Real estate insiders expect 2016 to be a strong year for South Florida despite slowing sales and price gains in the condo market, according to a survey conducted by Berger Singerman. The law firm polled about 100 top developers, Realtors, investors, lenders and contractors for their take on the new year. “The overall consensus is that things are going to continue in a similar direction,” said Jeffrey Margolis, a partner at the firm. “2016’s going to look... [read more]

As we continue to learn more about the new president, one thing is certain — change is on the horizon. While the exact form and impact of these changes remains widely speculated, it is almost certain that significant tax reform is coming for the real estate industry. It’s expected that certain cuts will have to be made in order to avoid increasing the deficit. The question remains: what compromises will take place as Congress wrestles with how to pay for these changes? For... [read more]

  Forty-three states added construction jobs year-over-year in February, with Florida leading the pack, according to an analysis by the Associated General Contractors of America of Labor Department data.   Florida added 34,700 jobs, a 7.5% increase year-over-year in February, followed by California (16,500 jobs, 2.2%); Texas (14,200 jobs, 2%); and Louisiana (13,500 jobs, 9.6%). Rhode Island added the highest percentage of new construction jobs during the past year... [read more]

Thanks to steadily increasing home prices, fewer South Florida owners are weighed down by “underwater” mortgages, two recent reports show. At the end of last year, 30,442 Palm Beach County homeowners with a mortgage, or 10.6 percent, owed more than the property is worth, down from 41,046 people, or 14.2 percent in the same period of 2015, according to the CoreLogic research firm. In Broward County, 46,443 homeowners, or 12.6 percent, were under water, compared with 63,782,... [read more]

U.S. mortgage rates fell below 4 percent last week, which may encourage a rush of home buyers. Last week, the average rate on a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage was 3.9 percent, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing data released by Freddie Mac. It’s the first time rates have dropped below 4 percent since November. A week earlier, the rate was 4.08 percent and in mid-March it was 4.3 percent, according to the Journal. Mortgage rates jumped following Donald Trump’s... [read more]