REAL ESTATE TAX AMENDMENT – Real estate professionals around the state expect the pent up demand to buy-and-sell will spark home sales statewide, as well as, in the Naples area, thanks to yesterday’s passage of Amendment 1, which lowers property taxes statewide.
SUBPRIME MORTGAGES – It’s not just civil investigators at the Security and Exchange Commission looking into issues with the subprime mortgage industry. The Federal Bureau of Investigation has begun a criminal investigation looking into alleged accounting fraud, insider trading and concerns over loan securitization at 14 companies.
COUNTRYWIDE – Despite Countrywide Financial Corp’s report of a larger-than-expected $422 million loss for fourth quarter 2007, Bank of America Corp. is moving forward with its purchase of the company, Chief Executive Ken Lewis said Tuesday.
ECONOMY – Good but not great news: The U.S. was not experiencing a recession in the final quarter of 2007 because gross domestic product grew by 0.6 percent, according to the Commerce Department. However, that represents a slowdown from the third quarter and less growth than economists expected.
FLORIDA CONSUMER CONFIDENCE – Florida’s consumer confidence index fell to 70 this month, its lowest level in 16 years, a new University of Florida study reports.