Southwest Florida Real Estate News and Market Insight
Market data, mortgage rate movement, housing policy, and property news from across the country and here at home in Collier and Lee counties. Anything that affects what a home in Naples, Bonita Springs, or Estero is worth, and what it costs to own one, is worth understanding before it shows up in your closing statement or your tax bill.
Vishal Garg steps down at Better, board names Daniel Lewis interim CEO

Better Home & Finance Holding Co. has appointed board member Daniel Lewis as interim CEO effective immediately, replacing founder Vishal Garg, the company announced Monday. Garg will remain on the company’s board and work with Lewis to ensure an orderly leadership transition. As interim CEO, Lewis w
Read MoreFOA leads July HECM endorsements while HMBS issuance remains weak

Home Equity Conversion Mortgage (HECM) endorsements declined in July after an uptick in June, while HECM Mortgage-Backed Securities (HMBS) issuance remained near the lowest levels seen since 2009, according to data released Monday by New View Advisors. The top 15 originators endorsed 2,034 HECM loan
Read MoreTransit Village ready to roll? BH, Related Group cleared to close on land

The Toledano family’s BH Group and the Pérez family’s Related Group are cleared to close on the Transit Village site, after an arbitrator broke a yearslong deadlock between the developers and Palm Beach County. Aventura-based BH Group and Coconut Grove-based Related plan the 1.3 million-square-foot
Read MoreWhy Builders FirstSource bought ICG; and why Pulte sold it

Builders FirstSource’s acquisition of Innovative Construction Group (ICG) from PulteGroup signals that, while homebuilders see value in off-site construction, many prefer to rely on third-party manufacturers rather than own those operations themselves, especially during down cycles. Builders FirstS
Read MoreHomebuilders Accuse Data Centers of Snapping Up Prime Land at ‘Impossible Prices’

Data center developers could be vexing the housing market by outbidding homebuilders, at least in one fast-growing area. In a research piece published on its website, the National Association of Home Builders looked at a few examples of data center developers outbidding other prospective users of th
Read MoreDream Finders adds Rick Beckwitt as Beazer bid heats up

Dream Finders Homes’ 2026 quest to acquire Beazer Homes has focused mostly on the target’s financial and operational underperformance. Dream Finders has publicly argued that Beazer shareholders deserve the certainty of a cash exit and that a new owner can produce better results from the company’s as
Read MoreFAA clears smallest Boeing 737 Max to fly after years of delays

Airlines can finally start flying passengers soon after planes are certified, but it can take them months to work them into schedules.
Read MoreSocial Security 2100 Act seeks higher benefits, long-term program solvency

A sweeping Social Security reform bill reintroduced in the House of Representatives would boost benefits for millions of Americans, change how cost-of-living adjustments (COLAs) are calculated and impose new taxes on high earners to shore up program finances. The Social Security 2100 Act, H.R. 9519,
Read MoreWhy Homeowners Who ‘Did Everything Right’ May Be Headed Back to the Starter Home Market

Potential homebuyers seeking their next place to live are no strangers to competition, especially in a market where rates feel stuck above 6%, prices hit record highs, and housing supply is hard to come by. But according to experts, a new type of competition may soon emerge at the bottom of the mar
Read MoreOriginPoint adds $165M Halliday-Levin team to boost West Coast mortgage presence

Chicago-based mortgage lender OriginPoint has hired top-producing loan officers Erin Halliday and Jon Levin from New American Funding, where they operated as a high-volume production team. Halliday and Levin officially joined OriginPoint — a joint venture of Rate and Compass — on July 27 as the Erin
Read MoreHassan Whiteside’s Miami Beach mansion paces $110M week for Miami-Dade luxury contracts

Former Miami Heat player Hassan Whiteside has once again found a buyer for his Miami Beach mansion, asking $14.8 million. The pending sale marks the third time the house has gone under contract since May. It’s the second-priciest of the 13 luxury contracts signed in Miami-Dade County between July 2
Read MoreUsing Your IRA To Buy Another Home: The Strategy Turning Buyers Into Investors

If you’re a real estate investor—or hope to become one—the 21st Century Road to Housing Act could make investment properties more accessible. And you may be able to purchase them through a tax-advantaged retirement account, such as a self-directed IRA. Starting Jan. 7, 2027, the law prohibits large
Read MoreBillionaire Greene hits back at contractor in lawsuit over West Palm apartments

Affiliates of Jeff Greene are accusing a contractor of shoddy work at a West Palm Beach apartment project, more than a year after the contractor sued the developer over what it says are unpaid construction costs. Greene’s entity filed a lawsuit on July 21 against AG Contractors FL in Palm Beach Coun
Read MoreWildfires in Washington State Destroy Hundreds of Homes Near Spokane as Nearly 65,000 Residents Flee

A trio of massive wildfires that ignited in Spokane County, WA, over the weekend destroyed hundreds of homes and businesses and triggered the mass evacuation of nearly 65,000 people. The Autumn Lane Fire, Fairview Fire, and Old Trails Fire together have consumed roughly 8,000 acres of land and were
Read More-

“The Real Housewives of Miami” star Stephanie Shojaee has claimed that the villa she rented for her summer vacation in France was robbed. Shojaee, 41, claimed in a post on her Instagram account that the South of France villa she had been renting was broken into. In the first Instagram story Shojaee
Read More Procacci sells entitled multifamily site near Galleria Mall for $25M

Phillip Procacci sold a development site near the Galleria Mall that he long planned to develop, most recently proposing a 259-unit multifamily project. Boca Raton-based Procacci Development, through an affiliate, sold the 2.4-acre vacant lot in Fort Lauderdale to an entity tied to Dallas-based mul
Read MoreMovers: Boca Raton CRE veteran Arnie Sevell joins LQ Commercial

In South Florida’s latest hiring news, commercial real estate veteran Arnold “Arnie” Sevell has joined LQ Commercial after 35 years with Sevell Realty Partners. Sevell will extend the firm’s reach along Florida’s east coast, bringing experience in retail, office, industrial, land and healthcare real
Read MoreSouth Florida’s top deals: Procacci offloads multifamily dev site in Fort Lauderdale for $25M

🏆 Residential: The most expensive home sale to hit records in South Florida was in Boca Raton. A trust purchased the newly built home at 1642 Sabal Palm Drive for $21.5 million from John and Mary Hargrove, who purchased it for $6 million last year. The home, in the Royal Palm Yacht and Country Club
Read More-

In the thick of more than 15 lawsuits involving him and his companies, including a foreclosure over his most high-profile condo project at the moment, developer Michael Stern says that he’s pretty “unflappable.” Two years ago, the developer of Brooklyn Tower, the tallest building in the borough, ga
Read More Heir to Ansins’ TV news dynasty carves his path in megadevelopment

Wearing a hard hat, the sleeves of his crisp button-down shirt rolled up in South Florida’s May heat, Andy Ansin arrived late. The owner of FOX affiliate WSVN-Channel 7 was supposed to attend the on-site tour of the TV news station’s studio that’s under construction in the west Broward County city
Read More
Categories
Recent Posts










