Florida Condo Owners to Get Relief Under New Laws Effective July 1, 2025

On June 23, 2025, Governor Ron DeSantis signed two major pieces of legislation aimed at supporting Florida condominium owners: House Bill 913 (HB 913) and House Bill 393 (HB 393). These new laws provide crucial financial flexibility, promote transparency, and offer targeted support for hurricane mitigation upgrades.

Why Florida's New Condo Laws Were Created: Lessons from the Surfside Tragedy

The My Safe Florida Condominium Pilot Program and the related legislation—HB 913 and HB 393—are being enacted in direct response to the tragic collapse of the Champlain Towers South condominium in Surfside, Florida, on June 24, 2021. That catastrophic event claimed 98 lives and exposed…

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As we step into 2025, the South Florida real estate market continues to stand out as a dynamic and highly desirable region for homebuyers, investors, and sellers alike. Cities like Boca Raton and Delray Beach remain at the forefront of the market, with their luxurious properties, vibrant communities, and year-round sunshine attracting buyers from across the country. This blog explores what to expect from the 2025 real estate market in South Florida, including market trends, investment opportunities, and expert predictions.

Overview of the South Florida Real Estate Market in 2024

The South Florida market, encompassing Boca Raton real estate, Delray Beach real estate, and neighboring areas like Fort Lauderdale and Palm Beach, demonstrated resilience…

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Understanding the Florida Homestead Exemption: A Guide for Homeowners

The Florida Homestead Exemption is a powerful tool that provides property tax relief and other legal protections to homeowners in the Sunshine State. This exemption can significantly reduce your annual property tax bill and offers benefits that extend beyond simple tax savings. If you're a Florida resident and own a primary residence in the state, understanding the homestead exemption is crucial.

What is the Florida Homestead Exemption?

The Florida Homestead Exemption is a property tax benefit available to homeowners who occupy their Florida property as their primary residence. Eligible homeowners can receive up to a $50,000 reduction in the assessed value of their home for tax…

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Real Estate Market Predictions for 2024: When Will Home Prices Become Affordable Again?

The real estate market has been a hot topic of conversation for several years now. The pandemic, coupled with fluctuating mortgage rates and a tight housing inventory, has led to significant price increases across the U.S. As 2024 approaches, potential buyers and sellers are asking the million-dollar question: When will home prices become affordable again? Here, we break down the housing market predictions for 2024 and 2025, discuss the factors influencing home prices, and provide expert tips to navigate this competitive market.

The State of the Housing Market: A Cooling Period?

The housing market has yet to fully heat up this year, but changes are on the…

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The recent settlement between the National Association of Realtors (NAR) and several plaintiffs have significantly changed real estate practices, effective August 17, 2024. These changes aim to increase transparency and reduce potential conflicts of interest, reshaping how agent compensation and buyer agreements are handled across the industry.

Key updates include:

  1. Compensation Changes: The most impactful change is the prohibition of listing brokers or sellers offering commission to buyer agents on Multiple Listing Services (MLS). This effectively ends the common practice where sellers paid both the listing agent and buyer’s agent commissions, leading to greater transaction clarity. MLS platforms will now remove any fields related to buyer-agent…

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Home Sold With Multiple Offers Sign

The Federal Reserve intensified its fight against inflation in June by announcing the biggest interest rate increase in 28 years as the government's main lending institution tries to rein in skyrocketing consumer costs. 

The largest increase since 1994, the Fed increased its benchmark interest rate by three-quarters of a percentage point. That comes after increases of a quarter point in March and a half point in May. The increase is due to growing prices for rent, groceries, gasoline, and a variety of other goods and services. Higher interest rates will increase the cost of carrying a credit card bill, obtaining a vehicle loan, and purchasing a home.

Rate increases are anticipated to continue in the upcoming months. In general, Fed policymakers…

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Surfside Condominium CollapseIn the wake of the tragic collapse of the Champlain Towers South in Surfside, more questions and concerns regarding the safety of buildings throughout South Florida have emerged seemingly every day. Now, a coalition under Palm Beach County’s League of Cities has proposed an inspection of many condos, apartment buildings, hotels, and offices both east and west of I-95.

The proposal targets buildings a minimum of 25 years old east of the highway, and 35 years old on the western side, regardless of height. This surpasses the standard of 40 years of age in Miami-Dade and Broward counties. While one and two-family homes, government buildings, and schools are excluded, this would result in a massive undertaking, as 90% of the condominiums stretching from…

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There's No Housing Bubble

As soon as housing prices seem to rise, two questions spring to mind—and into headlines:

“What’s MY home worth?”, followed immediately by “when will THIS housing bubble pop?”

With current median selling prices up nearly $35,000 compared to the same period last year, it’s the latter (along with still-fresh memories of last decade) that have some buyers waiting on the sidelines. However, while experts have no idea how far prices will run, they can seemingly agree on one thing: we aren’t actually in a bubble.

And those that wait will likely regret it.

This Is A Different Housing Market

Take it from none other than a Morgan Stanley strategist who shared in a note to clients that the bank had a “strong conviction that we are not experiencing…

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South Florida Real Estate Market Report

South Florida Real Estate Market Report

How's the South Florida real estate market?

Reflection...  Looking back and looking ahead

After wrapping up a year to remember in 2020, Compass is proud to share our first Florida market report of the year, showcasing data from Q1 for South Florida, North Florida, Southwest Florida, Central Florida, and the Greater Tampa Bay. While not all facets of life have returned to prepandemic norms, especially as it relates to the international travel that injects additional movement in the housing market, real estate nationwide has benefited from signs of recovery including an increase in consumer expenditure, vaccination distribution, a decrease in unemployment from 14.7% to 6% (BLS.GOV), and an acceleration of…

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South Florida's Real Estate Market in 2021

It will take time for South Florida to fully process the long-reaching changes resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic. One of the more immediate effects, however, has been a sharp increase in home prices—thanks in combination to federal efforts consisting of low borrowing rates, and a local lack of inventory.

Across the South Florida region, prices climbed over the course of 2020. Even now, nearly 12 months since the sweeping lockdowns that slammed the country, the trend has continued, pushing prices past previous historic highs.

This isn’t unexpected, of course. The simple laws of supply and demand coupled with the typical buying frenzy that accompanies drops in interest rates are anything but unpredictable. So too is the fear of missing out on…

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