Monday Grab Bag: Foreclosures Down, SoFla Economy Up and a New Studio in the Grove

Val Grant's new art studio opens in Pineapple Grove Wednesday and you're invited.

Val Grant’s new art studio opens in Pineapple Grove Wednesday and you’re invited.

Foreclosure Cases at Five Year Low

A new law designed to fast-track foreclosures seems to be making a dent in Florida’s huge back log of cases.

The current back log is now the smallest since the housing crisis began, but the numbers are still large.

According to reports released last week, more than 250,000 pending defaults are working their way through the system and experts say it will take another 3.5 years to clear the system at the current pace.

In addition to the new fast track law, market forces are also at play.

With home values on the rise, mortgage lenders are hustling to move delinquent loans from their books to capitalize on the thriving market.

The number of pending foreclosure cases throughout the state has dipped 28 percent since July 2012 and 17 percent since July 2013 to 272,470 as of Oct. 31.

That is the lowest total since the foreclosure crisis first clogged up the court system five years ago.

Florida’s backlog has now shed 105,237 foreclosures in the past 16 months, records show.

Atlanta Fed President Bullish on SoFla

The President of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta made local business leaders smile last week when he said in a speech that South Florida’s economic outlook looks even brighter than the nation’s.

With the U.S. economy improving, Dennis Lockhart of the Atlanta Fed, said South Florida’s growth should exceed the national average thanks to a new real estate boom, a healthy tourism market and a more diverse economy than it has had in the past.

Lockhart said Fed officials are predicting about 3 percent growth and South Florida should easily meet and most likely exceed that level.

Lockhart made his remarks at a meeting of the Broward Workshop, a business group in Fort Lauderdale.

 

Grand Opening Party at Val Grant Studio on December 11

Val Grant Studio is having a Grand Opening Celebration and Ribbon Cutting in honor of her new gallery in Pineapple Grove on December 11th from 5pm to 8pm. The event takes place at 206 NE Second Street.

The event will also benefit The Canine Cancer Research Foundation and is being catered by hot local Pineapple Grove eatery Third and Third. 

Val Grant is an award-winning artist whose photographs and paintings have been exhibited at the Red Dot Show at Art Basel and throughout the United States.

 Her oil paintings combine the surreal and abstract, and her photographs are brilliant retrospectives of Mother Nature’s finest ocean treasures.

Don’t miss her grand opening.

All are welcome.

Foreclosure Report: Good News/Bad News

Foreclosures are heading down in the Sunshine State

Foreclosures are heading down in the Sunshine State

 

It’s the classic “good news/bad news” scenario.

At the halfway point of the year, Florida has the nation’s highest foreclosure rate, but there is reason for optimism – new cases appear to be on the decline, according to Realty Trac. The report indicates that one in 58 homes in Florida are facing foreclosure.

Palm Beach, Broward, and Miami-Dade counties posted the highest foreclosure rate among metro areas – one in 43 homes are in some “stage of distress.”

The good news? Florida has one of the country’s longest timelines for foreclosure, taking an average of 907 days. Only New York and New Jersey (1,033) have longer delays.

More good news: While foreclosures remain elevated in Florida, new filings fell 23 percent in June from a year ago, RealtyTrac said. New cases in South Florida dropped 17 percent.