atlanticbldginsp

Housing-Prices Gain Hint at Turnaround

atlanticbldginsp — Fri, 24 Feb 2012 16:33:35 +0000

Miami-Dade’s housing market closes in on a minor milestone: 90 days without a drop in real estate prices.

BY DOUGLAS HANKS

DHANKS@MIAMIHERALD.COM

South Florida’s real estate market may be approaching a milestone, at least according to Realtors figures.

The trade group representing agents and brokers reported a 13 percent jump in resale prices in January for single-family homes in Miami-Dade County compared to 12 months earlier. That’s the second straight increase, after December’s 5 percent gain in Florida’s largest housing market.

The encouraging numbers may just be a blip: even the depths of the recession saw an occasional spurt of increasing prices from month to month. But should February’s numbers report another gain, that would be the first three-month stretch of rising home prices for Miami-Dade since February 2007, according to the Florida Association of Realtors.

With a wave of foreclosures still to come and banks hesitant to write mortgages, many buyers are steering clear of one of the country’s most notorious real estate markets. But leaders of the Realtors group see the new statistics confirming their longtime contention that South Florida’s battered housing market has already moved into less of a buyer’s market.

“Now, home prices in Miami are significantly rising and sooner than expected, as the Miami real estate market continues to outperform the rest of the nation, mostly due to the strong impact of international buyers,” said Martha Pomares, a Coral Gables real estate agent and head of the Miami Association of Realtors.

In Broward, prices are also up, according to the Realtors. The median price of a single-family home in Broward increased 7 percent in January to $177,000, and the median price of a condo went up the same amount to $74,000.

Miami-Dade’s median price for single-family homes hit $170,000 in January, while the median price for a condo surged 36 percent to $122,500. The condo market is generally more erratic than the single-family market, which can lead to large swings in prices. Condo sales were down 16 percent in both markets for January.

Sales of houses were soft in Miami-Dade, down 3 percent from the prior year. In Broward, they were up 15 percent.

Citizens Insurance Bill Passes House

atlanticbldginsp — Fri, 24 Feb 2012 16:24:26 +0000

By ZAC ANDERSON
LEDGER TALLAHASSEE BUREAU

TALLAHASSEE | Citizens Property Insurance customers would bear more of the cost for excessive damage claims after a major hurricane under legislation that passed the Florida House on Thursday.

The bill, which also is moving quickly through the Senate, shifts more of the burden for post-disaster taxes for excess claims coverage from private property policies to customers of the state-run company. It also gives private companies and their policyholders more time to pay any assessments that are levied.

Limiting assessments on non-Citizens policies could help grow the troubled private insurance market in Florida, supporters of the bill say.

But critics contend that Citizens’ 1.5 million customers — including 10,603 policies in Polk County — are unfairly targeted in the legislation.

Some lawmakers also expressed concerns that largely removing one of Citizens’ post-disaster revenue streams could hurt the company’s finances. Florida’s state-run insurance company could find it more difficult to borrow money if it cannot force private insurance companies to pay their assessments immediately.

“I worry about what happens after a big storm and how this would affect that,” said Rep. Jeff Clemens, D-Lake Worth.

Bill sponsor Rep. Ben Albritton, R-Wauchula, has been quick to point out that Citizens has $6 billion in reserves and $3.5 billion of borrowed cash sitting in the bank. The company also has a large backstop of cash from the Florida Hurricane Catastrophe Fund and private reinsurance.

“This bill does not in any way limit Citizens Property Insurance’s ability to pay claims,” Albritton said in explaining the bill on the House floor this week.

Success Quote Of The Day!

atlanticbldginsp — Fri, 24 Feb 2012 13:16:52 +0000

The key to achievement is being a How thinker and not an If thinker. Unknown

Success Quote Of The Day!

atlanticbldginsp — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 12:34:00 +0000

There is no shortcut. Victory lies in overcoming obstacles everyday. Unknown

Real Estate Today: Best Homeowners Insurance in Florida (Part 2 of 3) – Koolik Group Realty Video

atlanticbldginsp — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 17:41:00 +0000

More about the lawsuit against Citizens

atlanticbldginsp — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 12:52:43 +0000

by: Charlotte Greenbarg February 21st, 2012 | 11:00 AM

The suit filed by the Florida Association for Insurance Reform maintains that Citizens inflated home values in order to raise premiums. I’m shocked, shocked to learn that such a thing would happen in Florida.

In an article in the February 8 Times/Herald Tallahassee Bureau, people who have been affected by the software system Citizens uses to determine the value of property are reporting about the unfair valuations their properties are given, flying in the face of what property appraisers’ valuations are.

One home was bought for $109,000, but Citizens said it was worth $236,700, according to the article, making the premium go from $917 to $1846.

Another homeowner, an 82 year old woman who is now looking for a job because of the premium increase, had her small two bedroom house valued by Citizens at $124,000, even though an appraiser found contractors who said the home could be rebuilt for less than half. Her insurance premiums doubled.

Originally Citizens said it would only use the 360Value system and wouldn’t accept estimates by professional appraisers or contractors. But after a furor over documented cases by the Tampa Bay Times showing that Citizens was overvaluing properties not only way above market value, but also above what appraisers said it would take to rebuild, Citizens backed down and says it will use other systems to value properties.

We owe a debt of gratitude to Senator Mike Fasano, who has been a champion of Florida’s previously helpless property owners. Senator Fasano has consistently fought for the rights of ordinary Floridians, not only in insurance matters, but also the blatant attempt to privatize prisons in spite of the fact that independent research has shown that such privatization would result in little or no savings.

This insurance battle won’t be over for some time because insurance companies, while claiming that removing risk from Citizens would result in more companies entering the market and giving homeowners the benefit of competition, apparently don’t understand that we do understand what’s really going to happen. We know this because we see what has already happened; Citizens used methodology that led to inflated appraisals that led to huge increases in premiums, even though we know now that Citizens is in excellent financial health.

Does anyone really believe that insurance companies will flock to re-enter the Florida market and that we’ll see competition between them that will result in lower premiums, given the fact that while Citizens is in great fiscal shape, it’s claiming that it must reduce exposure as soon as possible, no matter how bad the economy and how hurtful that is to Florida taxpayers? With no place to go but to a few companies that might come back, what incentives would these companies have to compete with one another? Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice….

More power to the Florida Association for Insurance Reform and Senator Mike Fasano!

Success Quote Of The Day!

atlanticbldginsp — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 12:11:31 +0000

Start each day by affirming peaceful, contented, and happy attitudes and your days will tend to be pleasant and successful. – Norman Vincent Peale

Florida Home Insurance Buyers Guide-Follow These Steps to Save Thousands on Florida Home

atlanticbldginsp — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 01:15:33 +0000

Real Estate Today: Typical Homeowners Insurance Coverage (Part 1 of 3) – Koolik Group Realty Video

atlanticbldginsp — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 01:13:24 +0000

Citizens Property Insurance sued over lost discounts

atlanticbldginsp — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 01:09:04 +0000

A Pembroke Pines man has filed a lawsuit against Citizens Property Insurance Corp., alleging the state-run insurer of last resort negated policies that entitled homeowners to discounts.

In the suit filed this week in Broward County Circuit Court, Kenneth Babbitt said he paid for an inspection to qualify for wind-mitigation credit and later received a discount from Citizens. A month later, the insurer notified him that it was requiring a second inspection, conducted in December, according to the suit, which seeks class-action status.

Shortly thereafter, Citizens took away Babbitt’s discounts, resulting in a $253 increase to his $1,029 annual premium, even though he had made no changes to the home since his original inspection, the suit said.

A 2005 Florida law requires insurers to notify policyholders of discounts available for installation of fixtures or construction techniques that would reduce losses in a hurricane.

The suit alleges that Citizens’ reinspections are a way to recoup some of the $974 million in revenue lost because of the discounts.

Babbitt’s lawyer, Gregory Weiss, said the reinspections are a “scheme by Citizens to circumvent the cap on rate hikes by reclaiming revenue from properly issued wind mitigation credits.”

Joseph Osborne, another lawyer for Babbitt, said the insurer hired its own inspectors, “whose expressed purpose was to devalue the original inspection and bolster their premiums.”

A Citizens spokeswoman could not be immediately reached for comment Thursday.