According to the 2010 State Business Tax Climate report released this week by the Washington D.C. based Tax Foundation, Florida remains among the top 10 states in the nation when it comes to “business friendly” taxes. Florida ranked 5th in this year’s report and has had the best ranking among Southern states for several years in a row. A spokeswoman for the Tax Foundation stressed that the rankings don’t reflect how much money the taxes raise, but how broad and competitive the structure is compared to other states. Florida’s advantage comes mostly from having a state constitution that prohibits an income tax.

Tags: Florida, growth, taxes

I was reading about some interesting research recently conducted by a professor at the University of Central Florida. Seems his analysis shows that current home values are just about where they would have been had the real estate bubble of 2005-7 not occurred. According to Professor Stan Smith, “most homeowners are within 6% of where they would have been had there not been a housing bubble. The people who have been here since prior to 2005 should not have been hurt,” though he also added: “… a lot of people who did buy in 2005 and 2006 obviously were hurt significantly.” However, a long-term view of the Florida real estate market reveals that even though prices rose and fell dramatically in recent years, they appear to have settled back into more normal historic patterns.

Tags: Florida, markets, real estate

According to a report from the Florida Association of Realtors (FAR), Florida is both a great place to live and work. Naturally, those of us who reside in the Sunshine State already know this to be true. But for many of the folks outside of our wonderful state who might be unaware, here are some interesting things to consider.

Business Climate:

• Florida is the fourth most populous state in the United States, with a large and diverse population.
• The state’s Legislature has made it a priority to not only encourage new businesses and industries to come to Florida, but to provide the kind of supportive climate that entrepreneurs and businesses need to succeed and prosper. Florida Among Top 5 States for Best Business Climate

Tags: Florida, living

For the second month in a row, Florida existing home and condominium sales rose on a year over year basis in October. Thirteen of Florida’s metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs) reported increased sales of existing homes; nine also showed gains in condo sales, marking the fourth month in a row that a large number of markets have noted higher sales activity. Pending sales were also up again in many markets indicating stabilization continues to take hold in many areas.

Statewide, sales of existing single-family homes totaled 10,443, up 15% year over year. Existing condominium sales in October totaled 2,956 statewide and were up 5% from a year ago. Falling property prices continue to be the impetus for the increase in sales. The median home price fell 24% to $169,700 and the median condo price fell 23% to $147,600. The median is the midpoint; half the homes sold for more, half for less.

Tags: Florida, real estate, sales

For the first time in three years, both existing home and condominium sales rose on a year over year basis throughout Florida. It was also the third month in a row that a large number of the state’s metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs) noted higher sales activity. In addition, pending sales were up again in many markets indicating stabilization is definitely taking hold in Florida’s housing sector.

Tags: Florida, real estate, sales

Imagine the surprise of over a million Florida residents who received their proposed 2008 real estate tax assessments expecting to see a tax decrease (based on the passage of the Amendment I) and finding out their taxable value has actually may have gone up by 3 percent. How is this possible you say, especially considering almost everyone’s market value has dropped in the last two years? Welcome to the world of the state’s “down-means-up recapture rule”.

The rule was adopted way back in 1995 by the state’s Department of Revenue with the full backing of then Governor Lawton Chiles. In fact, they even went to court when a group of county property appraisers challenged the rule prior to its being passed by the Florida Cabinet. Unfortunately, the administrative law judge hearing the case approved the rule calling it “an appropriate way to apply the Save our Homes Amendment when property values go down (try and figure this one out).

Tags: Florida, real estate, taxes

Florida real estate sales continued to show strength throughout the state in July. In fact, for the first time in two years, statewide single family existing home sales increased year over year in July.

The numbers are quite amazing considering most of the national media pundits would have you believe the State’s housing market has fallen off a cliff. The reality is anything but gloom and doom. Savvy retirees, bargain hunters and international buyers are all recognizing that their opportunity to grab an affordable slice of the Florida lifestyle is happening right now.

Here’s a review of some of the numbers:

Tags: Florida, real estate, sales