RAA Group

Existing home sales rose both in Florida and nationwide as the housing market continues to show signs of stabilization.

Statewide, year-over-year existing home sales shot up 45 percent last month, with a total of 15,160 homes sold, up from 10,444 homes sold in October 2008, according to Florida Realtors.

Between September and October, existing home sales increased 5.1 percent.

Florida’s median sales price for existing homes last month was $140,300, down 17 percent from a year ago, when it was $169,700.

Sales of existing single-family homes in West Palm Beach rose the most in the tri-county area – up 36 percent, to 841 from 618. The median sales price also fell the least – down just 8 percent, to $243,600 from $264,600.

Existing home sales in Fort Lauderdale rose 32 percent in October, to 826 from 625 a year ago. The median sales price slid 16 percent, to $211,600 from $252,500.

Sales in Miami grew the least – up 26 percent, to 571 from 453 – while prices fell the most – down 28 percent, to $178,500 from $246,800.

Statewide existing condo sales rose to 5,398 in October, up 82 percent from 2,958 a year prior and up 6.1 percent over September. The median sales price of an existing condo in Florida fell 29 percent, to $105,200 in October from $147,900 a year ago.

Fort Lauderdale saw the biggest increase in sales of existing condo sales in the tri-county area in October – up 68 percent, to 926 from 551 a year ago. The median price fell 28 percent, to $83,200 from $115,200. West Palm Beach recorded a 59 percent hike in existing condo sales, to 766 from 481. The median price fell 20 percent, to $109,300 from $135,800. And in Miami, existing condo sales rose 47 percent, to 647 in October from 439 in the year-ago period. The median sales price of a condo in Miami fell 30 percent to $138,400 from $197,400.

Nationwide, exiting home sales in October jumped a record 10.1 percent as buyers continued to take advantage of the first-time homebuyers credit.

Patrick Newport, U.S. economist with IHS Global Insight, suggested in a news release that “sales will drop in the first quarter of 2010, payback from the first tax credit. Sales will take a second hit in the third quarter of 2010, payback from the second tax credit. Overall, sales in 2010 will be about the same as in 2009.”

As most of the nation prepares for a Thanksgiving feast comes a report from the Food Research and Action Center that Florida is below the national average in “food insecurity.”

The term means that access to adequate food is limited by a lack of money and other resources.

Florida was 30th among the 50 states, with 12.2 percent of households food insecure while 4.9 percent had very low food security.

That means the food intake of some household members was reduced, and their normal eating patterns were disrupted because of the household’s situation.

The latest rankings, which come from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, ranked Mississippi the worst and North Dakota the best. The USDA monitors the extent and severity of food insecurity in U.S. households through an annual, nationally representative survey. This latest report presents statistics on households’ food security, food expenditures and use of food and nutrition assistance programs in 2008.

USDA found that 17 million households in the U.S., or 14.6 percent, were food insecure. The prevalence of food insecurity was up from 11.1 percent in 2007, and was the highest observed since the surveys were launched in 1995.

“As the recession hit, the number of Americans in households struggling against hunger skyrocketed to one in six last year, and it’s likely that the number is even higher today,” said Jim Weill, FRAC president. “Millions have lost jobs or seen their wages reduced over the past two years. While many more people are turning to the federal nutrition programs for help, those programs don’t reach enough people and their benefits often aren’t enough to stop hunger.”

Regionally, food insecurity was most prevalent in the South, intermediate in the Midwest and West and least prevalent in the Northeast.

Tax revenue across the country declined for the fourth consecutive quarter, according to a preliminary report issued Monday by the Rockefeller Institute of Government.

In Florida, tax revenue fell 8.6 percent in the July-through-September period.

Sales taxes in the Sunshine State fell 8.1 percent.

For the 44 states reporting third quarter results, overall tax revenue declined 10.7 percent, year-over-year. The most significant drop was in the corporate income tax category, which fell 19.4 percent.

In Florida, the corporate income tax fell 11 percent.

Nationwide, personal income taxes fell 11.4 percent and sales taxes fell 8.2 percent.

The institute said it will issue a complete report on the third quarter in several weeks, when final U.S. Census data becomes available. It will also issue a further outlook on the remainder this year and for 2010.

Click here to read the full report.

Miami safer than Orlando? That’s what a newly released report by Washington, D.C-based

CQ Press finds.

The publication, which examined 2008

FBI statistics for murder, rape, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary and motor vehicle theft, ranked Miami 45th, while Orlando came in 17th. Fort Lauderdale ranked 77th and West Palm Beach came in 53rd.

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The report looks crime rate rankings of cities of at least 75,000 residents. Topping the list of 393 cities is Camden, N.J., followed by St. Louis and Oakland, Calif. Detroit and Flint, Mich., round out the top five.

Other South Florida cities ranked include:

• Miami Gardens: 35
• Miami Beach: 42
• Pompano Beach: 63
• Hollywood: 144
• Hialeah: 186
• Miramar: 216
• Plantation: 234
• Davie: 248
• Sunrise: 254
• Pembroke Pines: 315
• Boca Raton: 319
• Coral Springs: 346

Download the complete list here.

Miami home prices ticked up 0.05 percent in September over August, but remained down 16.2 percent, year-over-year, according to the latest S&P Case-Shiller 20-city home price index.

The closely watched gauge of U.S. home prices rose 0.3 percent in September from August, the fifth straight monthly increase.

“We have seen broad improvement in home prices for most of the past six months,” said David M. Blitzer, chairman of the Index Committee at Standard & Poor’s, in a news release. “However, the gains in the most recent month are more modest than during the seasonally strong summer months. Fewer cities saw month-to-month improvements in September than in August in both seasonally adjusted and unadjusted figures.”

Las Vegas has some of the biggest housing drops, with a 28.6 percent fall, although Phoenix isn’t far behind, with a 21.8 percent drop.

No markets in the 20-city composite showed a housing price increase over the past 12 months.

Hotel occupancy and rates fell again last week, according to data from Smith Travel Research.

For the week ended Nov. 14, average daily room rates in Palm Beach County fell 16.1 percent, to $109.70 from $130.77 at the same time last year. Miami-Dade rates fell 14.5 percent, to $130.85 from $146.31. Rates in Broward fell 13.2 percent, to $98.98 from $114.01.

Average rates across the U.S. were down 9.9 percent, to $95.86 from $106.45 in the prior-year period.

Occupancy in Miami-Dade fell to 71.9 percent from 78.9 percent. Palm Beach County occupancy fell to 62.7 percent from 67.4 percent. Occupancy in Broward fell to 67.7 percent from 72.4 percent.

Nationwide, occupancy fell to 52.6 percent from 56.2 percent.

Though the environment remains challenging, things are improving in Broward as we move into winter, said Alfredo Gonzalez, VP of tourism and international business at the Greater Fort Lauderdale Convention and Visitors Bureau. For October, occupancy was essentially flat in Broward.

“Hopefully, the next 12 weeks will set us apart from the rest of the Florida market,” he said.

On Wednesday, Virgin America Airlines debuted at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport, where it will offer twice-daily nonstop flights from San Francisco International Airport and Los Angeles International Airport.

The San Francisco flights are expected to bring a “significant” number of gay, lesbian and bisexual travelers, an important demographic for Fort Lauderdale, Gonzalez noted.

And, Royal Caribbean’s Oasis of the Seas, the largest cruise ship ever built, recently docked at Port Everglades. That’s also good for Broward tourism, he added. Finally, Broward will benefit from the Pro Bowl and Super Bowl being held in Miami this winter, he said.

The 1st District Court of Appeal has rejected another challenge to a state law that provides tax breaks to Florida homeowners.

The three-judge panel said in its ruling that it has already “considered and rejected virtually identical constitutional challenges.”

The constitutional amendment, which passed in 1992 and went into effect in 1995, caps the increase in annual assessments of homestead properties in Florida to 3 percent or the Consumer Price Index, whichever is less. It was designed to protect full-time Florida homeowners from skyrocketing increases in property values.

To qualify, a residential property must be a primary residence that meets homestead requirements.

Last year, a challenge to the amendment was filed after voters approved a provision that allows for residents to take part of the tax break with them when they move.

Those challenging the amendment argue that it is unfair to new residents and those who are not permanent Florida residents and violates U.S. constitutional rights of travel and interstate commerce.

Florida’s poorest residents pay a far higher share of their income in state and local taxes than do the richest families in the state, according to a newly released report by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, a Washington, D.C.-based think tank.

The report notes that Florida’s lowest income group – those making about $10,500 a year – pay more than six times more of their income in taxes than those in the top 1 percent – those making about $2.4 million a year – based on income and taxes paid in 2007.

Those in the lowest group pay on average 13.5 percent of their income in state and local taxes, while those in the higher income bracket pay, on average, 2.1 percent, the report notes.

Middle-income families – those making about $37,400 a year – pay an average of 9 percent of their income, or more than four times as much as those in the highest income group.

Nationwide, the state and local tax obligation for all states averages about 10.9 percent for low-income families, 9.4 percent for middle-income and 5.2 percent for those in the top income bracket.

The findings are, in large part, due to the fact that Florida has no personal income tax, and relies on the state sales tax for revenue.

The report, which calls Florida’s tax structure “antiquated,” calls on the Legislature to revise the state’s tax system to “make it fairer and adequate to meet the need for public services.

Click here to read the full report.

Despite some positive economic news of late, Floridians are not feeling very upbeat about the economy, a new poll finds.

More than 83 percent say they are concerned about their money challenges, while 43 percent don’t expect they will be financially better off a year from now, according to the poll, which was conducted as part of a new statewide financial education initiative called Money Wise Florida.

The program is a financial literacy campaign that was created in partnership with Florida Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink.

In addition to the poll, the project will include a 30-minute television special that will be broadcast statewide in 2010.

Among other findings:

• Thirty-eight percent of those polled say they have personally suffered a financial crisis in the past year, 73 percent know someone who lost their job, and one-fourth say their home is worth less than their mortgage.
• Fifty-five percent are not confident investing in stocks, real estate, buying a new house or car.
• Seventy-two percent are not confident about changing jobs, starting a business or running debt.
• Forty-seven percent will spend less on this holiday season.
• Forty-three percent most likely will cut going out to eat from their budget.
• Twenty-one percent most likely will cut out going to the movies.

Most Floridians report good basic financial habits: 95 percent say they check their credit card bills monthly, 92 percent say they check their bank statements monthly and two-thirds say they pay off their credit cards monthly.

“All that translates into a population that is largely frozen in place, unwilling to make the kind of changes, investments or purchases that could stimulate Florida’s sluggish economy,” the report notes.

Florida ranked second among states with the highest mortgage delinquency rates in the third quarter, at 13.3 percent, according to

TransUnion.com, a credit and information management company. At 14.5 percent, Nevada was No. 1.

Nationwide, the ratio of borrowers who were 60 days or more past due on their mortgages increased for the 11th straight quarter, hitting an all-time high of 6.25 percent in the quarter, up from 5.81 percent the previous quarter.

There is some good news, however. TransUnion found that while the rate is up, it’s not going up as much as in previous months.

For example, the delinquency rate increased almost 14 percent from the fourth quarter of 2008 to first quarter of 2009, while the percent change from first quarter to second quarter of 2009 increased by just 11.3 percent.

“While it continues to be a positive sign that the increase in mortgage borrower delinquency rates has slowed for three consecutive quarters, we have to keep things in perspective,” said FJ Guarrera, vice president of TransUnion’s financial services division, in a news release. “Delinquency rates are rising and expected to peak at record levels. Until the housing market can consistently demonstrate several months of home value appreciation and the unemployment rate improves, mortgage delinquency will likely continue to rise.”

The average national mortgage debt per borrower dropped 0.36 percent, to $193,121 from the previous quarter’s $193,811. The third quarter average represents a 0.43 percent increase over the average mortgage debt per borrower level of $192,287 for the prior-year period.

The area with the highest average mortgage debt per borrower was the District of Columbia, at $359,788, followed by California, at $354,510, and Hawaii at $312,844. The lowest average mortgage debt per borrower was in West Virginia, at $97,265.

Information for the report was culled from 27 million anonymous, randomly sampled, individual credit files, representing about 10 percent of credit-active U.S. consumers.