The F.I.R.E. Report

from the Finance, Insurance and Real Estate Committee of the Mansfield Area Chamber of Commerce

November 2022

Companies still have way too much office space, and they can’t sell it

The amount of commercial real estate available for sub-lease is roughly equal to eight Amazon HQ2 towers.
Other than high-use leases such as medical offices and laboratories, few lease holders can find buyers or tenants for unused office space.
Companies that own their own campuses will likely wait out the current market, even knowing prices may further deteriorate.

Thinking of opting out of uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage?

Statistics say 15% of people do not have any insurance coverage at all and upwards to 50% do not have the limits to cover even a modest accident. Watch this short video that explains what happens if you get into an accident with someone that does not carry insurance.

Is cryptocurrency the future of finance?

Policy-makers should look to a bipartisan approach when legislating the cryptocurrency industry. Image: Getty Images CEO, Grayscale Investments Stay up to date: Financial and Monetary Systems Follow There is broad consensus about cryptocurrency's growing importance. Image: Grayscale As cryptocurrency ownership spreads, the need to regulate the industry is rising.

Number of Homes Sold Declines 16% in Southern DFW

October saw yet another decline in the number of homes sold in our southern DFW area. At 445, the number of homes sold reflects what we normally expect in January and February during the dead of winter. Not only is 445 significantly lower than one year ago (it was 530 in October 2021), it is also significantly lower than just one month ago when it stood at 535.

However, looking at months supply, we see that the supply has remained constant for the last couple of months. This implies that while the number of houses being sold is declining, so is the number of houses for sale. And in fact, new listings did indeed drop from 713 in September to 598 in October.

The result of all this is that home prices have actually stayed relatively stable. The median price dipped a little from September to October ($385,000 to $375,000), but it is still over 16% higher than one year ago.

The overall message here is basically the same it has been for some time now. Demand for housing in DFW remains strong, and therefore prices remain strong as well. If we see demand drop, and particularly if we see months supply rise significantly, that would be the time to watch for significant price drops. So far, we simply are not seeing significant price drops.

Info provided by Lee Harbaugh

Davey Goosmann Real Estate

Al Gore Defends ESG, Fails | National Review

The Week of November 7, 2022: ESG, the economy, energy, fiscal policy, student loans, and much, much more.

WIRE FRAUD IS REAL

Picture this: you are about to make the largest purchase in your lifetime — your home. This is the day you have been waiting for all your life. Inspections are done, movers are hired, and you are headed to sign your closing documents. You can feel the keys in your hand! Everything is perfect . . . until it’s not. The Escrow officer has just informed you that your money for the closing costs was not received. “I sent it over to you through a wire transfer”, you say. However, as it turns out, you did not call to verify the wiring instructions and your money has been wired to an unidentified account and is now gone. Your life savings has vanished like that!

Shopping for auto insurance: What to know before you buy a policy

For more tips like these: State law requires people who drive in Texas to pay for accidents they cause. Most people do this with liability insurance. A liability policy pays to repair or replace the other driver's car and pays other people's medical expenses if you're at fault in an accident.

What's the Best Investing Strategy to Have During a Recession?

During a recession, investors need to act cautiously but remain vigilant in monitoring the market landscape for opportunities to pick up high-quality assets at discounted prices. These are difficult environments, but they also coincide with the best opportunities. In a recessionary environment, the worst-performing assets are highly leveraged, cyclical, and speculative.

Home insurance: What you need to know before buying a policy

Some policies pay up to the full cost to repair your roof. This is called replacement cost coverage. Some policies pay less if the roof is older or showing wear. This is called actual cash value coverage. Ask how your roof is covered. Learn about replacement cost and actual cash value.

Several national insurance companies are pulling out of the Texas market for a number of reasons including:

Multiple years of heavy storm-related losses including hail in North Texas, flooding in Southeast Texas, tornados, hurricanes and the most recent snow/ice events. As the frequency of these storms has increased coupled with the rising cost of materials and supply chain issues insurers have realized significant losses.
Wildfires-particularly in the Hill Country where it has been very dry
Fraud-Rampant with the frequency of hail claims being high, many roofers have identified ways to inflate claim amounts on roofs to prevent them from needing to collect the deductible when work is completed.

These factors, among others, have forced insurers to re-evaluate their interest in the Texas market. It is not only Texas where insurers are evaluating their businesses, states such as Florida and California are also experiencing a loss of insurance companies due to increased risk exposure and cost.

As of now there are no signs that this trend will stop. What can be expected for those insurers that choose to stay in these markets are increased premiums to cover the increased cost of exposure from the above-mentioned events.

Information provided by

Dan Schneider

Farmers Insurance

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