider themselves as running a small business, experts say. Thinking like a businessperson means focusing on the monthly...

WASHINGTON – March 10, 2009 – HOPE NOW, a nonprofit alliance of mortgage companies, housing counselors and others in the lending business, has added a new tool to its website enabling homeowners to initiate a loan modification or refinance with their lenders by...

For the second straight week, mortgage applications rose significantly in response to the government’s efforts to stabilize housing and the economy. The Mortgage Bankers Association’s week index reached 1159.4, an increase of 32.2 percent on a seasonally adjusted...

WASHINGTON – Feb. 27, 2009 – Against a backdrop of record-low new home sales, Housing Secretary Shaun Donovan told lawmakers the lending industry is set to launch the Obama administration’s $75 billion foreclosure prevention program next week. Final details will be...

ORLANDO, Fla. – Feb. 27, 2009 – Florida’s existing home sales rose in January, making it the fifth month in a row that sales activity showed increases in the year-to-year comparison, according to the latest housing data released by the Florida Association of Realtors®...

Scam artists are proliferating, attempting to make money off troubled borrowers interested in taking advantage of President Barack Obama’s foreclosure-prevention plan. The firms charge fees for what they tell borrowers will be quick and effective negotiations with...

Existing-home sales increased in February, reversing losses in January, according to the latest report by the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS®. However, sales activity remains relatively soft, reflecting additional layoffs and buyers waiting for housing provisions in...

WASHINGTON – Feb. 17, 2009 – How does a first-time homebuyer take advantage of the $8,000 tax credit that President Obama is expected to sign into law tomorrow? It comes with a few rules. According to the most recent analysis, the following rules will apply – though...

Let’s take a look at some of the opportunities and positive indicators for the future of Florida’s real estate market. Great prices. Statewide, home prices have fallen about 20 percent in the past year. FAR statistics show the existing-home median sales price was...

ORLANDO, Fla. – Feb. 12, 2009 – Sales of existing single-family homes in Florida rose 13 percent in fourth quarter 2008 compared to the same period a year earlier, according to the latest housing statistics from the Florida Association of Realtors® (FAR). A total of...

These days it’s particularly tough for someone involved in a small-business real-estate venture to find funding. David Gass, founder of Business Credit Services of Las Vegas, offers these suggestions to real estate entrepreneurs in search of investors or loans. Put...

WASHINGTON – Feb. 3, 2009 – Home buyers could see lower mortgage rates and get tax credits as part of a sweeping economic stimulus package being considered on Capitol Hill. Lawmakers are heeding the pleas of two powerful and well-heeled interest groups: real estate...

WASHINGTON – Feb. 3, 2009 – Many moderate-income Floridians will qualify for the IRS' Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) for the first time in 2008, including some Realtors who worked through a slow year. Florida Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink has actively promoted...

WASHINGTON – Jan. 30, 2009 – Freddie Mac today plans to announce a first-of-a-kind plan that lets homeowners and tenants temporarily stay in homes in foreclosure by renting them back, an effort to stop many of the sudden evictions that have come along with the housing...

McLEAN, Va. – Jan. 30, 2009 – Rates on 30-year mortgages edged down this week, but remained above 5 percent, Freddie Mac reported Thursday. The average rate on a 30-year fixed mortgage dipped to 5.10 percent this week from 5.12 percent last week. At this time last...

WASHINGTON – Jan. 30, 2009 – According to the National Association of Realtors® (NAR), the U.S. House of Representatives has taken a significant step toward economic recovery in passing H.R. 1, The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. "On behalf of NAR and...

WASHINGTON – Jan. 14, 2009 – According to National Association of Realtors® (NAR) President Charles McMillan’s testimony yesterday before the U.S. House Financial Services Committee, Congress and the next administration must place significant emphasis on restoring...

WASHINGTON (AP) – Jan. 29, 2009 – The Federal Reserve signaled that it stands ready to use new unconventional tools, or expand existing ones, to spur lending and consumer spending that could help lift the economy out of a painful recession. The Fed also agreed...

Mortgage loan applications bounced back last week as rates fell and end-of-the-year holiday hoopla faded. The Mortgage Bankers Association weekly index of application volume rose to 1,324.8, an increase of 15.8 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis from 1,143.8 the...

Jan. 26, 2009 – Lending giant Fannie Mae is slapping tough new requirements on mortgages for Florida condos, moves that analysts believe will make it even more difficult to sell units in buildings already starved for residents and struggling financially. The...

ORLANDO, Fla. – Jan. 26, 2009 – Florida’s housing market mirrored the national trend in 2008, as mortgage industry troubles, unsettled financial markets, tightened credit and other economic issues impacted sales and prices. By year’s end, a total of 124,215 existing...

ORLANDO, Fla. – Jan. 26, 2009 – Florida’s existing home sales rose in December, making it the fourth consecutive month that sales activity demonstrated gains in the year-to-year comparison, according to the latest housing data released by the Florida Association of...

WASHINGTON – Jan. 23, 2009 – Washington is doing all it can to get money flowing again in the housing sector. At around 5 percent, 30-year mortgage rates are at levels that haven’t been seen in, well, 30 years. If you want to buy a home or refinance your existing...

McLEAN, Va. – Jan. 23, 2009 – Rates on 30-year mortgages rose above 5 percent this week, ending a five-week run at record low levels, Freddie Mac reported Thursday. Mortgage rates have been in decline since the Federal Reserve said in late November it would buy up to...

McLEAN, Va. – Jan. 16, 2009 – Rates on 30-year mortgages set a record for a fifth straight week by dropping to below 5 percent, the lowest mark since Freddie Mac started tracking the data in 1971. Mortgage rates have been dropping since late November, when the Federal...

ORLANDO, Fla. – Jan. 14, 2009 – Qualifying for a mortgage is not nearly as easy these days as it was just a couple of years ago, before the sub prime-loan-market collapse and the worldwide credit freeze. Still, mortgages are approved every day, even for home buyers...

WASHINGTON – Jan. 14, 2009 – Mortgage finance company Fannie Mae said Tuesday it has adopted a policy allowing renters to remain in their homes even if their landlord enters foreclosure. The new policy will allow residents of about 4,000 properties to sign new leases...

If all home buyers become eligible for a tax credit without a repayment feature, it could result in an additional 555,000 home sales, enough to meaningfully draw down excess housing inventory, the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® says. An evaluation of options for a...

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) – Jan. 14, 2009 – The state’s insurance commissioner Tuesday tried to calm fears about the solvency of small companies stepping in to replace industry giants that have reduced homeowner coverage in Florida due to the state’s hurricane risk....

Home shopping alone - without the help of a professional even when online - can become a huge handicap for home buyers. Here are four reasons: Late information. Shoppers who limit themselves to only looking at real estate Web sites will overlook some very good...

While the current recession will be longer and more severe than predicted, housing will help lead the country out of the downturn, Boston Federal Reserve Bank President Eric Rosengren told the Massachusetts Mortgage Bankers Association at its annual meeting. Rosengren...

Prices for luxury second-home markets are falling out of the stratosphere–and attracting buyers who were previously priced out of the market. Prices in the Caribbean have dropped by $500,000 and European retreats in Spain, Malta, and Portugal are down 30 percent, says...

WASHINGTON – Jan. 6, 2009 – Don’t believe everything you read, says NAR. There is some misinformation in the media lately about the required size of a down payment for a mortgage in today’s market, and the blog world is a buzz with misperceptions. Not all so-called...

Busch Entertainment Corp. is again offering free admission to most of its parks for members of the military and their families. The amusement park subsidiary of Anheuser-Busch InBev announced it was renewing its program that is being sponsored by Budweiser. The...

WASHINGTON – Jan. 5, 2009 – Rates on 30-year mortgages fell to a record low for the third straight week and borrowers took advantage of the drop, sending new applications soaring. With the Federal Reserve on the verge of pouring hundreds of billions of dollars into...