"2005 is expected to be a very good year for our industry," Wallace says. He cites "the wave of condominium development in the market and the continued demand for both and existing housing by new people moving into the area."
Wallace also expects "home refinances to remain steady and vibrant throughout the year, but not to the point where they will be disproportionate to existing re-sales or new home construction." He adds, "If refis do dip like they did in 2004, we won't be significantly impacted like some others in our industry because we have a diverse and broad base of business by design."
Fidelity National's Central Florida division posted a 2% increase over its record $2.4 billion-plus in properties it insured in 2003, "a feat accomplished through increased efficiency and expense control," says Wallace.
"To the casual observer, a 2% increase in business may not seem like much, but for our division it was a giant leap--a $49-million leap, in fact," Wallace tells GlobeSt.com. "It's part of our overall maturation. The market delivered a little bit less and we delivered a little bit more."
He says "interest rates, consumer demand, regional factors and seasonality, not to mention four hurricanes, all had an impact on our business in 2004." Wallace expects "those influencing factors, with the hopeful exception of any hurricanes," still to be around in 2005 but anticipates "an even better across-the-board performance" this year.
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