Many South Tampa Projects On Hold

South West Shore Boulevard has some of the last large tracts of waterfront land in South Tampa available for redevelopment. City officials have said that the area will become a new gateway connecting Tampa and St. Petersburg via the Gandy Bridge. Two years ago, when developers proposed the new projects, buyers from all over the world stepped forward with deposits. But when the market changed, many of those buyers canceled their contracts. As a result, some developers have halted construction. Some, who got started after the market turned, couldn't secure enough contracts to get financing and never started building. Other developers are hanging on to the land they purchased and waiting for the market to improve.

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Housing pain is worst out west

Not all housing woes are created equally. A nationwide real estate analysis shows housing prices in 17 states depreciated over the past 12 months. But most states continued to report modest appreciation. Five states, from Maine to Wyoming showed prices appreciating 5 to 10 percent. And Hawaii topped 10 percent, with Honolulu up nearly 15 percent. Bottom line? Tampa Bay's housing market lost 7.65 percent of its appreciation in the past year. But Florida is not the hardest hit of the states. California lost at least 10 percent of its housing appreciation in the past year, according to an index from First American LoanPerformance of San Francisco.

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Title company to pay $5M

Florida's second-largest title insurance company will pay $5-million to settle charges that it ran an elaborate kickback scheme to build its business, state and federal officials said Friday. Regulators say that First American Title Insurance Co. illegally paid real estate agents, mortgage brokers, banks and home builders for referrals by making them partners in sham title companies. Eighty-four of these companies were created to funnel business to First American and payments to those making the referrals, authorities said. First American denied breaking any laws, but agreed to shut down the partnership companies. First American will pay $5-million to the three agencies involved in the investigation and settlement, the Florida Department of Financial Services, the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

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Homebuilders reconsider price cuts

With the market not expected to improve anytime soon and cash-starved builders saddled with inventory, few are willing to take any chances. Plus, they reason, buyers will just go to competitors - including new, existing and foreclosed homes - with better offers. And there are plenty of them: Last month, nearly 60 percent of builders cut prices. But some may be losing faith. About half labeled the cuts at least "somewhat effective" in bolstering sales or limiting cancellations, down from a high of 72 percent in May, according to the National Association of Home Builders.

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Florida Remains a Powerful Magnet for Retirees

As the aging baby boom generation moves into their retirement years, Florida remains a prime destination for active adults, according to real estate professionals around the state. “We’re seeing signs of growing demand for homes in our market – especially from the Baby Boomers,” said Nancy Riley, a broker with Coldwell Banker Residential Real Estate in Pinellas County and 2007 president of the Florida Association of Realtors® (FAR). “More boomers are turning 60 every year and a substantial number are looking to buy in Florida.” According to the U.S. Census Bureau, there are 76 million members of the baby boomers generation born between 1946 and 1964. As of 2007, the boomer range in age from 61 to 43 and comprise nearly 28 percent of the adult U.S. population. If only 5 percent of the boomers eventually retire to Florida, that alone would add 3.8 million new residents.

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Mortgage Rates Unchanged In Latest Weekly Survey

The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) averaged 6.24 percent with an average 0.4 point for the week ending November 15, 2007, unchanged from last week when it averaged 6.24 percent as well. Last year at this time, the 30-year FRM averaged 6.24 percent. The 30-year FRM has not been lower since the week ending May 17, 2007, when it averaged 6.21 percent.

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Modest recovery for existing-home sales in 2008

A modest recovery for existing-home sales is expected in 2008 as the impact of the credit crunch subsides, while pending home sales indicate near-term stability, according to the latest forecast released at the National Association of Realtors (NAR) Conference & Expo this week. Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, said the housing market will improve from a steady unleashing of pent-up demand, and from a wide abundance of safer mortgage products. “The level of pent-up demand reaching the market next year is a bit uncertain, and it is possible for even higher home sales activity than we’re forecasting if buyers regain their confidence about the long-term benefits of homeownership,” he said. “Over the near term, home sales are likely to be fairly flat as the lingering impact of the credit crunch filters through the system through the end of the year.” The Pending Home Sales Index, a forward-looking indicator based on contracts signed in September, rose 0.2 percent to a reading of 85.7 from an index of 85.5 in August. It was 20.4 percent lower than the September 2006 level of 107.6. “Even with relatively low fourth quarter sales, 2007 will be the fifth highest year on record for existing-home sales. The median existing-home price in 2007 will have fallen by less than 2 percent from an all-time high set in 2006,” Yun said.

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Foreclosures spike; Florida among worst

Homeowners across the United States are increasingly having trouble making their mortgage payments on time, but borrowers in metro areas of Florida, California and other once-booming housing markets are accounting for the biggest spikes in foreclosure filings, according to a mortgage research company. RealtyTrac, in Irvine, Calif., calculates its foreclosure rate ranking by comparing the number of households in a metro area with the number of foreclosure filings, which include notices of default, auction sale notices or bank repossessions. Stockton, about 83 miles east of San Francisco, had the highest foreclosure rate in the third quarter among the top 100 metro areas, with one foreclosure filing for every 31 households, RealtyTrac said. Detroit was second, with one foreclosure filing for every 33 households. The Riverside-San Bernardino metro area, located about 60 miles east of Los Angeles, was third, with one filing for every 43 households. Among Florida metro areas, Fort Lauderdale was ranked fourth and Miami was ranked eighth.

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Chapter 13 Filings Increase in Tampa

Florida's troubled real estate market has pushed the state's foreclosure rate to among the highest. Lenders have filed more than 20,000 foreclosure filings in Hillsborough, Pasco and Pinellas counties through September. That's up nearly 131 percent when compared to the same period last year. During the first nine months this year, 7,348 homeowners in the Middle District of Florida, which includes the Tampa Bay area, have filed for Chapter 13, court records show, 68 percent more than 4,361 who filed during the same period last year. As more and more people fall behind on their mortgage payments, lenders are pushing homeowners to call early if they're in trouble.

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Tax plan support in doubt

Fifty-three percent of registered voters said they support the tax package, seven points short of the 60 percent needed to pass a constitutional amendment.

Proposed tax plan

Major elements of the property tax plan:

1. Homestead exemption doubles, except on school taxes.

2. Save Our Homes benefit can be taken to a new home.

3. $25,000 exemption on tangible personal property tax.

4. 10 percent cap on nonhomestead assessments.

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Long Term Mortgage Rates Ease Slightly

The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) averaged 6.24 percent with an average 0.4 point for the week ending November 8, 2007, down from last week when it averaged 6.26 percent. Last year at this time, the 30-year FRM averaged 6.33 percent. The 30-year FRM has not been this low since the week ending May 17, 2007, when it averaged 6.21 percent.

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Home sales not quite as bad

After September's rancid home sales in the Tampa Bay area, October's home sales managed to smell a bit sweeter. Combined house and condominium sales in Pinellas, Pasco and Hillsborough counties totaled 1,969 last month, a drop of 28 percent from the 2,740 that sold in October 2006, Realtors said. While such a drop may not inspire choruses of Happy Days Are Here Again, it's an improvement over the 39 percent decline between September 2006 and September 2007. In fact, between September and October, both the number of houses sold in the bay area and the median selling price rose slightly. Inventory, defined as the number of homes for sale on the Multiple Listing Service, dropped about 300 in October, but remained stubbornly high at about 41,000 in the three counties. At the current sales rate it would take about 20 months to exhaust the supply of homes on the market. A healthy market has fewer than 10 months' worth of homes on the listings.

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Proposed tax changes may have only a marginal impact on real-estate slump

Will the slumping Florida housing market get a major boost if voters approve a measure that allows homeowners to take their tax break with them when they move? That’s what lawmakers are touting, but some economists question whether the legislation will do much to reverse the current slowdown in homes sales. The so-called tax portability will have a “marginal, positive effect on the real estate market, certainly, not of the size and magnitude to cause a major recovery,” said Hank Fishkind, an Orlando-based private-sector economist who has served as an adviser to a number of Florida governors. Sean Snaith, an economics professor at the University of Central Florida, said the measure isn’t likely to spur home sales to a significant degree or make much difference to the overall health of the state.

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A prime time to buy a house?

- Jan Hatzius, economist at Goldman Sachs: Florida homes could depreciate 30 to 40 percent from their peak in 2005-2006. The slide could last two more years in Florida, Hatzius said, though he didn't rate the Tampa market.

- The S&P/Shiller-Case home price index: Last week's report ranked Tampa the worst nationally for home price declines at 10 percent. "The fall in home prices is showing no real signs of a slowdown or turnaround," study director Robert Shiller said.

- Lawrence Yun: As staff economist of the National Association of Realtors, he tends to cultivate rosier assessments. Yet even he predicted several poor months before home sales turn around. He cited banks clamping down on risky mortgage lending.

So is it time to start hunting for bargains? Now is a good time to shop for a house, if not to buy.

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Florida Insurance By The Numbers

~ 95 percent of Floridians live within 35 miles of a coast, and 79 percent of insured property in the state sits along the coast.
~ From 2001-06 average homeowner policies in Florida increased by 77.3 percent, more than any other state.
~ From 2002-06, Miami Beach homeowners reported cumulative increases of 500 percent.
~ The eight hurricanes of 2004-05 caused more than $35-billion in insured losses.
~ In 1992, Hurricane Andrew pushed 12 insurance companies out of business and caused others to stop writing policies in the state.

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Florida's outlook is still sunny?

In the Tampa Bay area, single-family housing starts were down 57 percent last quarter while sales of new homes were off 36 percent, according to statistics compiled by MetroStudy. "At the current absorption rate, it will be the fall of 2008 before Tampa Bay reaches supply-demand equilibrium - if the job market does not improve," said Tony Polito, director of MetroStudy's Tampa Bay division. "The good news is that builders are building only to demand levels, a strategy that has allowed finished vacant inventory to decline during the last two quarters." Wachovia economist Mark Vitner said it could be the end of 2009 before the housing market comes back into balance in Florida although he hopes for sooner.

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Mortgage Rates Near Six-Month Low

The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) averaged 6.26 percent with an average 0.4 point for the week ending November 1, 2007, down from last week when it averaged 6.33 percent. Last year at this time, the 30-year FRM averaged 6.31 percent. The 30-year FRM has not been this low since the week ending May 17, 2007, when it averaged 6.21 percent.

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Report Says Bay Area Builders Are Constructing Fewer Homes

Slow job growth, coupled with the effects of a troubled real estate market, is pushing down demand for new homes in the Tampa Bay area, according to a report released Wednesday. The report seems to contradict what's happening nationwide and may indicate Florida's housing weakness may be affecting the local economy. The Commerce Department said Wednesday that the economy grew at a fast 3.9 percent pace despite problems in the nation's housing industry and credit markets. Locally, builders have responded to the relatively slow job growth by constructing fewer houses. Builders started work on 1,732 single-family homes during the third quarter of 2007, down nearly 57 percent from 3,993 in the same quarter last year, according to Metrostudy, a Houston-based housing research firm.

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Tampa Tops List Of Cities With Declining Home Prices

Home prices have risen in five major markets, while continuing to fall in the rest of the country, according to the S&P/Case-Shiller home price index for August, released Tuesday. The largest price declines are in rust belt cities, although Tampa came out as the big loser as speculators abandoned properties. The Case-Shiller indexes track multiple sales of the same homes in an attempt to screen out price differences caused by shifts in the size and type of houses being sold. Some housing economists consider these indexes the best gauge of national and metro real-estate values. Here are the changes in the August price level from a year earlier for single-family homes.

15 Cities Where Prices Fell

1. Tampa: -10.1
2. Detroit: -9.3
3. San Diego: -8.3
4. Phoenix: -8.0
5. Miami: -7.8
6. Las Vegas: -7.6
7. Washington, D.C.: -7.2
8. Los Angeles: -5.7
9. San Francisco: -4.2
10. Cleveland: -4.1
11. Minneapolis: -4.0
12. New York: -3.8
13. Boston: -3.6
14. Chicago: -1.3
15. Denver: -0.4

5 Cities Where Prices Rose

1. Seattle: 5.7
2. Charlotte: 5.6
3. Portland: 2.8
4. Atlanta: 0.8
5. Dallas: 0.5

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Fed cuts rates by quarter point

The Federal Reserve cut interest rates on Wednesday, but said the risk of inflation was roughly equal to downside risks to growth, suggesting further rate reductions are far from a sure bet. The decision by the central bank's Federal Open Market Committee to lower the overnight federal funds rate by a quarter-percentage point to 4.5 percent was widely expected in financial markets. In announcing its decision, which follows an aggressive half-point reduction in rates made last month, the policy-setting Federal Open Market Committee said its actions should put the economy on better footing and had brought inflation and growth risks into rough balance.

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Property tax cut emerges from fight

After several failed attempts, the Legislature on Monday voted to put a property tax cut plan on the January ballot that would save taxpayers $12.4-billion over five years. The House's 97-18 vote of approval was more a capitulation to the Senate than it was an embrace of the final package. With a deadline for final action looming and House and Senate leaders at loggerheads, the Senate rushed the plan through its chamber earlier in the day and then left town to avoid further negotiation. Now, Florida voters will consider a Jan. 29 referendum on a property tax plan with three major components: doubling the $25,000 homestead exemption, at an estimated average savings of $240 a year; allowing people to keep their accrued Save Our Homes benefits when they move; and imposing a 10 percent annual cap on nonhomestead assessments.

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Senate Unveils Tax-Cut Plan

A new property tax-cutting plan offered Sunday by Senate leaders is simpler, would provide less relief to some taxpayers and includes a scaled-down version of the House's assessment cap for businesses, snowbirds and landlords. The proposed compromise also would limit the value of tax breaks homeowners could take with them when they move - known as 'portability' - to $500,000 instead of $1 million as both chambers had previously agreed. The new Senate proposal would cut taxes by $8.74 billion in the first four years, or about $1 billion less than either chamber's present plan, according to Senate estimates. The revision is an effort to break a stalemate with the House when lawmakers reconvene a special session today, just a day before the deadline for getting a new plan on the Jan. 29 presidential primary ballot.

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Lower prices not boosting housing market

Home sellers are tossing confetti, waving banners and dishing out discounts. But lower prices aren't translating into stronger home sales. Blame whatever forces you like - skinflint banks, negative press coverage, foreclosure fears - but the law of supply and demand seems to be on hiatus. At the risk of getting into an economics lecture, something odd is happening. Prices are falling, up to 20 percent in certain Tampa Bay area neighborhoods, but demand is dropping. That's the message from the September home sales numbers released last week.

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No end in sight for housing slump

Home prices are now at 2005 levels. And, even with the falling prices, the number of unsold homes is the highest since 1999 – as far back as the data goes – suggesting to economists that more price- cutting is ahead.

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Housing Decline Likely To Last Into 2009, Analyst Says

Ivy Zelman's view of the U.S. housing market is gloomy, but it's probably the most realistic. A veteran Wall Street analyst, Zelman, chief executive of the research firm Zelman & Associates, says it's unlikely the U.S. housing market will recover before 2009, adding there's a '50 to 60 percent chance of a recession,' as the housing slump curbs consumer spending. Zelman paints a much darker picture than Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, who said last week that housing will be a 'significant drag' on the economy into next year. When you consider the huge home inventories and tight-as-a-drum mortgage restrictions, it's easy to conclude that the housing slump could extend well past 2008. Unless financing loosens up and buyers return, her prophecy will become a reality.

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Plans For Clearwater Beach Condo Converts To Hotel

The owners of a long-stalled Clearwater Beach resort and condominium development say they will redesign the project and are looking to a major Miami-based builder for help. Tampa entrepreneur and philanthropist Dr. Kiran Patel and the Related Group are negotiating a partnership that would change the scope of the $250-million Kiran Grand Resort and Spa. Original plans were for a resort 150 feet tall and 500 feet across with 350 condo-hotel units and 75 condominiums. The new project would consist of a 250-room hotel with 200 timeshares. The possible partnership and change in direction is the latest sign of the sharp drop in demand for condominiums on Clearwater Beach. Developers of another major project, the Indigo Beach Residences & Suites on the site of the former Adam's Mark Hotel, pulled the plug in late April on their $180-million project and refunded deposits to buyers because of slow sales.

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Worries Over Slower Economic Growth Helped Mortgage Rates

The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) averaged 6.33 percent with an average 0.5 point for the week ending October 25, 2007, down from last week when it averaged 6.40 percent. Last year at this time, the 30-year FRM averaged 6.40 percent.

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Fund Touts Trump Tower Plan

The fate of the stalled 52-story Trump Tower Tampa may rest in the hands of its buyers. A New York hedge fund representative told about 80 buyers and their representatives Wednesday night that the fund is prepared to finance the luxury condo tower - but only if enough of them agree to sign new contracts, said Don Wallace, a Pinellas County buyer who organized the meeting.

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Quote Of The Day

"Things are going to get a lot worse before they get worse." - Lily Tomlin

Home Price Drop Fails To Boost Bay Area Sales

Economists had predicted the housing market would continue sliding, but many were surprised that sales slowed so dramatically in September. Even so, the market will likely get worse before it will get better, experts predict. They recommend sellers drop prices and put homes on the market only if they need to sell now. Because the 10 percent price slide didn't boost the market, sellers need to drop prices further. Many economists said the problems in housing could last for another year, given record-high levels of unsold new and existing homes.

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Buyers Suing Clearwater Cay Club

The developers of Clearwater Cay Club Resort promised to build a luxurious condominium complex modeled after Las Vegas' Venetian hotel. The gondolas and water parks never materialized, so now 23 disgruntled buyers are suing Cay Clubs in federal court, accusing the company of violating securities laws. The buyers say businessmen Dave Clark, Ricky Stokes and Dave Schwarz lured them into contracts with the "false illusion" of quick profits and easy rental income, but left them holding apartments worth half of what they paid for them. The buyers, none local, include airline pilots who invested more than $1-million in units at the complex facing Tampa Bay.

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Tampa Area September Home Sales Down 40%, Prices Drop 10%

The Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) reported 1,691 existing homes sold last month compared to 2,803 homes sold a year ago for a 40 percent decrease. The market's median sales price for homes was $200,700; it was $222,100 in September 2006 for a 10 percent decrease. A total of 411 existing condos changed hands in the MSA last month, down 29 percent from the 576 condos sold the previous year. The existing condo median sales price in September was $159,000; a year ago, it was $155,100 for a 3 percent increase.

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US home sales hit fresh lows, unsold properties flood market

Sales of US homes and apartments tumbled a hefty 8.0 percent in September extending one of the nation's worst housing slumps in decades, an industry group said Wednesday. The National Association of Realtors (NAR) said in a monthly snapshot that sales of existing homes and apartments fell to a seasonally adjusted rate of 5.04 million units in September from 5.48 million in August. The drop was worse than expected. Most economists had only expected sales to decline to around 5.25 million. August sales were revised lower from an original tally of 5.50 million homes. Stripping out apartment turnover, sales dived to their lowest level since January 1998.

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Countrywide to Refinance $16 Billion in ARMs

Countrywide Financial Corp., the nation’s largest mortgage lender, is offering to refinance up to $16 billion of adjustable-rate mortgages. The lender announced the program today as pressure mounts from legislative and consumer groups to clean up lending practices. Countrywide said it would reach out to borrowers who are current on their loans but are facing an imminent rate reset to discuss options. Countrywide said it would refinance about $10 billion in loans and modify another $4 billion. It also plans to contact borrowers of some $2.2 billion who are late on their loans and are having trouble paying because of a recent rate reset.

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New Proposal To Lower Property Taxes Emerges

• The House bill would provide homesteaded properties an exemption equal to 40 percent of their county's median home value. It also caps increases on assessments of other properties at 5 percent.

• Last week, the Senate approved a plan to double the state's homestead exemption to $50,000.

• Both plans keep the Save Our Homes benefit when residents move.

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Financial Woes Drag Neighborhoods Down

The Sunshine State's foreclosure rate of one filing for every 248 households is second only to Nevada. In Hillsborough, Pasco and Pinellas counties, the number of foreclosure filings through September was 19,226, up nearly 131 percent compared with the same period last year, according to RealtyTrac, a California company that tracks foreclosures. That's up from 9,476 in 2005, the first year the company began its reporting. Just last month, there were 4,365 filings in the three counties, and lenders took the keys back from 502 homeowners.

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Spending plunge broadens statewide

Depressed sales of construction materials, home improvements and furnishings triggered by Florida's burst housing bubble have started spreading to a drop in other types of consumer spending. In fact, unless the state's economy perks up in the next few months, Florida will report its first decrease in annual sales tax collections since the 1992 recession.

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Pinellas County Fifth Highest Nationwide In Job Loss

As if the cooling housing market wasn't bad enough, Pinellas County is now grappling with employment woes. A Bureau of Labor Statistics report released Thursday says Pinellas lost 5,400 jobs from March 2006 to March 2007. The dip ranks the county fifth nationwide among peers reporting the largest decline in employment levels. Ahead of Pinellas are Michigan counties of Wayne, Macomb and Oakland, and Ohio's Montgomery County. Leading the pack with highest employment gains are Orleans County, La., and Harrison County, Miss.

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Clearwater Condo Tower Project Given Time Extension

Construction of the Island View condominium and retail complex on the northern edge of downtown won't begin by the end of the year as initially planned because of slow sales and a slight change to the project's design. But officials with Triangle Development of Clearwater say sales have steadily picked up and construction will begin by Dec. 31, 2008 - the new deadline the City Council unanimously approved Wednesday night.

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Mortgage Rates Unchanged In Latest Weekly Survey

The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) averaged 6.40 percent with an average 0.5 point for the week ending October 18, 2007, unchanged from last week when it averaged 6.40 percent. Last year at this time, the 30-year FRM averaged 6.36 percent.

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Senate passes part of property tax cut plan

The Senate decided Wednesday to ask voters to lower property taxes, but still has to work out differences with the House over details of the plan. The measure was approved narrowly. Backers of the proposal needed 24 votes to pass it; the vote was 26-11. The plan would ask voters to amend the constitution to change how property taxes are calculated. A separate bill on when the proposal will go before voters hasn’t been passed yet. Lawmakers are hoping to get the issue on the Jan. 29 ballot.

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Do homework first if buying foreclosed properties

What do I need to know if I want to buy a home at a foreclosure auction?

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Wachovia Issues Special Housing Report

From the report:

"We have long noted that many of the problems currently plaguing the housing market can be traced back to the huge role speculators played in the housing market back in 2004, 2005 and early 2006. Speculators made demand appear much stronger than it actually was from a fundamental standpoint. The added push from speculators drove prices up to levels that priced out many buyers in California, Arizona, Nevada, the greater Washington D.C. area and areas around New York City. While these markets had the greatest speculative excesses, investors and speculators were active in markets all across the country. What needs to happen now is for prices of new and existing homes to adjust back to levels where families earning the median household income can once again afford to buy a wide assortment of homes, particularly in Florida, Nevada and California. Price declines in these markets are likely to be fairly significant in coming quarters. For the rest of the country, price adjustments will be far more modest and most areas will simply see price appreciation slow rather than endure outright price declines."

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Florida housing market will rebound, but not yet

Local housing markets are not going to turn around this year or next year – and might not get better even by 2009, a noted economist said Thursday at the sixth annual conference on “Real Estate Development Trends” at the Palm Beach County Convention Center. “There are people who want to buy a home now and are waiting because of fear,” said Bradley Hunter, director of the South Florida division of Metrostudy in West Palm Beach, which conducts housing research. “I think the way it will play out is that people are still getting married and they’re still having babies,” Hunter said. “People who need a house will be the first to come back [into the market]. The others will come back when they see that, and this will create your next ‘up market.’“ However, Hunter dodged repeated attempts to pin down just when this “up market” might show up.

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Florida Condo Owners Consider Self-Insurance

Some Florida condominium owners are turning to self-insurance to avoid high rates. The Palm Beach Windstorm Self Insurance Fund is seeking state regulatory approval to insure 50 condominium buildings in Palm Beach County. The fund will operate as a nonprofit, mutual company. It will collect premiums from the condo owners, hold them in reserve and use them to buy reinsurance. The mutual company’s rates will be about 25 percent less than those of the state insurer of last resort, Citizens Property Insurance Corp. The fund will insure only condos at the lowest risk of major damage: buildings of concrete and steel. Condos also will have to agree to a 5 percent deductible. In other parts of the state, the Continental Group, which manages 1,200 Florida buildings, has also developed a self-insurance fund and is hoping to launch soon.

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In market tug-of-war, homes don't move

Tampa Bay area home sales keep probing new bottoms. September's totals were off 39 percent from the none-too-spectacular sales of September 2006. That part about probing bottoms sounds proctological, but the market is about as savory as a barium shake. Why aren't people buying? Prices have retreated up to 20 percent. Builders are giving away the kitchen sink, along with Jacuzzis and hard-wood floors. Banks are dumping repossessed homes at discounts. Many blame high property taxes and insurance. The argument has a ring of truth, but also weaknesses. Sales are hurting to varying degrees all over the country, including areas where you can insure your house for $500 a year and taxes are lower than ours. Atlanta, anyone?

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State Takes On Inequities In Property Tax - Again

The Legislature hopes to pass a property tax relief package at midweek and have the language on the Jan. 29 ballot as a constitutional amendment. Lawmakers have softened their approach and taken up Gov. Charlie Crist's more modest proposal to double the homestead exemption from the existing $25,000 to $50,000. That would lower the taxable value of your home and, in turn, your tax bill. The second key element is portability of the Save Our Homes valuation benefit. While home values have soared in Florida, taxable values have risen slowly because of a 1992 constitutional amendment limiting valuation increases to no more than 3 percent a year.

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Employment Figures Nudge Mortgage Rates Upward

The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) averaged 6.40 percent with an average 0.4 point for the week ending October 11, 2007, up from last week when it averaged 6.37 percent. Last year at this time, the 30-year FRM averaged 6.37 percent.

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