Florida House considers alternative property tax reform plans. TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – March 12, 2007 – As troubles mounted Friday for a House Republican push to overhaul property taxes by slashing local government spending, an alternative plan to swap property taxes for sales taxes began to gather steam. The idea, offered by Democratic Rep. Jack Seiler of Wilton Manors, is to lower property taxes $7.8 billion statewide by eliminating the portion of tax bills that go to school districts. Voters would then be asked to approve a constitutional amendment to make up the lost revenue by raising the state sales tax 2 cents on the dollar.

Some examples of average insurance rate cut expectations. - TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – March 2, 2007 – Some property insurance rate cut expectations based on the presumed factor for new insurance rate filings released Thursday by the Office of Insurance Regulation.  Residents of Fort Myers can expect average cuts as low as 21.2 percent and as high as 43.4 percent on average, depending on where they live.

Allstate seeks 14% rollback: Request falls short of state estimates - TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – March 13, 2007 – Allstate Floridian Insurance Co., the state’s third-largest home insurer, wants to cut its property insurance rates by an average of 14 percent statewide.

Officials approve stronger Citizens plan. - TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – March 14, 2007 – State officials approved a new business plan for Citizens Property Insurance, allowing the state-run insurer to be more competitive with private insurers and offer some savings to policyholders.


MarketWatch - 2006 Every year the local press and area professionals hold a conference to discuss commercial and residential market trends over a period of 10 years or more.

Cape Coral-Fort Myers Climbs to Number 2 Naples isn't No. 1 anymore. But another Southwest Florida metropolitan area has made a fast climb to No. 2...

Business Week: A Second Home--For Now Closer to age 50 than 60, today's retirement-home buyers favor a farsighted strategy: They're looking for vacation homes they can enjoy now, maybe rent out for some income--and then use for retirement several years hence. It's a particularly savvy gambit in the current market ...

Cape Coral One of the Safest Places in Florida Ranked 3rd safest in cities with populations over 100,000.

New home sales set another record
U.S. sales of new homes rose 0.1 percent last month to 1.098 million houses at an annual rate, capping the fourth consecutive record year, the U.S. Commerce Department reported Monday. Local figures aren’t available but building permits in Lee County surged in 2004: up 48 percent to 7,124. Permits in Cape Coral increased 33 percent to 5,664....

Money Magazine: Buy your retirement home now NEW YORK (Money Magazine) - These days, many 40-year-olds are already thinking about how and where they want to live when they retire...

Let Renters Buy Your Retirement Home If you buy a second home now for retirement later, you could give yourself a hedge against home price hikes as well as a relatively low-cost retirement shelter with an equity cushion...

Lee County Hottest Market Again Lee County is the hottest home-building market in the country for the fourth quarter in a row, U.S. Housing Markets magazine reported this week...

What will $500,000 buy? You can get a lot for a half-million, but there aren't too many listings...

What will $200,000 buy? Mid-priced homes fly off the market, sometimes in matter of hours...

Milken Institute, Best Performing Cities 2004, Where America’s Jobs are Created and Sustained Fort Myers-Cape Coral, Florida was the best performing city this year, improving from third in 2003. The region’s economy has witnessed solid growth throughout the recent economic downturn, and accelerated during the recovery.