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Home prices continue to rise locally & nationally:

Bottom Line:  The Case-Shiller Index for October continues to tell a strong story – one that includes year over year price recovery for over 90% of the country in real-estate.  Nationally the year over year appreciation in the average property price was just over 4%.  Our region which is hubbed out of Miami showed appreciation of 8.5% over Oct. of 2011.  This information is helpful to understanding the broad based recovery that has been showing nationally recovery for nine consecutive months.  As always real-estate really is a local story.

I’ve previously shared with you the specific Palm Beach County and Treasure Coast information for October (with help from The Treu Group in PBC and Kelly Fischer on the Treasure Coast).  That information shows that we continue to really shine compared to the average nationally and regionally.  In October PBC saw an increase of 24.5% and certain T.C. communities (like Indian River) saw increases of 25% as well. 

Housing continues to shine as the brightest sector in the economy and I expect it to continue in 2013. 

http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/business/2012/12/26/case-shiller-october/1791535/

Update – Severe delays regarding 2012 tax filing:

Bottom Line:  Before the holidays I shared the frustrations of some businesses and many accountants that expressed an inability to obtain tax prep information from the IRS that would aid in tax preparation for those who want to file quickly in 2013.  Well the situation is actually setting up to bring long delays for many if not most tax filers in the New Year…

At issue, aside from future tax implications, is the AMT for the 2012 tax year.  When the AMT passed in 1969 the law didn’t adjust for inflation but every year the yahoos in Washington pass an extension that reflects an adjustment for inflation (why wouldn’t you either eliminate the AMT or change the law to adjust for inflation automatically?).  Well that hasn’t happened this year.  The net result… a third of all families filing taxes (or 50 million tax returns) could be impacted by the AMT. 

Consequently the IRS is waiting to create tax forms until it’s resolved.  That also keeps companies that create tax prep software from being able to create accurate tax programs.  The result is that the IRS is estimating that it could take many until March at the soonest to be able to file taxes.  Ahh the residual joy of Washington politics…

http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/business/2012/12/26/tax-season-delays/1789525/

Small Business tax change info & Prep:

Bottom Line:  The tax uncertainty is most stressful for businesses that are going to be required to adjust with all of the changes that occur as a result of the outcome of the fiscal cliff situation.  Many business owners have expressed worry and wonder as to how to deal with the pending changes that will occur in January.  This is a moment to control what you can control.

You should take time now with the person or people who assist with payroll, accounting, etc. to prepare for what you’ll be subjected to.  My advise is to eliminate as many of the scenarios as possible so you can figure out only what’s relevant to your business and employees rather than waiting until change has occurred and you try to weed through it all.  For example…  If you don’t earn over $200,000 per year and don’t pay any of your employees more than that level, you can eliminate the additional Medicare tax that begins Jan. 1 as part of The Affordable Care Act.  If you have well under 50 employees you can eliminate many of the healthcare mandates from your addenda.  Below is a link with business tax changes that are set to occur for 2013.  Hopefully it can help you prepare to the extent you can to lesson the stress and frustration of dealing with whatever else happens in Washington over the next week.

http://www.adp.com/small-business-services/client-support/~/media/SBS/2013_Tax%20Changes-122412.ashx

Consumer Reports best car values:

Bottom Line:  Consumer Reports has complied its best and worst value list for the 2013 model year.  The overall winner...  Toyota generally and the Prius overall.  For the first time in 5 years that Prius has been ranked the best overall value by CR knocking off the Honda Fit which had been in the top spot for the past four years. 

With all costs considered the Prius costs about 49 cents per mile to operate compared to about one dollar for the average car.  More information is in the link below but what I recommend is actually subscribing to CR online (rather than the magazine) so you can get in-depth information all virtually all product categories in addition to cars.  It’s generally the best $30 or so dollars I spend each year.

http://www.cnbc.com/id/100340623

Peer to peer lending taking hold:

Bottom Line:  Over the past couple of years a cottage industry has gained traction.  The practice of peer to peer lending.  So what is this exactly? 

With the help of the two leading players: 

http://www.prosper.com/  &  http://www.lendingclub.com/

It’s the practice of you playing the role of the bank lending money to those who want to borrow from a non-traditional lender.  If you’re hungry for yield it can be an interesting way to gain a higher rate of return in this super low interest rate environment. 

You can decide what credit profile you’d like to lend to and the sites will facilitate the loans and collect the payments on your behalf (for a small fee of course).  The average yield is just under 10% which is clearly much higher than what you can earn in virtually all fixed income investments at the moment.  As with any loan there is the risk of default by your borrowers so it’s not without risk but it may be worth a look…