Mortgage Masters Group
481 SW Port St. Lucie Blvd. Suite A,
Port St. Lucie, FL 34952
(772) 340-4003 • Branch NMLS ID#373290
It’s truly been a year like no other, yet people around the world have done so much good in 2020.
Scientists have not just been working on COVID vaccines, researchers have made major diabetes breakthroughs, discovered new cancer therapies, and launched critical green innovations to make the world a better place for us all.
And though this year has been difficult for our favorite restaurants and bars, and people losing jobs—millions of people have done whatever it takes to keep them afloat.
From all of us at GNN, thank you to our readers, for your hilarious and heartwarming comments, and for sharing our positive stories with your friends.
With everyone proclaiming, ‘Good Riddance to 2020’, we can’t help but bask in the magnificent glow of kindness, resilience, and personal growth that has emerged…
Watch this young-hearted senior as she sews homemade face masks for all her friends, family, and community members—while jamming out to The Beatles.
The Oscar award-winning actor hosted several virtual bingo games for the Round Rock Senior Living facility—with his family cheering them on.
Dozens of Facebook groups for the “Sisterhood of the Traveling Wine” popped up across America so ‘wine fairies’ can leave gifts for community members.
Sheltering in place, Jimmy Fallon produced a Tonight Show ‘At Home Edition’, and his Hashtags segment was hilarious #MyQuarantineInSixWords
The Fownes Hotel in Worcester housed 45 rough sleepers during the COVID-19 shutdowns—and in return, the homeless repayed the kindness.
Florida cities aren’t just a popular place to retire; turns out, it’s a great locale to raise a family, too.
Port St. Lucie ranked 20th on “America’s Safest Cities to Raise a Child,” according to SafeWise, a research group that analyzes national crime and safety trends.
The study used the FBI’s crime rate data and included violent crime, such as murder, rape or aggravated assault; property crime, such as burglary, arson, motor vehicle theft; and sex offender rates per 1,000 residents. Port St. Lucie’s rates were:
Violent and property crime data used in the study was from 2018, the most updated available, and registered sex offenders were accurate as of Sept. 28.
Port St. Lucie was the highest ranked Florida city, but Coral Springs and Cape Coral were included in the Top 50. Port St. Lucie had the largest increase in rankings compared to 2019 when it ranked 41st, jumping 21 spots.
Naperville, Illinois, clenched the No. 1 spot this year.
Miami Beach did not make the list but had the highest property crime rate of cities studied at 74.76. The report also included the “10 Most Dangerous Cities in America,” but none in Florida made the list.
Catie Wegman is a community reporter who also produces “Ask Catie,” an occasional feature to find answers to your burning questions about anything and everything — the more bizarre the better. Support her work with a TCPalm subscription. Contact her at catie.wegman@tcpalm.com and follow her @Catie_Wegman on Twitter and @catiewegman1 on Facebook.
“As we inch closer to 2021, we continue to see more progress and increases across the St. Lucie County housing market. Throughout the year, we’ve seen a trend of double digit increases in median sale price and closed sales. This trend continued in November as the median sale price increased 7.5 percent to $259,575,” said Jarrod Lowe, 2020 President of Broward, Palm Beaches & St. Lucie Realtors®.
Median sale price is our preferred summary statistic for price activity because, unlike average sale price, median sale price is not sensitive to high sale prices for small numbers of homes that may not be characteristic of the market area.
“Closed sales also increased heavily by 23.7 percent to 548. Homes in St. Lucie County are selling at an astonishing rapid rate and quickly as the median time to contract decreased 53.1% to 15 days. The market is hot and it’s a great time to invest in real estate. Take full advantage of the market this holiday season by contacting a local Realtor® for guidance on buying and selling in the current market conditions,” continues Lowe.
Time to Contract measures the number of days between the initial listing of a property and the signing of the contract which eventually led to the closing of the sale. Meanwhile, months’ supply of inventory is an estimate of the number of months it will take to deplete the current inventory given recent sales rates.
Market Reports: St. Lucie Single FamilyOpens as PDF. | St. Lucie Townhouses/Condos
However you celebrate this wonderful holiday season, may it be with Family, Friends and those you hold dear.
Happy Holidays, Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah and a Very Happy New Year to You and Yours from your Friends at mortgage Masters Group.
On Tuesday night, December 22, 2020, the City of Port St. Lucie took viewers on a tour of the best local holiday lights and outdoor yard displays. They zig-zagged their way around Port St. Lucie to spotlight the best holiday-themed lights and festive photo-ops throughout the City.
It’s our pleasure to share it with you, just in case you missed it. Let’s spread some holiday cheer.
The agreement contains many priorities championed by NAR, including rental assistance, a fresh round of funding and simplified forgiveness for SBA loans, and more direct payments to Americans.
“Through this bill, our members will continue to have access to unemployment and small business assistance. But perhaps one of the biggest wins is rental assistance, which we have fought hard for since the last major COVID-19 bill was passed in April. It will bring instant relief to both mom-and-pop property owners and American families in danger of going over a financial cliff at the end of the year,” says Shannon McGahn, chief advocacy officer for NAR.
“While this bill hit more traditional political obstacles than the ones passed earlier this year, it was always a must-pass bill,” McGahn says. “One in five of our members took out a PPP loan. We made sure that Congress knew these items were critical to America’s 1.4 million REALTORS® and the economy as a whole.”
Specifically, the agreement reportedly:
Provides a new round of direct stimulus payments of $600 to most Americans including dependents
Extends all unemployment assistance, including the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA), through April 19, 2021, with a $300 weekly boost in payments through March 14.
Unemployment benefits are extended to the self-employed
Provides an additional $284 billion for Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans and $20 billion for Economic Injury Disaster Loans (EIDL) grants
Allows certain eligible businesses to receive a second PPP loan
Creates a simplified forgiveness process for most PPP borrowers
Allows for deductibility of business expenses paid for with PPP funds
Provides $25 billion to the states through Sept. 30, 2022, for rental assistance and allows landlords to apply for funds on behalf of tenants
Includes payments for rent in arrears as well as utilities and other expenses related to housing
Extends federal eviction ban through the end of January
Provides $7 billion to states for broadband expansion, including $300 million for rural broadband
Provides new money for schools and vaccine distribution
Congressional leaders will begin consideration of the agreement Monday alongside a $1.4 trillion spending bill to fund the government through September 2021.
The government funding bill reportedly contains several items of importance to NAR, including:
The extension of a group of tax breaks known as tax extenders, some permanently or for multiple years
An increase in fair housing funding
A two-year expansion of the business meals deduction
Extension and expansion of Employee Retention Tax Credit
Permanent extension of section 179D deduction for energy efficient commercial buildings, with some enhancements
Mortgage debt forgiveness exclusion is extended for five years
Low Income Housing Tax Credit is expanded and improved
Source: National Association of Realtors®
