Beginning January 1st Bill Ryan and I will be working reduced hours. Sam Stromberg and Stacy Leach will do a great job continuing our firm with our great staff.

The Northeast Florida Association of Realtors Inc reported that the 2,680 homes sold in Northeast Florida in November, which is 13% higher than November 2019. The median price was $262,000.00, 12.9% higher than November 2019. There is still a shortage of inventory of homes available to sell.

According to an article published by Florida Relators, homeownership accounts for approximately 90% of the total wealth of a family. Homeowners should remember that housing wealth accumulation can take some time. It happens by appreciation and paying off the mortgage. While it is true that sometimes home prices fall, prices can tend to go up [...]

Ocwen Financial Corporation, Ocwen Mortgage Servicing, Inc., Ocwen Loan Servicing, Inc., and PHH Mortgage Corporation have settled a lawsuit with the Florida Attorney General regarding alleged mortgage servicing mistakes for Florida homeowner's mortgages. The State of Florida secured more than eleven million dollars in relief for Floridians harmed as result of alleged improper mortgage service [...]

The National Association of Realtors conducted a survey regarding changes in housing desires since the COVID-19 pandemic. According to the study, Americans under the age of 40 are most likely to say that their quality of life has been negatively impacted by COVID-19, and they also noted a reduced need to live near public transportation. [...]

According to an article appearing in Florida Realtors, new homes are being built on smaller lots.  The median size of  the lots for new homes in 2019 was .188 acre. There are regional differences. In New England for example, the average lot size is three times as large as the national median. In California and [...]

Because fixed-rate mortgage loans continue to hit new all time lows, many homeowners would benefit from refinancing. According to an article published yesterday by Florida Realtors, Black Knight, a software and analytics firm for the mortgage industry, said that 75% of homeowners would benefit from refinancing.

We are pleased to announce that Stacy Leach has joined our firm. Stacy received her law degree 27 years ago from St. Thomas University. She is bright, caring, personable and she will be a great addition to our team. Stacy looks forward to meeting you.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency has postponed the recently announced one half percentage point charge for each refinance loan. The charge was scheduled to start on September 1st. It has now been postponed until December 1st. Importantly, the new charge will not apply to refinance loans less than $125,000.

New home sales increase in July by 13.9%. That is a larger number than many analysts expected, according to an article appearing in Florida Realtors on August 26th. In the same article it stated that the Commerce Department reported that construction of new homes in the United States increased by 22.6%.