Housing Market

The Lee Board of County Commissioners voted to commit to a $500,000 dollar loan to support an application for a North Fort Myers affordable housing project Tuesday.Autumn Palm Lee, the company selected by the county for the project, is applying for funding through the Florida Housing Finance Corporation. The loan, which is from the Affordable Housing Trust Fund, will only be used if this application is accepted.

NAREB, Home ownership, Black wealth, Fort Myers, Southwest Florida, Fair Housing Act

A staggering 64 percent of Collier County public school employees who took part in a survey say they fear they will have to leave their jobs because of lack of affordable housing.

Local real estate agents are scrambling to figure out the effect on them of the National Association of Realtors’ anti-trust settlement last week to pay $418 million in damages and eliminate some rules dealing with commissions.A judge still has to approve the settlement. The new rules will take effect in July, if approved.

President Biden spoke today in Nevada to address how he plans to bring down housing costs in Florida and across the country.

The Immokalee Fair Housing Alliance has opened applications to live in a new affordable apartment building in Immokalee.The application window runs through March 7. Applications are available for pickup and submission at the B-Hive Flower Shop in Immokalee.

In an issue that might ultimately have to be sorted out by the Florida Supreme Court, an appeals court has sided with a Collier County homeowner in a dispute about a 2021 law that placed additional hurdles to filing lawsuits against property insurers.The ruling last week by a panel of the 6th District Court of Appeal dealt with whether part of the law could apply to policies issued before the law took effect. The panel agreed with arguments by attorneys for homeowner Rebecca Hughes, whose home sustained water damage in 2019 but who did not file a lawsuit against Universal Property Insurance & Casualty Insurance Co. over the claim until August 2021 — about a month after the law took effect.

The 562,000 tax bills being mailed to property and business owners in Lee County today are not meant to be scary, they are simply a reality of life. The bills reflect the value of the property as of January 1, 2023, when Florida law required them to be assessed.

The Housing Authority of Fort Myers will host a Homebuyers Summit from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Nov. 4 offering insight from industry professionals, real estate agents, and mortgage lenders on how to successfully purchase a home.

A new apartment complex being built in Collier County will offer 30 percent of its units at below market rates — what could be good news for essential workers like law enforcement officers and teachers who have struggled for years to find rentals they can afford in Collier County.