Giant mortgage investor Freddie Mac plans to dispense with traditional appraisals on some loan applications for home purchases, replacing them with an alternative valuation system that would be free of charge to both lenders and borrowers.  Can computers, big data and advanced analytics replace real live humans when it comes to accurately valuing the home you...

When it comes to homebuilding, Miami is a top 75 market to watch in 2017, according to a joint report from PwC and the Urban Land Institute. The city’s No. 62 ranking comes as little surprise, as Miami, while continuing to see strong residential construction spending, has been losing some of its heat. During the month of September, builders spent more than $267...

MIAMI (CBSMiami) — Welcome to Miami’s newest retail destination – the Brickell City Centre. It’s 4.9 million square  feet -spanning three city blocks. Swire properties purchased the land eight years ago and it’s been under construction for about four years. “It’s a very exciting time. We’re 91 percent leased and have active  negotiations on what little space we...

Last year billionaire hedge fund manager David Tepper held the title of New Jersey’s richest. But he has since moved (along with his $19 billion firm) to Florida, a state with no estate or personal income tax. Advantageous for him, perhaps: he logged about $1.2 billion in earnings in 2015. Not so much for the Garden State, as it might suffer a budget shortfall...

Most of the stores in Brickell City Centre’s 500,000-square-foot mall weren’t quite ready to ring up sales when the project opened its doors on Thursday, but anchor Saks Fifth Avenue had its 140 employees prepared to greet customers on day one. Saks Fifth Avenue President Marc Metrick flew down from New York to witness the seventh store opening by his company...

WINTER HAVEN — Florida’s unemployment rate and job growth are outpacing their national counterparts, while the U.S. economy continues to recover at a faster clip than the rest of the world. Those were among the topics of conversation at the 13th Annual East Polk Economic Summit. The event took place Wednesday morning at Polk State College’s Winter Haven campus...