Stix ‘n Brix

Between a rock and a hard place. That’s where just about everyone is when it comes to property insurance. Insurers, drained by huge claims from the storms of the past two years and faced with skyrocketing reinsurance costs, are either pulling out of the state or raising premiums to stratospheric levels. Politicians are faced with the problem of how to keep the state’s insurer of last resort alive without decimating the budget. Property owners are faced with the certainty of huge rate increases. (more…)

Sales of existing single-family homes fell by 20% in the first quarter of 2006 compared with the same period a year earlier, reports the Florida Association of Realtors

Dr. David Scott, executive director of the Dr. Phillips Institute for the Study of American Business Activity and professor of finance at the University of Central Florida (UCF) said “Sales of existing single-family homes in Florida behaved like much of the U.S. across the 2006 first quarter. The stress points on unit sales come from two key sources: One, rising inventories of dwellings for sale and two, rising mortgage rates. On the latter, conventional mortgage rates closed the 2006 initial quarter at 6.35 percent and are trending up.” (more…)

This Spring much of Florida has experienced severe drought conditions. In addition, ever-tightening irrigation restrictions and the rising cost of water are making it more difficult and expensive to keep landscaping fresh and healthy.

Drip and micro-spray irrigation are two techniques that are becoming more popular and cost-effective. Drip methods were developed in the agriculture industry more than forty years ago, and have been growing in popularity in the residential market for the past twenty years. (more…)

One of the hottest trends in Florida real estate is condo conversions. Apartment complex owners have been taking advantage of elevated real estate prices by converting the units to condominium ownership.

Condo conversions can create more affordable housing when compared with the price of traditional single-family homes, but they also attract speculators whose interest can, while demand is strong, drive prices higher by flipping their units for a fast profit. But inexperienced investors, often late to the market, can get caught. With so many condos for sale, prices level off or even decline. The oversupply also affects rents, so that those same speculators can’t afford to wait out the oversupply because rental income doesn’t cover mortgage payments, taxes, insurance, and association fees.

A Tampa Bay Tribune article describes the current market for condos there.