Weekly Newsletter (week ending November 3, 2006)

CB Richard Ellis Group Inc. said Tuesday it agreed to purchase real estate management company Trammell Crow Co. for about $1.79 billion. Trammell oversees nearly 550 million square feet of warehouse, service center and retail space in the U.S. and Canada.

DISASTER INSURANCE

Allstate and State Farm, the nation's two biggest insurance firms, are pushing for legislation that would create a national disaster insurance program that covers events such as hurricanes. It would operate like the existing terrorism coverage offered to commercial insurers.

SALES TAX ON SERVICES

Good news: The latest drive to tax services in Florida -- including possibly Realtor commissions -- ended before the Supreme Court yesterday when the group sponsoring the citizens' constitutional amendment admitted that some provisions were unworkable. Bad news: the group promises to correct problems and try again.

PENDING HOME SALES

Home sales are expected to hold fairly steady in the months ahead, according to the latest numbers in NAR's Pending Home Sales Index. The index slipped 1.1 percent in September to 109.1, following a 4.5 percent gain in August.

INTERNET

Today's homebuyers and sellers increasingly access information on real estate Web sites to become better educated about the housing market. A recent NAR survey found that 77 percent of buyers used the Internet to search for a home in 2005, compared to only 2 percent of buyers a decade earlier.

The seeds of Florida's property tax disparities were planted in 1992 when 54 percent of voters approved a constitutional amendment called Save Our Homes that caps tax assessments. But the recent home price increases now raise fundamental questions about the fairness and equity of the state's property-tax system.

INTERNET HOME VALUES

Zillow.com, an Internet site that provides online home value data, has been sued by a group that claims the property estimates are inaccurate as much as 70 percent of the time, causing "substantial injury to consumers nationwide when they consider selling their home."

LOAN FORECLOSURE RATES HEAD UP ONCE MORE

Foreclosure rates are up 43 percent compared to the third quarter of 2005, according to RealtyTrac, which tracks foreclosure data. The company's quarterly foreclosure report shows that 318,355 properties entered some stage of foreclosure nationwide during the third quarter of 2006, a 17 percent increase from the previous quarter. One in every 363 households was in some stage of foreclosure in the third quarter, the company says.

AFFORDABLE HOUSING

HUD announced that it would fund two of its housing programs with $633 million. One program helps the disabled find housing and the other benefits older adults.

MORTGAGES

Survey says: An AP-AOL Real Estate Poll surveyed homeowners and found that one-third (36 percent) of those who financed with an ARM worry that they won't be able to afford their monthly mortgage payments if their interest rates increase. However, 64 percent say they're not concerned about the possibility.

PENDING HOME SALES

Home sales are expected to hold fairly steady in the months ahead, according to the latest numbers in NAR's Pending Home Sales Index. The index slipped 1.1 percent in September to 109.1, following a 4.5 percent gain in August. Today's homebuyers and sellers increasingly access information on real estate Web sites to become better educated about the housing market. A recent NAR survey found that 77 percent of buyers used the Internet to search for a home in 2005, compared to only 2 percent of buyers a decade earlier.

INTERNET HOME VALUES

Zillow.com, an Internet site that provides online home value data, has been sued by a group that claims the property estimates are inaccurate as much as 70 percent of the time, causing "substantial injury to consumers nationwide when they consider selling their home."

ECONOMY

Economic growth slowed to a crawl in the third quarter, at a pace of just 1.6 percent, the worst in more than three years, according to the U.S. Commerce Department. Its latest report noted that investment in homebuilding was cut by the biggest amount since early 1991.

NEW HOMES GO HIGH TECH

A recent survey by the Consumer Electronics Association found that 38 percent of recent homebuyers and 61 percent of those planning to buy say that they're in the market for monitored security, though only 29 percent of the builders surveyed offer that option. The study also found:

• 86 percent of builders said technology is a significant factor in marketing new homes, compared with 66 percent two years ago.
• 33 percent of builders said revenue from home-technology products had increased, up from 24 percent in 2004.
• 32 percent of new homebuyers said they did not buy structured wiring because the builder did not offer it.
• 36 percent of all households had home theaters, up from 28 percent in 2003.

ACCELERATED MORTGAGE

The Asset Mortgage Group now has the newest mortgage to hit the US. Big in England and Australia, this new loan is designed for the fiscally sound, well organized, budgeted person. It's a Home Equity based loan where the borrower deposits his/her entire paycheck and the mortgage, taxes, car and other designated payments are paid. At months end, the remaining dollars are applied to the loan balance. Thus the loan principle is decreased and the monthly payments decrease.

According to Bob, short term rates will be lowered by Mr. Bernanke of the Federal Trade Commission in the 2nd Quarter, 2007 due to recessionary pressures. The inability of the economy to absorb the decreasing housing market has hit. In addition, productivity has leveled and growth this quarter has slowed to 1.6%.

PROPOSITION 1%

He who hasn't signed the "Proposition 1%" petition on our website is missing the boat on pressuring our highly esteemed politicians. Don't let our population exit the state for less expensive pastures, like NC, GA, Tenn, SC or AK. Sign up, email the link to all Florida residents in your address book, go to your local newspapers and email, post your opinions. Tell everyone to sign the petition and include the link in your responses. We need a ground swell, 3 million strong is our goal.