Homeowners Insurance - Rate Comparison

Shopandcompare.com
Florida Office of Insurance Regulation

Governor Charlie Crist and the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation has created a website that compares homeowners insurance rates.

The comparison is based on a Palm Beach county, 5-year old, Florida concrete block home, with a current replacement value of $150,000, a $500 non-hurricane deductable and a 2% hurricane deductible, and NO WIND mitigation discounts.

Their note: “This is being provided for comparison purposes only to demonstrate the importance of shipping for insurance quotes.�

They compare 26 companies with a wide range of prices. Find out how companies like State Farm, Universal Property, Citizens Property, Allstate, Edison Insurance, Coral Insurance, and Security First Insurance ranked.

Florida’s existing home sales remain slow in January 2008

ORLANDO, Fla. – Feb. 25, 2008 – The mortgage credit crunch and a sluggish economy continued to affect the sales pace of existing homes and condominiums in Florida in January. Statewide, sales of existing single-family homes totaled 6,737 last month while 9,360 homes sold in January 2007 for a decrease of 28 percent in the year-to-year comparison, according to the Florida Association of Realtors® (FAR).

But some industry analysts expect sales activity to improve by the second half of the year, especially if the increased loan limit caps within the federal government’s economic stimulus package can be implemented quickly. In the latest market outlook from the National Association of Realtors®, Chief Economist Lawrence Yun says, “Existing-home sales have moved narrowly since last September, but when the full impact of higher loan limits for conventional mortgages begins to hit the market, there is likely to be a notable rise in home sales and prices. If higher limits are enacted very quickly, we’ll see a faster and more meaningful recovery by expanding safe, affordable financing in high-cost areas – that, in turn, would help to stimulate overall economic activity.�

© 2008 FLORIDA ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS

Poll: Florida voters confused about referendum on property tax reform

TALLAHASSEE Whether Florida voters will approve "super-sizing" the homestead exemption next January remains an open question, according to a statewide poll that indicates the fate of the property tax cut may hinge on campaigns by Gov. Charlie Crist and other elected leaders.

A majority of likely voters support the Republican-led Legislature's plan for larger homestead exemptions, but confusion about the proposal abounds and it does not have the clear 60 percent support needed for it to be written into the state's Constitution. Read complete article

Calculate your cost/savings under the new plan with the Sun-Sentinel online calculator tool, click here.

Florida Economist Predicts Housing Ready to Recover

Orlando - May 31, 2007
Florida Association of Realtors
www.FloridaRealtors.org

A top Florida economist has declared the housing slump a done deal. It will take another 18 months or so before closing volumes reach more normal levels, but the worst is behind us, says Hank Fishkind.

Fishkind says the turn-around is important to everyone, attributing housing troubles to the recent 75 percent drop in GDP (gross domestic product). The current 1.3 percent rate is down from the historic 4 percent pace, but Fishkind says that dropoff would go away completely when housing simply returns to normal evels.