RENTERS INSURANCE
Renters insurance isn't a burning issue to most renters. It's often only after a robbery that a policy suddenly seems like a no-brainer.Read the full story:http://www.floridarealtors.org/NewsAndEvents/n5-082808.cfm

REAL ESTATE ECONOMYI
s this the real estate turnaround? On the heels of an increase in Florida home sales, a spike in new home sales and an upswing in consumer confidence, traffic to Realtor.com went up significantly in July, with traffic 29 percent higher and time spent on the Web site up 26 percent compared to one month earlier.Read the full story:http://www.floridarealtors.org/NewsAndEvents/n1-082808.cfm

HOME SALES
Single-family existing home sales rose in Florida for the first time in more than two years: While only six more homes sold in July 2008 than in July 2007, it could indicate stabilization in Florida's housing sector, according to FAR's latest housing statistics. NAR also reported that national existing-home sales rose in July to the highest level in five months.Read the full story:
http://www.floridarealtors.org/NewsAndEvents/n1-082508.cfm

PROPERTY INSURANCE
How will homeowners fare with property insurers when seeking repairs for damage from Tropical Storm Fay? There's good news/bad news. Since Fay never became a hurricane, the higher deductibles don't apply. But flood damage is not covered under most policies, and less than half of homesteaded owners have a supplementary flood insurance policy.Read the full story:http://www.floridarealtors.org/NewsAndEvents/n1-082208.cfm

IN THE BOX
With Tropical Storm Fay bearing down on Florida, most property insurers have stopped writing new policies, which could stall closings scheduled early this week if a mortgage lender demands coverage before releasing money. Florida's property insurer, Citizens Property Insurance, stopped writing new policies on Sunday morning, for example. Most insurers resume writing new policies once tropical storm or hurricane watches and/or warnings have been lifted. "The box" - the geographic area in which policies will not be written - varies among insurers, so it's worth a phone call for any closings scheduled during a storm. For more hurricane info, visit the floridarealtors.org hurricane page at: http://www.floridarealtors.org/NewsAndEvents/Before-disaster-strikes.cfm.

HOME SALES
Florida Realtors continued to report positive signs for the state's housing sector in the second quarter of 2008. Sales of both existing single-family homes and existing condos improved in the second quarter compared to first quarter 2008, according to FAR's latest housing data. A total of 35,178 existing homes sold statewide in 2Q 2008, up 38.2 percent over 1Q 2008. Nationwide, existing home sales rose from the first quarter in 13 states, according to NAR's latest survey.Read the full story:http://www.floridarealtors.org/NewsAndEvents/n1-081408.cfm

AMENDMENT 5
Gov. Charlie Crist spoke out again in favor of Amendment 5 yesterday during one of his meetings with constituent groups, this time business people. The group included FAR President Chuck Bonfiglio, who thanked Crist for being ''the catalyst'' for Amendment 1, and said that Amendment 5 would be the second part of the tax relief promised by the governor.Read the full story:http://www.floridarealtors.org/NewsAndEvents/n1-080608.cfm