FLORIDA REAL ESTATE TAXES – The first phase of real estate tax reform crafted during the Florida Legislature’s special session is now law after Gov. Charlie Crist signed it on June 21st. The first phase offers savings of about 6 or 7 percent to all property owners, both homesteads, second homes and commercial property.

NATIONAL REAL ESTATE MARKET – Blue skies ahead? U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said yesterday that the real estate market’s major slump is nearing an and should not have a significant impact on the overall economy.

SUBPRIME MORTGAGES – Many subprime mortgage borrowers these days are more likely to pay their mortgage late than their credit card, according to a new study from Experian Group. Why? Most put down small or zero downpayments, so they may not be as worried because they don’t have much to lose.

FLORIDA MORTGAGE FRAUD – In 2005, Florida ranked No. 1 in mortgage fraud. But the rules will change Oct. 1, 2007, when a new law – signed on June 19th by Gov. Charlie Crist – tightens lending rules. Homebuyers can expect more detailed mortgage disclosures, a good faith estimate they must sign and date, notification of any lender changes no later than three business days before a closing, and details on how much a lender paid a mortgage broker to originate a loan.

HOME BUYERS – Legislators and many others in the Florida real estate industry hope voters will approve the proposed property tax constitutional amendment, and that the reform will jumpstart the state’s slow real estate market by encouraging would-be home buyers to take action.

HOME PRICES – The news isn’t surprising, but it’s not happy either. The PMI U.S. Market Risk index that rates the chance of a home price decline in U.S. cities over the next two years finds a better than 50-50 chance of falling prices in five Florida markets – neither the Naples real estate, Bonita Springs real estate nor Estero real estate markets were specifically sited in the index. The index does not estimate how much prices will fall, only the probability that they’ll go lower.

CITIZENS PROPERTY INSURANCE – A task force examining how Citizens Property Insurance is handling unresolved claims from the 2004 and 2005 storms got an earful from frustrated policyholders with still-open claims and unrepaired homes. Homeowners cited poorly trained adjusters as the biggest problem.

HOUSING MARKET – Florida’s housing market, thought to be stabilizing earlier this year, deteriorated in the latest quarterly UF survey, a situation likely brought on by uneasiness about lending practices, insurance rates and the state’s property tax structure, according to UF analysts.  Unforeseen circumstances sometimes cause the market not to improve as well as improve.  The "sub-prime" mortgage market did have a negative on the Florida real estate market.  As well as the mortgage increases over the past few weeks.

This can be seen in the Naples real estate market by the following statistics 2,448 homes went under contract in 2007, compared to 2,651 in 2006 from January to May.

Also, the Bonita Springs real estate market shows the following statistics 766 homes went under contract between Jan. 1 and May 31 this year. That compared to 721 last year, down nearly 6 percent.