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Michael Sasso | The Tampa Tribune | “The median sale price of an existing home in the Tampa Bay area rose by 16.2 percent in December when compared with a year earlier, new figures from Florida Realtors show. Last month, the median sale price of a single-family home in the Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater metropolitan area was $158,000.Read more

 Michael Sasso | Tampa Tribune | “It’s getting harder to find homes to flip for a profit in the Tampa Bay area as big rental home companies crowd out traditional flippers, according to new data from real estate and foreclosure marketplace RealtyTrac. Irvine, Calif.-based Realty­Trac researches millions of real estate sales across the country and estimates how manyRead more

Francys Vallecillo | World Property Channel | “The total number of completed foreclosures in the U.S. dropped 24 percent in 2013, compared to 2012, according to the latest report from CoreLogic. There were 620,111 homes lost to foreclosure nationwide in 2013, compared to a total of 820,498 homes in 2012. Foreclosure numbers have been droppingRead more

Eric Snider | Tampa Bay Business Journal | “We’re not out of this foreclosure/short sale mess yet. More than a quarter of homes sales in December in 10 of the country’s largest metro areas were processed as either foreclosures or short sales, a new report says. Tampa ranked fourth, with such transactions making up 30.1 percent ofRead more

ALEX VEIGA | AP Real Estate Writer | “The number of U.S. homes that got started on the path to foreclosure fell last year to a low not seen since before the high-flying days of the housing boom, the latest evidence that the threat of foreclosures continues to diminish. Lenders also took back the fewestRead more

NBC 6 South Florida | “Two people were arrested in connection with an $8 million rental fraud scheme that involved dozens of victims in Broward, Palm Beach and Martin counties, authorities said Monday. Robert Allen Tribble Jr., 50, of Jupiter filed fraudulent quit-claim and warranty deeds to take control of homes in foreclosure, the FloridaRead more

Christopher O’Donnell | Tampa Tribune | “Two years ago, Shanoah Washington’s home on Preston Street in the Melrose Mercy neighborhood was a gutted shell. Thieves had ripped out the air handler and plumbing. Gone, too, were windows, electrical wiring and most of the kitchen. The home attracted the attention of St. Petersburg City Council ChairmanRead more

By Josh Salman | Herald-Tribune “New home defaults throughout Southwest Florida have returned to the pace experienced before the market’s crash. Although the local court system continue to grapple with a backlog of 11,880 old foreclosure cases, the flow of loans becoming delinquent has slowed to a point that recalls 2006 — the height of last decade’sRead more

By John Hielscher | Herald-Tribune | “A popular tax break that has saved struggling Southwest Florida homeowners millions of dollars is slated to expire at the end of this year. The tax deduction on forgiven mortgage debt has been available for the past seven years, one of a number of measures intended to ease financial pressure broughtRead more

Kenneth Harney | U-T San Diego | “Why have many of the local housing markets that were hit hardest during the bust — especially in California — bounced back so vigorously and quickly, with prices close to or exceeding what they were in 2005 and 2006? And why have many others along the East CoastRead more