By J.W. ELPHINSTONE, AP Real Estate Writer
Home prices posted their first quarterly increase in three years, signaling the housing market has turned a corner.
The Standard & Poor’s/Case-Shiller’s U.S. National Home Price Index released Tuesday rose nearly 3 percent from the first quarter to 133, though that reading is still down almost 15 percent from the [...]

BY DICK HOGAN • Naples News • AUGUST 25, 2009
An advisory committee at Mediterra has reached a tentative agreement with Bonita Bay Group for residents to buy the community’s golf and beach clubs for $6.8 million cash or $8 million financed.  In addition, the deal would require the residents to assume $15 million in debt [...]

BY DON MANLEY • News Press • AUGUST 23, 2009
The picture may be brightening for sales of high-end houses in Lee County.
That market segment, homes priced at $1 million or more, hasn’t seen the same sales burst this year as abodes priced at $500,000 or less. But Realtors and developers say they’ve seen an upswing [...]

With rates staying virtually unchanged today vs. last Friday, I thought it might be interesting to hear what other “experts” are predicting for rate futures.  The Bankrate.com survey is for conforming mortgages only. It does not apply to FHA mortgages, VA mortgages, jumbo mortgages, or super jumbo mortgages. Here are the most recent predictions for the [...]

BY DON MANLEY • DMANLEY@NEWS-PRESS.COM • AUGUST 22, 2009
Single-family home prices are climbing in Lee County and sales continued at a torrid pace in July, although there was a slight dip from June’s record-setting pace.
Meanwhile, sales across the nation and state are up, but with a drop in the median sales price.
A total of [...]

By Naples Daily News staff report
Single-family home resales in Lee County increased more than 100 percent in July.
There were 1,570 sales, up from 768 in the same month a year ago, according to a report by the Florida Association of Realtors.
Of all the metro areas tracked in the report, Fort Myers-Cape Coral saw the biggest percentage [...]

The lowest rates since 2005 may be on tap in 2010 for the typical Florida Power & Light Co. customer. FPL announced Thursday that it expects the typical 1,000-kilowatt-hour residential-customer bill to drop next year by about $9 a month, from about $109 to $100. The decrease is subject to approval by Florida’s Public [...]

Courtesy of Summit Mortgage
You’ve probably heard that the Fed is buying up billions of dollars worth of Mortgage-Backed Securities. But how does this really impact home loan rates and your mortgage?
Basically, the Fed’s actions provide a demand for Mortgage-Backed Securities, which should help keep the ceiling on home loan rates from moving much higher in [...]

Courtesy of Summit Mortgage
A constriction in mortgage product offerings and the ongoing effects of the credit crunch have radically changed our business.
It’s not all doom and gloom. There is still plenty of money available to creditworthy borrowers. But lender guidelines have tightened significantly, and the days of easy credit with no down payment and no [...]

Courtesy of Naples Daily News
By TARA E. McLAUGHLIN
After nearly two months of negotiating and many more months of strain, some residents of a Bonita Bay Group community are jumping for joy.
Boards of the Shadow Wood Country Club and The Commons Club at The Brooks agreed to buy from Bonita Bay Group both clubs for $8.3 million [...]