Southwest Florida Blog

One thing is for certain here in Southwest Florida. The area has some of the best luxury real estate available within the entire state. And, when you consider the hard times the market has been suffering through the last few years, the luxury market has actually held up quite well.

The following 1St Quarter 2011 sales data covers some of the best locations for luxury properties in Florida. It includes the cities of Bonita Springs, Naples and Marco Island and will give you an idea of what the market is doing in the much sought after neighborhoods like Port Royal, Pelican Bay, Barefoot Beach and Cape Marco.

Luxury Property Sales $1 Million – $2 Million

Home Sales 1St Quarter 2011*:

• 77 Closed Sales (66 in 2010)

Continue Reading Luxury Florida Real Estate: 1St Quarter Sales Review

Tags: buyers, luxury, markets, real estate, sales

Following the declines seen in last years numbers, foreclosures in the Southwest Florida real estate markets continued to subside in the first quarter of 2011.

Lee County’s first quarter foreclosure rate was second in the state, with one in every 86 properties in a foreclosure action for a total of 4,248 homes. It was a drop of 34.4% compared with the fourth quarter of 2010 and a decrease of 58% from the first quarter of last year.

Collier County ranked 29th in the state for foreclosure activity with a rate of one in every 196 homes filing for a total of 992 properties. It was a decrease of nearly 55% compared with the last quarter of 2010, and a decrease of 70% from the first quarter of 2010.

Continue Reading Southwest Florida Foreclosures: 1St Quarter Review

Tags: Florida, foreclosures, markets, real estate

A review of the recently released 2010 Census data shows that Florida has had its seventh consecutive decade of double-digit population growth. In fact, new residents totaled 2.8 million from 2000 to 2010. That’s a rise of 17.6% from the last census and much better than the nation as a whole, which grew at a rate of 9.7%.

According to the demographers, domestic migration is driving the growth, especially from the northern states. Three hundred plus days a year of sunshine and no state income tax defintely make this movement understandable. The continued decline in real estate prices is also playing a major role in making the state a really attractive place in which to live.

Continue Reading Population Growth Continues in Florida

Tags: Florida, growth, living

According to a couple of articles I read in the Sunday papers this morning, the IRS has released additional guidance for homeowners that have negotiated a loan modification or short sale and need to understand how to deal with their canceled mortgage debt.

Here’s a breakdown of the key points in their latest guidance:

• First and foremost, the debt canceled by your lender must have been used by you to “to buy, build or substantially improve your main principal residence.”
• Second, you cannot deduct forgiveness on debt for second homes, investment properties, or seasonal properties you occupy for less than 6 months a year.
• Third, refinanced debt that was used for non-qualifying purposes – tuition, a new car, paying off credit card debt, etc., does not qualify.

Continue Reading IRS Guidance for Forgiven Mortgage Debt

Tags: foreclosures, IRS, mortgages, taxes

<The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has announced it will re-evaluate its analysis of flood risk for communities without federal flood protection before it approves its new flood risk maps. FEMA and Congress are working on reauthorizing the National Flood Insurance Program. Updating flood hazard zone maps is part of that work.

The policy change affects communities across the United States. Many have complained that FEMA and the Army Corps of Engineers have disregarded levee improvements paid for by local and state governments. In a letter to congressional members, FEMA Administrator Craig Fugate said “the agency would do a more detailed analysis of the flood risk of communities that are not protected by federally accredited levees.” Until now, FEMA regarded communities protected by unaccredited levees as being no better than those community’s without levees whatsoever.

Fugate’s letter also said the new analysis would “better reflect the flood risk” in areas without levees that meet federal standards. The administrator added that flood maps for such areas will not be completed before thenew analysis is done.

Continue Reading FEMA Revaluates Policy on Flood Maps

Tags: FEMA, Florida