South Florida Real Estate

NAHB on Home Size: Smaller, Bigger, Smaller Again

The average new-home size dropped 45 square feet to 2,480 in 2022, says NAHB. It predicts home sizes will expand this year before dropping again in 2024. LAS VEGAS – Following a brief uptick in new home sizes in 2021, the average size of a new home dropped slightly from 2,525 square feet to 2,480 … Read more

Appraisers Propose New Fair Housing Requirements

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Appraiser Qualifications Board chair: Appraisal bias “a threat to the public’s trust in the appraisal profession.” Proposed changes would mandate fair-housing education. WASHINGTON – The Appraiser Qualifications Board this week released a First Exposure Draft of proposed changes to the Real Property Appraiser Qualification Criteria. If adopted, the proposed changes would make fair-housing education courses … Read more

7 Non-Salesy Reasons to Contact Your Database

Since people love friends and generally avoid salespeople, a call to “check in,” or an “I stopped by with this small gift” makes you seem more like a friend. NEW YORK – A prime source of leads for real estate professionals is their database list of previous clients. Many agents hesitate to call clients because … Read more

Case-Shiller: Prices Still Up by Year, Down by Month

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In the latest 20-city index, U.S. home prices rose 7.7% year-to-year and dropped 0.6% month to month. But two Fla. cities, Tampa and Miami, saw different results. NEW YORK – The latest S&P Dow Jones Indices released on Tuesday and covering November 2022 found a repeated pattern: The index measuring U.S. home prices year-to-year was … Read more

U.S. Consumer Confidence Down a Bit, but Positive

The Consumer Confidence Index rose to 109 in Dec. and dropped a bit to a still-optimistic 107.1 in Jan. as the possible threat of a 2023 recession looms. BOSTON – American consumers are kicking off 2023 a bit less confident than they were at the end of last year as inflation and the possibility of … Read more

Hope to Buy a Canadian Home? Wait Two Years

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TORONTO – On January 1, 2023, the Canadian government’s Prohibition on the Purchase of Residential Property by Non-Canadians Act (the Act) and the associated Prohibition on the Purchase of Residential Property by Non-Canadians Regulations (the Regulations) came into effect. The Act prohibits “non-Canadians” – which, by virtue of the Regulations, includes entities formed outside of … Read more

Renting a Room Can Hurt Homestead Tax Exemptions

SARASOTA, Fla. – When Dan Graue read a letter from the Sarasota County Property Appraiser that notified him he had been dodging taxes on his homesteaded property and now owed more than $64,000 in fines and back taxes, he thought there must have been an error. He and his wife, Jennifer, had owned the house … Read more

2022 Price Slowdown? Sellers’ Profits Still Rose

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Prices didn’t stop rising in 2022, increases just slowed. U.S. sellers averaged a $112K profit, up 21% – and eight of the top investment returns were in Fla. metros. IRVINE, Calif. – According to Attom’s end-of-year report, the typical sales profit percentage rose from 2021’s 45% to 51% last year, even with values dropping in … Read more

Housing Crash Predicted for 4 Cities – None in Fla.

Goldman Sachs 2023 prediction includes a 2008-type housing crisis, but only in four U.S. cities it considers “overheated”: San Jose, Austin, Phoenix and San Diego. NEW YORK – Goldman Sachs is predicting dark days in 2023 for some of the pandemic’s red-hot U.S. housing markets. The investment bank shied away from predicting a nationwide crash, … Read more

NAR: Dec.’s U.S. Pending Sales up 2.5%

Pending home sales rose for the first time in six consecutive months, thanks in part to lower interest rates. Economist Yun says home sales’ low point “is likely over.” WASHINGTON – December pending home sales increased for the first time since May 2022, breaking a report-after-report decline that lasted six consecutive months. According to the … Read more