Southwest Florida Real Estate News and Market Insight

Affordability became a central concern in 2025. With rising mortgage rates and tighter budgets, many buyers shifted their focus from competing in the hottest markets to getting the most value for their housing dollar. Although the national median price per square foot hovered around $229 from Januar

Have you ever considered owning a short-term rental property in another country? While opportunities vary, some locations can offer significantly higher returns than others. According to Jamie Lane, chief economist at AirDNA—a firm that compiles and analyzes Vrbo and Airbnb data—it's become a trend

An investor who partnered with Ryan Serhant’s eponymous powerhouse brokerage has shared the story behind getting the star broker to work with investors—while a competing agent opened up about her own cameo on "Owning Manhattan." Jeffrey Berman, a partner at Camber Creek, which is a venture capital f

Country singer Jon Wolfe has earned his spurs as both a celebrated musician and a tequila brand founder, so when it comes to the Texas home where he hangs his cowboy hat, he’s made sure there’s room for all of his creative endeavors to mix together smoothly. The 47-year-old singer-songwriter bought

Travel in 2026 is expected to emphasize less-traveled destinations, decision-free planning, wellness retreats, nostalgia trips & AI‑powered hotel stays.

As the new year approaches, many homeowners are resolving to save more, and few expenses have surged faster than home insurance.  Premiums have climbed nearly 70% since 2021, with an additional 16% increase projected by 2027, according to industry estimates. These spikes have made it financially rec

"Property Brothers" star Jonathan Scott and actress Zooey Deschanel, who got engaged in 2023, have decked the halls of their sprawling Los Angeles home, transforming it into a winter wonderland. Scott, 47, and Deschanel, 45, partnered with Glitterville Studios creator and designer Stephen Brown to g

Kate Middleton has revealed she is looking forward to decorating her and Prince William's new eight-bedroom home, known as Forest Lodge, following the holiday season. In August, it was revealed by the BBC that the Prince and Princess of Wales were planning to leave their home at Adelaide Cottage—whe

A path to disbanding homeowners associations for residents unhappy with their HOAs is part of a proposal ahead of next year’s session of the Florida Legislature. Rep. Juan Carlos Porras filed House Bill 657, another legislative attempt to address HOA problems and help residents clashing with their l

Cirrus Real Estate won a bankruptcy auction for a distressed downtown Miami redevelopment site with a $77 million credit bid.  An affiliate of New York-based Cirrus, led by Joseph McDonnell, topped other offers during a live sale last week conducted by Sotheby’s Concierge Auctions, court records sho

Mortgage rates edged lower on Wednesday compared to the previous week, following bond market swings triggered by mixed economic indicators: a weak November jobs report and a soft but potentially overly optimistic inflation reading. The average rate on 30-year fixed home loans decreased to 6.18% for

Alirio Torrealba’s MG Developer and Prosper Group are planning a 30-story waterfront condo tower in North Bay Village. MG and Prosper are proposing a 30-story, 147-unit tower at 1681 and 1725 North Bay Causeway, the 1-acre site they bought for $30.9 million last year. The partners filed an applicati

Billionaire SC Johnson heiress Winifred Johnson-Marquart sold a home in Palm Beach two months after upsizing to a $30 million landmarked home on the island. Johnson-Marquart and her husband, musician and music producer Mike Marquart, sold the house at 449 Australian Avenue to Victor and Julia Tolkan

Mortgage applications decreased 5% for the week ending Dec. 19, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association—that's the second straight week of declines. The Market Composite Index, a measure of mortgage loan application volume, decreased 5% on a seasonally adjusted basis from one week earlier. On

Mortgage applications decreased 5.0% from one week earlier, according to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) weekly mortgage applications survey for the week ending Dec. 19, 2025. On an unadjusted basis, the index decreased 6% compared with the previous week. The refinance index decre

The current median list price for a home in the U.S. is $415,000—but, there are hundreds of houses on the market for just $1. Sometimes, listing a home for $1 is simply an unconventional marketing tactic to help widen the buyer pool or spark a bidding war. It can also be a way to let the market dete

San Francisco and Seattle share a lot in common: Both sit along the Pacific Coast, both are progressive cities with highly educated populations, and perhaps most significantly, both are world-renowned technology hubs whose growth helped fuel the rise of luxury housing markets in their metros. As glo

A rustic cabin in Alaska jutting out on 4.43 acres on Curley's Point overlooking Lake Louise has just hit the market for a very reasonable asking price of just $175,000, but it comes with a catch: There's no water or electricity. Located in Glennallen, the remote four-bedroom residence offering "acc

From luxury listings to dramatic home makeovers, Netflix’s expanding lifestyle lineup is beginning to look unmistakably HGTV-inspired. In recent years, the streaming giant has steadily built out its home and real estate catalog, adding fan-favorite series like "Selling the City," "Owning Manhattan,"

A custom-built, waterfront mansion in Key Largo, located at the tip of a human-made throughway known as Adam's Cut Waterway, has just hit the market for $11,380,000. Offering a shortcut for anyone looking to save significant travel time from Florida Bay to the Atlantic Ocean, "The Cut," as it is kno