Florida lawmakers filed more than 3,500 bills in the last legislative session, from which 200 made it through the House and Senate. Some of the new laws are already in […]
According to the Miami Association of Realtors and the Multiple Listing Service, the total of single-family home sales and transactions in April 2019 increased in comparison with the previous year. […]
Florida lawmakers filed more than 3,500 bills in the last legislative session, from which 200 made it through the House and Senate. Some of the new laws are already in effect, some are effective starting July 2019, other will be effective in October 2019. Florida’s Realtors should beware, the new legislation will impact Realtors and their clients in different ways. Here we list each rule with a summary of each:
Preventing Unlicensed Real Estate Activity
The new law has set aside up to $500,000 to fight unlicensed real estate activity.
Money for Affordable Housing Projects
The government budget has $200 million for affordable housing programs, of which $115 million is included to assist Panhandle residents whose properties were devastated by Hurricane Michael.
Property Owner Bill of Rights and Tree Trimming
The new Senate bill 1400 contains measures requiring county property appraisers to publish a list of constitutionally protected property rights on their websites. They also allow property owners to trim or remove trees on their property without consequence as long as they have a letter from a certified arborist or landscape architect stating the tree is a danger.
Banning Vegetable Garden Restrictions
A new law prevents local governments from regulating homeowners’ vegetable gardens. The topic emerged after a Miami Shores couple had to grub up their vegetable garden due to a local ordinance. Note: this does not apply to homeowners associations (HOAs) rules.
Assignment of Benefits (AOB) Reform
The insurance process known as AOB passed in the form includes limitations on the ability of contractors to recover attorney fees if they are successful in court. This is commonly referred to as one-way attorney fees and the primary incentive behind AOB abuse.
Flood Insurance
The new law requires insurers issuing homeowners insurance policies to add a disclosure about the importance of flood insurance to policies that does not include flood coverage. The disclosure must be included in the initial policy and each renewal.
Property Insurance “Omnibus” Bill
The new law allows insurers to provide multi-policy discounts to homeowners who purchased homeowners and auto policies from the same agent. It raised the cap for reimbursement from the Florida Hurricane Catastrophe Fund for loss adjustment from 5 to 10 percent for contracts issued after June 1, 2019; pledge that applicant and agents of workers’ comp insurance don’t require to notarize their sworn statements; establish several updated for the Florida Surplus Lines industry, including abolishing the prescriptive cap agent policy fees, replacing it with a requirement that the fee be “reasonable” and separately disclosed to the customer. It also decreased the residential dwelling replacement to $700,000.
Fire and Life Safety Systems for Condos
The deadline for high-rise condominiums to be retrofitted with fire sprinklers or another engineered life safety system, was extended, postponing the effective date from Dec. 31, 2019, to Dec. 31, 2023.
Texting While Driving Ban
The new law is more severe than the Florida’s existing ban on texting, emailing and instant messaging while driving. Texting while driving is now a primary offense, meaning law enforcement can stop a vehicle solely for texting while driving.
Environmental Funding
Significant amounts of funding have been set aside to preserve Florida’s natural resources and combat environmental problems such as blue-green algae and red tide. More than $625 million will be used for things like Everglades restoration, completion of the project that will raise Tamiami Trail, springs restoration, beach restoration projects, a red tide/blue green algae task force and a septic-to-sewer cost-share program.
Fighting Red Tide
In addition to the environmental funding, $3 million a year for the next six years are set aside for the Florida Red Tide Mitigation and Technology Development Initiative – a partnership between the state and Mote Marine Laboratory to develop technologies that can control and mitigate red tide and its impact.
Providing More Structure for Beach Restoration Projects
The new law intends to remove the arbitrary selection and assigning of funds for specified beach management projects, and the related requirements for the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) to develop and maintain. It also requires a comprehensive long-term beach management plan throughout Florida.
New Options for Wetlands Mitigation Projects
The approved rule allows developers in areas lacking private wetlands mitigation credits to partner with local governments to mitigate on publicly-owned conservation land.
We, at Title Partners of Florida, write and support the real estate transaction closing, including the issuance of title insurance policies through Attorneys’ Title Insurance Fund. We also coordinate searches, title products, and a variety of other services for our clients. Contact us with any questions about our real estate closing services by phone (844) 321-6168 or by email titleinfo@titlepartnersfl.com.
According to the Miami Association of Realtors and the Multiple Listing Service, the total of single-family home sales and transactions in April 2019 increased in comparison with the previous year.
Chairman of the Board Jose Maria Serrano said that the low mortgage rates and new tax laws continued powering the Miami real estate in April; “the new Tax Cuts and Jobs Act reduced certain deductions that homeowners in high-tax states could claim, which is encouraging more residents of states like New York to move to states with no state income tax like Florida.”
Increase in Average Home Sales
The total home sales in Miami increased 1.1 percent from the previous year, from 2,601 sales to 2,629 sales. The sales for single-family home rose 3.9 percent, from 1,217 sales to 1,265 sales, while the total sales for condos in Miami decreased 1.4 percent, from 1,384 sales to 1,364 sales.
Total volume in sales increased from $1.19 billion in April 2018, to $1.23 billion in April 2019; the single-family home dollar volume increased 6 percent from $633.3 million to $671 million while the condo dollar volume fell 1.3 percent from $565.4 million to $557.8 million. So far, the single-family home and condo prices have increased for seven consecutive years.
Decrease in Average Mortgage Rate
Freddie Mac reported an average 4.14 percent commitment rate for a 30-year, conventional, fixed-rate mortgage in April 2019, a decreased from 4.27 percent in March, and certainly decreased from the previous year, which averaged at 4.54 percent.
Distressed Sales
The sales of distressed properties had slightly decreased; only 6.1 percent of all residential sales in Miami on April 2019 were distressed, this accounted for 1.3 percent short sales, and 4.8 percent REO (bank-owned properties). Short sales decreased 20.9 percent while REOs increased 7.7 percent.
Inaccessibility to mortgage loans is still inhibiting the growth of the condominium market; according to the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation and FHA, only 12 of 9,307 condominium buildings in Miami-Dade and Broward counties are approved for Federal Housing Administration loans.
Average Days From Listing to Contract and Listing Original Price
For Miami single-family home sales, the median since it was listed until it entered into contract were 58 days, a 28.9 percent increased compared with the 45 days on the previous year. The median since the property was listed until the closing date for a single-family was 101 days, a 12.2 percent increase from 90 days.
For condos, the median since it was listed until contract was 74 days , a 63 percent decrease from 79 days last year; the median between listing date and closing date decreased 4.2 percent to 115 days.
Sales State and Nationwide Median Price
Nationwide, sales fell 0.4 percent from Mach to an annual rate of 5.19 million in April. Total of sales went down 4.4 percent in comparison with the previous year. The national average home price in April was $267,300, a 3.6 percent increase from the previous year.
According to Florida Realtors, the state of Florida’s total closed sales in April 2019 was 26,992, a 6.2 percent increase from April 2018. The state median sales price for both single-family and condo-townhouse properties increased to $259,479 (2.6 percent), from 2018, according to data from the Florida Realtors in partnership with the local Realtor boards and associations.
Miami cash buyers represent 34.8 percent of the total sales closed in April 2019, compared to 38.9 percent from last year; representing almost 20 percent of the national figure. This reflects the Miami market’s ability to attract international home buyers, who are inclined to purchase real estate properties in cash.
Single-Family and Condo Inventory
Single-family homes for properties above $600,000 increased 9.9 percent, to 6,935 active listings, in comparison with 6,309 active listing last year. New listings increased 2.4 percent to 1,909 from 1,865.
Condominium inventory for properties above $300,000 increased 1.9 percent to 16,049 active listings, in comparison with 14,744 active listings last year. New listings decreased 2.8 percent from 2,363 to 2,297.
As far as what the next months will bring, it is not our place to predict it, one point to consider is that Florida ranks as the top state for foreign buyers, with a higher concentration is South Florida. In addition, Florida real estate organizations are always working hard to facilitate the process between sellers and buyers. Contact us with any questions about our real estate closing services by phone (844) 321-6168 or by email titleinfo@titlepartnersfl.com.
Effective July 1, 2019 Florida New Law and its Impact in Real Estate
UncategorizedFlorida lawmakers filed more than 3,500 bills in the last legislative session, from which 200 made it through the House and Senate. Some of the new laws are already in […]
Increase in Florida Home Sales in April 2019
UncategorizedAccording to the Miami Association of Realtors and the Multiple Listing Service, the total of single-family home sales and transactions in April 2019 increased in comparison with the previous year. […]