SUBPRIME LENDING – Banking regulators on Friday completed voluntary guidelines that call on federally regulated lenders to verify borrowers’ incomes, include a clear disclosure of the mortgage terms, and give property owners at least 60 days to refinance without penalty if their loan is about to jump to a higher rate.
Subprime borrowing has had a negative effect on the number of Bonita Springs real estate sales of residential improved properties – homes and condos.
MORTGAGE FRAUD – On the heels of South Florida’s real estate boom, the region is seeing what police call an epidemic of mortgage fraud. Mortgage fraud can skew the real estate market, and Gov. Crist recently signed a bill making it punishable by up to 15 years in prison.
HOUSING MARKET – Like a mirage in the desert, the bottom of the housing slowdown seems to fade in and out of sight as the year progresses. “There’s a lot of competition trying to figure out when things are going to bottom,” says Morningstar analyst Eric Landry. “But it’s unlikely that you’re going to figure that out before any one else does.”
The bottom of the housing slowdown in the Naples real estate market seems to be also fading in and out during the past few months.