Calling the current housing shortage “dire, with a chronic shortage of affordable” homes, NAR suggests steps to take but warns it requires a “major national commitment.”

Lee County tops NAR’s list of U.S. counties for the highest increase in vacation home sales, with Collier County also making the top 10 list. In 2020, vacation home sales were 5.5% of total existing-home sales; in 2019, they were 5%. Vacation home median prices were up 14.2%.

May survey: In Cape Coral, 75% of sellers had a bidding war, as did over 50% of sellers in other big Fla. metros. Only Jacksonville, at 34%, had more non-bidding sales.

Builders added more homes last month, but the increase isn’t enough to keep up with demand. And in the face of rising lumber prices, new building permits were down 3%.

CoreLogic: The cost to rent a single-family home rose 5.31% year-to-year in April, up from 2.4% one year earlier. Detached homes rose 7.9%; attached homes rose 2.2%.

On the one hand, it shows a home is pet friendly and great for families. It also draws in more homebuyers. On the other hand, it could suggest pet odor problems.

A bubble, by definition, pops and prices plummet. Look at buyer demand. Look at homeowner equity. Prices could stop going up for a bit – but it’s not a bubble.

Doc stamp money in Fla.’s affordable housing trust funds should be used for affordable housing, but the Florida Legislature often “sweeps” it into general revenue. A constitutional amendment proposed by Florida Realtors would change that and secure ongoing support for housing in Fla.

When will interest rates go up? The Federal Reserve might weigh in, but it still says that inflation is a temporary problem caused by supply-chain bottlenecks.

NAHB chairman says supply-chain problems, like lumber, created production problems that forced some buyers out of the market when they could no longer afford a new home.