By DAVE OSBORN | Tuesday, June 25, 2013
Passenger traffic increased by 8.4 percent in May, compared to the previous year, at Southwest Florida International Airport.
Year-to-date, passenger traffic is up 6.7 percent from the same period last year.
Last month, 576,713 passengers traveled through the airport. The traffic leader in May was Delta with 136,108 passengers traveling to and from Fort Myers. Rounding out the top five airlines were AirTran (98,303), JetBlue (67,385), Southwest (60,907) and US Airways (56,449).
Southwest Florida International Airport had 6,191 takeoffs and landings, an increase of nearly 10 percent compared to May 2012.
In addition, slightly more than 3 million pounds of air freight moved through the airport in March, an increase of 4.4 percent compared to March 2012.
The airport served more than 7.3 million passengers in 2012 and is one of the top 50 U.S. airports for passenger traffic. Information: ww.flylcpa.com
By Nick Caruso | RISMEDIA, Tuesday, June 25, 2013
The housing market is on the road to recovery and you know what that means: There is more good news to be shared and celebrated in the industry. According to reports from Kiplinger, 12 metropolitan areas fared the best in 2012, thanks to below-average unemployment rates, an improving economy and increased buyer confidence. All of these factors and more are helping transform these cities into seller’s markets:
• Phoenix, Ariz.
• Provo, Utah
• Cape Coral-Ft. Myers, Fla.
• Minneapolis, Minn.
• Akron, Ohio
• Youngstown, Ohio
• Seattle, Wash.
• Salt Lake City, Utah
• Boise, Idaho
• San Jose, Calif.
• Washington, D.C.
• Tucson, Ariz.
This upturn is without question positive news. According to Pat Esswein, associate editor for Kiplinger’s Personal Finance magazine, there are many positive and healthy drivers aiding in these cities’ turnaround. Continue reading…
More About Buying A Home:
Benefits of Real Estate Investment vs. Stocks and Bonds
Naples Makes Top 10 Turnaround List
We all know that dogs can be great companions or cuddle buddies. But it turns out that we have another reason to celebrate man’s best friend–they’re good for kids’ report cards, too! Now before you scoff, consider the following:
A Minnesota pilot project called PAWSitive Readers finds that trained therapy dogs helped 10 of 14 grade-school participants improve their reading skills by one grade level. Additionally, a University of California study showed that children who read to the family dog improved their ability by an average of 12 percent.
Michael Amiri, coauthor of the children’s book Shellie, the Magical dog, discusses five reasons why dogs help kids learn to love reading:
• No embarrassment: “Most of us have memories of reading out loud in class,” he says. “Though we may have been proficient readers, the fear of stumbling on a word in front of everyone was a constant source of anxiety.” Dogs are excellent for unconditional, nonjudgmental love; they won’t laugh if and when mistakes happen.
RISMEDIA, Saturday, June 22, 2013
Freddie Mac recently released its U.S. Economic and Housing Market Outlook for June showing the effects rising interest rates are having on certain markets around the country and the overall housing recovery. A short preview video and the complete June 2013 U.S. Economic and Housing Market Outlook are available here.
Outlook Highlights
Interest rates for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages have risen about 0.5 percentage points over the past several weeks and are expected to hover around 4.0 percent during the second half of 2013.
With rising mortgage rates, expect a sharp decline in refinance volume in the second half of this year; refinance originations are expected to total about $1.1 trillion in 2013, down from $1.5 trillion in 2012.
At today’s house prices and income levels, mortgage rates would have to be nearly 7 percent before… Read more
More about Buying A Home:
That boom you heard is Southwest Florida building industry: It’s back
Changing Spaces in New Homes
RISMEDIA | Monday, June 10, 2013
Following its predicted forecast, the housing recovery continues to push forward as we move from spring to summer. CoreLogic recently released its April CoreLogic HPI report showing an increase in home prices nationwide of 12.1 percent on a year-over-year basis in April 2013 compared to April 2012.
This monumental change represents the biggest year-over-year increase since February 2006 and the 14th consecutive monthly increase in prices nationally. On a month-over-month basis, including distressed sales, home prices increased by 3.2 percent in April 2013 compared to March 2013.
“House price growth continues to surprise to the upside with an impressive 12.1 percent gain year over year in April,” says Dr. Mark Fleming, chief economist for CoreLogic. “Increasing demand for new and existing homes, coupled with low inventory, has created a virtuous cycle for price gains, most clearly seen in the Western states with year-over-year gains of 20 percent or more.”
Including distressed sales, the five states with the highest home price appreciation were:
• Nevada (+24.6 percent)
• California (+19.4 percent)
• Arizona (+17.3 percent)
• Hawaii (+17 percent), and
• Oregon (+15.5 percent)
Read more…
