Governor Charlie Crist today praised more than $1 billion in federal support for Florida’s housing market, made possible by the federal Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008 passed by Congress this summer. He also announced that Standard &Poor’s has affirmed a “AAA” rating with a stable outlook to Florida’s general obligation bonds.
“I commend Florida’s [...]

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Oct. 2, 2008 – Long before the debate over a federal bailout of the nation’s financial institutions took center stage, sagging property values and soaring mortgage payments triggered in part by adjustable interest rates and increasing taxes threatened to force thousands of Floridians into foreclosure.
According to RealtyTrac, Florida’s 44,000 foreclosure filings in [...]

WASHINGTON – Sept. 29, 2008 – The state of Florida will receive $541 million in new federal foreclosure funds to prevent further home loan defaults and combat the effects of blight caused by the growing tide of abandoned properties, U.S. Housing and Urban Development Secretary Steve Preston announced Friday.
State and local governments must use the [...]

ORLANDO, Fla. – Sept. 24, 2008 – For the second month in a row, several of Florida’s metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs) reported increased sales of both existing single-family homes and existing condos in August 2008, according to the latest housing statistics released by the Florida Association of Realtors (FAR).
“Despite economic uncertainty and the start of [...]

WASHINGTON (AP) – Sept. 22, 2008 – Home prices. That’s what the Bush administration’s historic Wall Street bailout is really about.
Falling home prices in the U.S. have acted like dominoes, knocking homeowners into foreclosure and taking down lender after lender, until the entire global financial system was in jeopardy.
Experts say that the government’s enormous plan [...]

As the outlook of Fort Worth’s residential real estate market continues to become clearer, some developers are re-examining their mixed-use development projects – and their high-dollar condominium facets – in an effort to correct with the market.
And for developers of West 7th project, that meant scraping the condos and replacing them with a better performing [...]

South Florida may have dodged some of the recent hurricanes, but it is still experiencing turbulence, especially in the condo market. Has it hit bottom yet? Peter Fitzgerald, COO of the The RADCO Cos., talks about what’s in the sector’s forecast.
Where does South Florida’s condominium market stand right now? Have you seen any recovery, or [...]

When large South Florida developers needed money, they often turned to Lehman Brothers.
That role ended in dramatic fashion when Lehman filed for bankruptcy protection. But Lehman still controls nearly $2 billion in large loans throughout the region, meaning the bank’s demise will play out across South Florida’s besieged real estate market.
Among the local projects Lehman [...]

NEW YORK – Sept. 15, 2008 – CNN’s Money magazine recently listed America’s best places to live, and a number of Florida cities made the grade. Three cities – Coral Springs, Miramar and Weston – are in the top 100 for best places to live; Dunedin is a terrific town on the water; Collier County [...]

The real estate business runs on jobs.
Oh sure, you need low interest rates and a ready supply of debt to do property market deals.
But for the industry to do really well, there has to be a sound economy and job growth.
Fortunately for Dallas-Fort Worth real estate developers and investors, this area leads the country in [...]