FLORIDA PROPERTY INSURANCE
Homeowners’ property insurance rates will go down, according to figures released by the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation, but the amount varies dramatically from county to county – from an average of 10 percent in the Panhandle to as much as 50 percent in South Florida.
Florida’s third largest insurer, Poe Financial Group, failed last summer, but things got worse yesterday. The state is seeking $34.4 million from Poe’s affiliates in a move that could put the final nail in the insurer’s coffin. Currently, Florida homeowners have an additional 4 percent tacked onto their personal policies to pay for Poe’s insolvency.
HOME PRICES
The rate of increase in U.S. home prices remained steady in the fourth quarter of 2006, according to the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight. Average home prices rose 1.12 percent in the quarter – still faster than the prices of other goods and services, the report noted.
FORECLOSURES
The mortgage market has seen a sharp increase in bad loans made to borrowers with weak credit over the past few months. Now that pain appears to be spreading upward to mortgages held by people in the gray area between “prime†(borrowers considered the best credit risks) and “subprime†(borrowers considered the greatest credit risks).
MORTGAGE RATES
Rates on 30-year mortgages fell for a second straight week to an average of 6.18 percent, the lowest level since the beginning of the year, according to Freddie Mac’s nationwide weekly survey.