Historic rental increases couldn’t continue forever. The addition of more units and drop in new residents has weakened demand and dinged rental prices.

The increase breaks a pattern of declines, says Florida Realtors Chief Economist O’Connor, as prices rose 1.3%. For 3Q 2023, though, sales were down 3.2%.

On Oct. 24 at 1 p.m., FREC will focus on foreign buyer “Affidavits of Buyers of Property” and broker-held escrow deposits. The public is invited, virtually or in-person.

The march toward 8% mortgages continued this week, with the 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage averaging 7.63%, up from last week’s 7.57%. A year ago, it was 6.23%.

If you can tell what’s trending by looking at the words becoming more common in listings, expect demand for brutalism, sensory pathways and cold plunge pools.

Frustrated with the lack of existing-home inventory, more buyers turned to new construction in Sept. despite mortgage rates that topped 7%.

Some negative headlines suggest the commercial RE industry is in financial trouble – but for the most part, it’s not, and brokers should get that message out there.

It goes beyond Fed moves on interest rates, as other inflation-fighting changes also have an impact. Once those changes lessen, rates could begin to fall.

Do buyers have a right to know that a listing comes with a ghost? In Fla., probably not – but states’ laws vary on what ghost-adverse buyers deserve to know.

An oversight tool that connects all tech formats has not yet been perfected. And while some agents live off technology, others largely ignore it.

In Fla., median income is less in six metros and higher in three, ranging from an $88.7K yearly income in Lakeland (up 13.4% year-to-year) to $143K in Miami (up 33.4%).

Buyers have doubts now thanks to inflation, rising home prices and higher mortgage rates. While some best-practice seller tactics haven’t changed, some have.

First-timers, new to the process, want to cross all T’s and dot all I’s. Scammers use this to trick real estate novices into doing unwise things.

What’s in a name? Some people thought “affordable housing” was a giveaway and “workforce housing” didn’t catch on. “Attainable housing” is the latest moniker.

The builder sentiment index hit 40 this month, where any number below 50 suggests more pessimism than optimism. They blame rising interest rates.

To promote affordable housing, HUD says rental income from an accessory dwelling unit will be considered for FHA loans. It outlined the policy details yesterday.

At the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) convention this week, MBA honored Fifth Third Bank, U.S. Bank Home Mortgage and Atlantic Bay Mortgage Group.

FHA will allow expected rental income from an accessory side unit to be considered for an FHA loan, the 203(k) fixer-upper program will be improved, and more.

In July, Farmers Ins. said it won’t renew 100K Fla. policies, but Slide Ins. acquired renewal rights for 86K homeowners’ policies – but not renters, auto or umbrella.

NAR Pres. Tracy Kasper says the association posted a pre-trial summary and will do the same after the trial, but it won’t be providing day-to-day updates on the case.