Real Estate Bills Mailed out to Florida Property Owners

The Tax Collector's Offices in Florida have recently mailed out the 2014 Real Estate Tax Bills to property owners. The bill is due for payment by 03/31/15 with discounts available for early payment. If owners have not received their bill they may download and pay their bill online by visiting the appropriate Tax Collector's website. Property tax is a locally assessed tax which is payable annually regardless of whether the property is rented or personally used. The tax is used to support local government services including education, roads, emergency services etc. 

Unpaid Real Estate Taxes become delinquent 04/01 of the year following the year of assessment. At this time, interest of 3% and an advertising charge is added to the tax amount due. If the taxes remain unpaid on or before 06/01 a tax certificate, or lien against the property, will be sold for the amount of the unpaid taxes, interest and costs. After two years, the tax certificate holder is eligible to file for a Tax Deed Application, which could result in the loss of the title to the property. 

If you have any questions contact your local Tax Collector's Office:
http://dor.myflorida.com/dor/property/taxcollectors.html

Freddie Mac's 2015 Forecast:

Mortgage rates: Interest rates will likely be on the rise next year. In recent weeks, the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage has dipped below 4 percent. But by next year, Freddie projects mortgage rates to average 4.6 percent and inch up to 5 percent by the end of the year.

Home prices: By the time 2014 wraps up, home appreciation will likely have slowed to 4.5 percent this year from 9.3 percent last year. Appreciation is expected to drop further to an average 3 percent in 2015. "Continued house-price appreciation and rising mortgage rates will dampen affordability for home buyers," according to Freddie economists. "Historically speaking, that's moving from 'very high' levels of affordability to 'high' levels of affordability."

Housing starts: Homebuilding is expected to ramp up in 2015, projected to rise by 20 percent from this year. That will likely help total home sales to climb by about 5 percent, reaching the best sales pace in eight years.

Single-family originations: Mortgage originations of single-family homes will likely slip by an additional 8 percent, which can be attributed to a steep drop in refinancing volume. Refinancings are expected to make up only 23 percent of originations in 2015; they had been making up more than half in recent years.

Multi-family mortgage originations: Mortgage originations for the multi-family sector have surged about 60 percent between 2011 and 2014. Increases are expected to continue in 2015, projected to rise about 14 percent.

Source: Freddie Mac