April 28 2010 - University of Florida News
“Results of our first quarter survey indicate that the real estate market in Florida has hit bottom and is in the process of stabilizing across most property types,” said Timothy Becker, director of UF’s Bergstrom Center for Real Estate Studies.
Another good sign is that life insurance companies have started to re-invest in commercial properties after backing off for the last year and a half, Becker said. Because these companies use premiums from life insurance policies to make investments, they are not deterred by the lack of available bank financing, he said.
“They see the fundamentals of the economy stabilizing and they see the opportunity to get quality assets at a good price,” he said. “So if they think things aren’t going to get worse and they may actually get better, it follows that they’re going to want to start investing again.”
One of the strongest areas of the state is South Florida, especially Miami-Dade and Broward counties, with their diverse economies, steady migration and influx of foreign capital, Becker said. “The glut of condos in South Florida is actually starting to change hands — they’re beginning to rent them up — and I think there is more life in downtown Miami than there has been in a long time,” he said.
Orlando, Tampa and Jacksonville also are picking up, Becker said. “Florida’s big cities — those four areas — are less bad off than the rest of the state and they’re going to be quicker to recover than other places,” he said.
Jacksonville, in particular, is in a good position because its housing market never got as hot as other markets, and as a result, it doesn’t have as many foreclosures, Becker said. “I think Jacksonville is primed to really take off, and with the expansion of the port is going to have a lot of jobs coming into the marketplace,” he said.
A positive note overall is that survey respondents’ confidence in their own business has risen for the fifth consecutive quarter, Becker said. “It’s always a good sign for us that the lenders think their business is going to get better,” he said. “Maybe it means there is some light at the end of the tunnel, even though we’re still not at a great spot.”
April 1, 2010 - Passport To New Homes to continue in Jacksonville and Palm Beach.
Parent company Kenwood Television Productions is shutting down operation after twenty years. Kenwoods' Florida division head and owner and President of Flashtrax Productions Jeffrey Gordon, announced today that Passport To New Homes in Northeast Florida will continue Sundays at Noon on ABC 25 WJXX as a Flashtrax Production.. Gordon says Passport wiill continue to put Florida's new home builders in front of new home buyers with Charlene Shirk in Jacksonville and Cheryl Bourque in the Palm Beaches and plans to branch into the Tampa and Naples areas by years end.December 9, 2009 - Passport To New Homes comes home to Jacksonville and sets up house in Palm Beach.
Florida division head Jeffrey Gordon announced today that Passport To New Homes in Northeast Florida will be returning to Sundays at Noon, December 13th on ABC 25 WJXX. Passport is a New Homes interview and tour program hosted by Charlene Shirk, which introduces new home builders, developments and communities to tens of thousands of potential homes buyers each week. Passport To New Homes originated in Cincinnati, Ohio over seventeen years ago and debuted its North Florida program in the fall of 2004 on NBC WTLV. Following the decline last year in the building industry, the North Florida homes show went on hiatus.November, 2009 - Tax Credits Provide Outstanding Opportunities for Home Buyers
The Worker, Homeownership, and Business Assistance Act of 2009 has extended the tax credit of up to $8,000 for qualified first-time home buyers purchasing a principal residence. It has also expanded the program to include a "Move-Up" Tax Credit and authorized a tax credit of up to $6,500 for qualified repeat home buyers.
April 28, 2009 - The Treasury Department introduced a plan today to help borrowers modify their second mortgages as part of President Obama’s $75 billion foreclosure relief effort. The program so far has only been focused on modifying first mortgages.
The new initiative follows the same game plan: Treasury will provide loan servicers, lenders and borrowers with a series of incentives and subsidies to modify second mortgages. According to Treasury data, up to 50 percent of “at-risk” mortgages also have second mortgages, such as home equity loans. Only homeowners who get their first mortgage modified will be eligible to get their second mortgage modified.
The cost of tackling second mortgages will figure into the $50 billion in TARP funds already set aside for the Making Home Affordable plan, senior administration officials said in an afternoon conference call with reporters.
March 5, 2009 - The Treasury Department released the broad outlines of its plan last month, but on Wednesday provided more details about how the plan will work.
The plan’s first prong may help up to five million homeowners who have been unable to refinance their mortgage because the value of their home has plunged and they now owe more than 80 percent of their home’s value. To get a new mortgage, borrowers had to either bring extra cash to the table to get back to 80 percent, or purchase private mortgage insurance, which has become more difficult to qualify for and often quite expensive.
The second part of the plan may help up to three to four million borrowers modify their loans. These borrowers can no longer afford their monthly payments and are close to defaulting, while others are on the brink of foreclosure.
The administration’s “Making Home Affordable” program offers mortgage providers with financial incentives to help these two groups, but to qualify, you need to meet certain requirements.
$600 Billion Mortgage Assists - by Boyce Thompson, Builder Magazine
November 25, 2008 - Federal Reserve Announces $600 Billion Plan to Buy Mortgage Assets. Click Here For the full story from Builder Magazine,
October 3, 2008 - House approves revised financial rescue package; President Bush signs bill into law. Click Here For the full story from Builder Magazine,
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