by starfish on December 26, 2007
Some of Florida’s top real estate brokers and members of the Florida Association of Realtors (FAR) joined Gov. Charlie Crist in Tallahassee last week as a show of support for the property tax relief constitutional amendment voters will consider during the state’s primary election on January 29.
Among other things, Amendment 1, the only amendment on the ballot , calls for a $25,000 tangible personal property exemption for small businesses on items such as business equipment and other tax breaks for property owners.
“The ripple effect [following passage of this amendment] of getting relief to those who have been locked in their homes will be huge and will be felt throughout the real estate industry,” said Juan Baixeras, a broker with Florida Realty of Miami.
FAR is one of several business groups that support Amendment 1. Others include the Florida Chamber of Commerce, Associated Industries of Florida, Florida Power & Light, Florida Retail Federation, The Florida Outdoor Advertising Association and the Florida Medical Association.
“I applaud Realtors for lending support to such an important issue like property tax cuts,” said Gov. Crist. “Amendment 1 will bring about much needed relief to Florida’s homeowners and will enable them to have more flexibility in purchasing a new home.
Passage of Amendment 1 will return money to homeowners right away and put nearly $10 billion back into Florida’s economy over the next five years.
This tax cut is in addition to the $15 billion property tax cut created during a June special legislative session that rolled back property taxes to 2006 levels.
Amendment 1 benefits those who want to move into a different home, seniors seeking to downsize, and business owners facing rising property values.
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by starfish on December 12, 2007
The Federal Reserve cut a key interest rate by one-quarter of a percentage point Tuesday, trying to keep the country out of recession.
The reduction in the federal funds rate to 4.25 percent marked the third rate cut in the past three months. Fed officials signaled that further cuts were possible if a severe downturn in housing and a crisis in mortgage lending get worse.
Commercial banks were expected to quickly match the latest reduction by trimming their prime lending rate, which would reduce this benchmark rate for millions of consumer and business loans to 7.25 percent.
The Fed started cutting rates in September with a bolder-than-expected half-point move and then reduced the funds rate by a quarter-point at its Oct. 31 meeting. The central bank was trying to make sure that a severe slump in housing, spreading mortgage defaults and financial market turbulence, which hit with force in August, did not derail the economy.
Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke and his colleagues began their final meeting of 2007 behind closed doors Tuesday morning. Wall Street investors traded cautiously as they awaited the announcement.
In its October announcement, the Fed indicated that its two rate cuts might well be all that would be needed to make sure the country was not pushed into a recession.
But that view has undergone a dramatic about-face in the six weeks since that time, reflecting worsening conditions in financial markets and continued sharp declines in housing as lenders tighten standards in response to rising mortgage defaults.
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by starfish on December 9, 2007
South Florida won’t get a big boost from President Bush’s plan to freeze interest rates for homeowners nationwide who are bracing for sharp increases in their adjustable-rate mortgages, analysts say.
What’s more, Bush’s proposal is focused on preventing a national foreclosure crisis and not meant to aid individual states, such as Florida and California, that are leading the housing bust after the boom of 2000-2005.
Some economists say there’s nothing in the president’s proposal that will trigger a rebound in a South Florida housing market that has been mired in a slump for almost two years.
“It’s not going to help areas that need help the most, and Florida certainly is one of those,” said Per Gunnar Bergland, chief economist for Moody’s Economy.com, a Pennsylvania research firm.
Bush said relief is designed for homeowners holding adjustable-rate subprime mortgages they took out between Jan. 1, 2005, and July 31, 2007, and are facing a steep increase in their interest rates before July 31, 2010.
About 1.2 million people could be eligible for help, but only a fraction will get the five-year rate freeze. Others would get assistance in refinancing with their lenders and moving into loans secured by the Federal Housing Administration, Bush said.
Also, the aid will come only to those who ask for it, he said. Thousands of borrowers who are falling behind on their payments have been sent letters about the options, and the president also urged people to call a new hotline: 1-888-995-HOPE.
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