The top ten news stories in 2011 for the Florida real estate market as reported by the Florida REALTOR Association is summarized here.

1. The year 2011 was a once in a generation buying opportunity for Florida real estate. For many areas of Florida real estate prices appeared to have bottomed, and there is still excess inventory including distresssed properties offering many buying opportunities, some areas of Florida it now cost less to buy than to rent, and thirty year fixed rate mortgages went down to 3.94 percent.

2.The economy appears to continue rebounding with a decrease in unemployment. Employment and the perception of employment is the number one factor that currently affects the Florida real estate market.

3. The commercial market in Florida although still struggling had vacancy rate stabilize along with rental rates. Lawrence Yun, the chief economist with the National Association of REALTORS said that "with modest economic growth and job creation, the fundamentals for commercial real estate should gradually improve in the coming year."

4.The Florida legislation passed Admendment 4 and "Scrapped the Cap". Admendment 4 when approved by the Florida voters limits the property tax increase cap on non residential real estate to five percent per year creating a more predictable investment environment for Florida real estate investors. Admendment 4 will also give first time home buyers a property tax break that will decease over time.

5. Florida property insurance legislation which has been wrestling with available versus affordable insurance issues shifted close to the available by making sinkhole coverage optional and establishing more stricter criteria for those who want sinkhole coverage. This change should attract more private insurers to the state and cut down on the liability to Florida caused by the state run insurance coverage known as Citizens Property Insuarance.

6. The Florida REALTORS Industry and Data Analysis Department opened for business in June 2011.

7. Federal government programs did little to help financially distressed homeowners with the programs of HARP, HAMP, and TARP.

8. The federal government regulations to avoid another real estate crisis has conflicted with the federal government attempts to boost home sales as evidence in programs of HAMP, HARP, and TARP. Potential home sales were lost due to tightening appraisal standards, increased mortgage rules, and raising the issue of federal tax deduction.

9. Technology became an even more necessary form for real estate marketing. Google Plus grew from nothing in 2010 to another important social media in 2011. Social Media now takes many forms when marketing real estate including Google Plus, Youtube, Facebook, and Twitter. These social networking sites have now become standard on the real estate business.

10. The skills that REALTORS need to help buyers and sellers of real estate in 2011 have changed dramatically from the necessary REALTORS skills in 2005. Florida REALTORS in 2011 spent a lot more time with the necessities of short sales, communicating with banks, and understanding the application of the new laws that control what a Florida REALTOR can and can not do in reference to short sales.

The tools for searching for available Florida real estate in 2011 continued to improve also. Pinellas REALTOR Organization joined with the Mid Florida Regional MLS in 2011. Florida REALTORS and buyers of Florida real estate now have access to real estate listings in Florida from Clearwater Beach to Daytona Beach with information provided by the Mid Florida MLS. Another trend for buyers who are searching for a Florida  real estate listing is to use user friendly map based real estate search. Diverse Solutions recognized in the real estate industry for using this technology is offering a premiere map based real estate search for the Florida market. David Craven with RE/MAX Realtec Group now offers this map based real estate search free to home buyers in the Tampa Bay Area. Search the Mid Florida MLS and find your Tampa Bay home for sale here.

David Craven
RE/MAX Realtec Group
David Craven
David@DavidCraven.com
www.DavidCraven.com