REMEMBER TO VOTE TOMORROW JANUARY 29.

JUMBO LOANS – Hoping to speed delivery of its $150 billion pick-me-up for the U.S. economy, the Bush Administration reluctantly agreed to temporarily increase the size of the mortgages Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac can purchase from $417,000 to nearly double that. This is good news for the Naples real estate market, due to the median price of residences in the local market.

PROPERTY INSURANCE – State Farm, Florida’s largest private home insurer, has begun dropping property coverage for 50,000 Floridians as part of a rate reduction agreement with the state. Even in places like Jacksonville, which hasn’t had a major hurricane since 1964, most homeowners within a mile of the ocean will be dropped.

REAL ESTATE TAXES -  Tomorrow is Election Day in Florida. Get out. Vote. "Yes on Amendment 1" for the following reasons:
• People who have feel trapped in their homes – unable to size up or scale down – can now afford to sell.
• Keeps Save Our Homes while cutting taxes and expanding the homestead exemption for the first time since 1980.
• Exempts approximately 1 million small businesses, from the state’s tangible personal property (TPP) tax. Savings: about $500 a year.
• Caps non-homestead property assessments at 10 percent annually.
• Jumpstarts the housing market.
• Gets property tax reform rolling, allowing legislators to focus on additional relief during the 2008 legislative session. Is it enough? No. But a vote in favor of Amendment 1 sends a strong message to the Florida Legislature, which will consider additional tax relief during the 2008 legislative session.

NEW HOME SALES – The Commerce Department reported today that sales of new homes dropped by 26.4 percent last year. That marked the worst sales year on record, surpassing the old mark of a 23.1 percent plunge in 1980.

MORTGAGE RATES – Rates on 30-year mortgages dropped for a fourth straight week to 5.48 percent, the lowest level in nearly four years, raising hopes that low rates will help spur a rebound in the hard-hit housing industry.  This is surely the time to start thinking about buying – low interest rates and lots of homes and condominiums on the market!!

MORTGAGES – The United State House of Representatives’ proposed stimulus package includes help for the housing industry, allowing government-sponsored Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to buy mortgages up to 75 percent more expensive than the current $417,000 limit. However, the Senate and White House still must still sign off on the proposal.

HOME SELLERS – Realtors there’s one thing that drives them crazy: unrealistic sellers who insist on asking buyers to pay boom-year sales prices. So they could recommend the termination of the listing contract – in essence firing sellers.

HOMEBUILDERS – Miami-based Lennar Corp. reported a $1.25 billion fourth-quarter loss Thursday – the biggest in its history – as the prolonged housing slump drove prices lower and the builder took hefty charges to write down land values.  Lennar builds homes and condos in the Naples area.

ALLSTATE – State attorneys tried Wednesday to reinstate a suspension that would keep Allstate’s 10 insurance companies from writing new policies in Florida. “Florida consumers deserve to know what is in the documents that Allstate is so aggressively guarding and my office is determined to get them,” Insurance Commissioner Kevin McCarty said after the 12-page appeal was filed with the 1st District Court of Appeal.

ECONOMY – The Federal Reserve’s action on Tuesday to sharply cut interest rates may have

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HOMEOWNERS INSURANCE – The insurance industry should not be allowed to thumb its nose at state regulators and lawmakers, an expert told a Florida Senate panel yesterday.

HURRICANES – Speaking homeowner insurance, is the truth out there? A new report concludes that global warming will actually diminish the number of hurricanes that strike Florida, contradicting earlier studies. While warmer ocean waters promote stronger storms, warmer crosswinds high in the atmosphere should break them apart. This latest study, conducted by Wang and Sang-Ki Lee of the University of Miami, will be published

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INTEREST RATES – The Federal Reserve, confronted with a global stock sell-off fanned by increased fears of a recession, slashed a key interest rate by three-quarters of a percentage point today and indicated further rate cuts are likely.

HOMEOWNERSHIP – As an investment, a home requires more than a good cleaning now

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