http://fastfloridaappraisals.com/blog Florida Real Estate, Property Appraisals, Covering Saint Lucie to Miami-Dade Counties Mon, 26 Jan 2009 23:48:12 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en MIAMI – 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 standards, which took effect last week and apply ... http://fastfloridaappraisals.com/blog/2009/01/26/new-rules-raise-the-bar-for-condo-mortgages-in-florida/ 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 Realtors® (FAR). December’s statewide sales also increased over November’s ... http://fastfloridaappraisals.com/blog/2009/01/26/florida%e2%80%99s-existing-home-condo-sales-rise-in-december-2008/ 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 homes sold statewide, a decrease of 4 percent compared ... http://fastfloridaappraisals.com/blog/2009/01/26/florida%e2%80%99s-existing-housing-market-reflects-mortgage-economic-issues-at-year-end-2008/ By: Reuters | 25 Jan 2009 | 02:35 PM ET function UpdateTimeStamp(pdt) { var n = document.getElementById("udtD"); if(pdt != '' && n && window.DateTime) { var dt = new DateTime(); pdt = dt.T2D(pdt); if(dt.GetTZ(pdt)) {n.innerHTML = dt.D2S(pdt,((''.toLowerCase()=='false')?false:true));} } } UpdateTimeStamp('633685089419370000'); The Federal Reserve is struggling to explain its plans for pulling ... http://fastfloridaappraisals.com/blog/2009/01/26/with-rates-near-zero-what-will-fed-do-next/ WASHINGTON (AP) – Jan. 22, 2009 – New home construction plunged to an all-time low in December, capping the worst year for builders on records dating back to 1959. The Commerce Department reported Thursday that construction of new homes and apartments fell 15.5 percent to an annual rate of 550,000 units ... http://fastfloridaappraisals.com/blog/2009/01/22/housing-starts-post-larger-than-expected-drop/ GAINESVILLE, Fla. – An accelerating avalanche of bad economic news has swept over Florida real estate to sink confidence in the industry to its lowest level since a statewide survey of economic experts began three years ago, a new University of Florida report finds. Name the segment of real estate – ... http://fastfloridaappraisals.com/blog/2009/01/22/uf-confidence-in-florida-real-estate-markets-at-new-low/ JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (AP) – Jan. 23, 2009 – A task force is recommending that Citizens Property Insurance be allowed to end a three-year rate freeze and start aggressively hiking homeowner rates. The task force voted earlier this month to recommend that the Legislature caps Citizens’ annual rate increase to 10 percent ... http://fastfloridaappraisals.com/blog/2009/01/22/rate-hike-being-recommended-for-florida-insurer/ LAS VEGAS – Jan. 21, 2009 – A panel of housing experts on Tuesday projected that builders’ woes will deepen this year, pushing the prospect of a recovery into 2010 at the earliest. “We do expect ‘09 to be the down year, to be the bottom,” David Crowe, chief economist for ... http://fastfloridaappraisals.com/blog/2009/01/21/economists-see-deeper-housing-woes-in-%e2%80%9809/ ORLANDO, Fla. – Jan. 21, 2009 – When mortgage rates fell below 5 percent last month, broker Jeff Perdue’s phone lines lighted up as dozens of people tried to join the latest refinance boom. When the ringing stopped, only five were approved. The rest had good credit, good income and “decent ... http://fastfloridaappraisals.com/blog/2009/01/21/box-of-tips-on-whether-you-should-refinance/ MANATEE COUNTY, Fla. – Jan. 21, 2009 – Florida snowbirds, so long left out in the cold when it comes to lower taxes, may find their property tax bills falling this year – along with real estate market values. “The people with the biggest break this year will be non-homesteaded property ... http://fastfloridaappraisals.com/blog/2009/01/21/snowbirds-should-find-lower-property-tax-bills-this-year/