Sunshine Slate

[Miami, FL] While the Florida housing market as a whole continues to suffer under the weight of foreclosures and sunken property values, there is at least one bright spot: home sales prices. And if home sales prices are the bright spot, Broward County must be the sun. Reports out of Broward last week show that [...]

[Chicago, IL] Fresh data points to a looming disaster in the Sunshine State: there are a lot more Florida foreclosures on our picturesque horizon. That’s right, the latest number crunch from risk management firm TransUnion points out that only for the second time since 2009, the national mortgage delinquency rate increased. In the fourth quarter [...]

[Tallahassee, FL] Florida homeowners to get $8.4 billion in a “landmark” settlement. The settlement ends the federal-state suit against the nation’s big five mortgage servicers for a myriad of foreclosure abuses including robo-signing and loan origination misconduct, according to a statement by Florida Attorney General (FLAG) Pam Bondi. The agreement releases civil claims related to [...]

[Orlando, FL] Good news for our real estate market: Florida housing sales increased by 8% in 2011 from the year before. It is the third time in as many years that sales have grown as Florida continues to rebound from the housing crash that ground the state’s economy to a halt, according to statistics compiled [...]

[Tallahassee, FL], In a split ruling likely to send shivers through the mortgage banking community, the Florida Supreme Court ruled Thursday that it will hear a case involving alleged “robo-signing” by a major mortgage lender even though parties in the individual case settled and asked that the case be dismissed. In a 4-3 ruling, the [...]

[Panama City, FL] The Department of Children and Families (DCF) has announced that construction has begun on a new multifamily affordable housing project in the Big Bend area. When complete, “Independence Village” will offer 24-units (via 12 duplexes) of affordable rentals for minors who are leaving the foster care program and transitioning into leading their [...]

[Tallahassee, FL] In the heart of Tallahassee rests a home that was constructed for the purpose of sheltering the Governor of Florida. This stately abode has provided a haven of rest for the first family and countless guests for over 100 years. The original construction began in 1905 and was completed in 1907. The Governor’s [...]

[Tampa, FL] For college students living off-campus, too much valuable time and effort can be wasted dealing with headaches like shared leases, renting furniture, managing utilities or haggling over living expenses with burned-out roommates. College kids are more sophisticated these days, looking for more than four walls and a bad roommate. They want a bit [...]

[Tampa, FL] Team Florida – made up of teachers and students from the University of South Florida (USF), the University of Florida (UF), Florida State University (FSU) and the University of Central Florida (UCF) – is designing and building a future-space dwelling unlike any other. Just don’t call it a “solar house.” It is much, [...]

[Boca Raton – Florida]   Anthony F. Cutaia, host of a South Florida real estate talk show and owner of  CMG Property Investment Group, was arrested last week on charges he defrauded investors by creating a Ponzi scheme. He’s on top of it Antony would sell investments in commercial real estate through his company, promising [...]

Today, Standard & Poor’s released its S&P/Case-Shiller1 Home Price Indices. All you need to know is that these guys are the leading measure of U.S. home prices. And that’s a fact. Here’s another fact: it doesn’t look good if you own real estate in Miami or Tampa. Or anywhere in America, for that matter, although [...]