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Investors’ condo purchasing has dropped to one of its lowest levels in the past 10 years — in a shift driven largely by their retreat from Florida, a new study shows.

The analysis, conducted by real estate brokerage firm Redfin, examined county-level home purchase records across 39 of the most populous U.S. metropolitan areas dating to 2000. Investors bought about 8,500 condos in the first quarter this year, down 3% year over year to the lowest level in 10 years. That is, with the exception of the second quarter of 2020, when “the start of the pandemic nearly ground the housing market to a halt,” Redfin said.

Contributing to the decrease has been Florida’s surging association fees and rising insurance costs “amid the increase in climate-driven natural disasters,” according to Redin. “Additionally, many of Florida’s condo buildings are oceanfront, making them particularly vulnerable to climate disasters.”

‘A safer bet for investors’

While condo purchases have dropped 3%, other purchases have been holding steady: Investors’ purchases of U.S. homes increased 2% year over year in the first quarter. read more

By DEE-ANN DURBIN

Digital price labels, which are rapidly replacing paper shelf tags at U.S. supermarkets, haven’t led to demand-based pricing surges, according to a new study that examined five years’ worth of prices at one grocery chain.

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  People on the move

But some shoppers, consumer advocates and lawmakers remain skeptical about the tiny electronic screens, which let stores change prices instantly from a central computer instead of having workers swap out paper labels by hand.

“It’s corporations vs. the humans, and that chasm between us goes further and further,” said Dan Gallant, who works in sports media in Edmonton, Canada. Gallant’s local Loblaws supermarket recently switched to digital labels. read more

With SpaceX champing at the bit to begin construction of a new Starship launch site at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, demolition began Thursday to remove structures used by the previous tenant, United Launch Alliance.

ULA used Space Launch Complex 37 for its Delta IV class of rockets, but the last Delta IV Heavy mission flew in April 2024 and ULA gave up its lease on the site.

A video posted to X by journalist Michael Seeley shows the moment the Mobile Service Tower emblazoned with ULA’s logo toppled over after a fiery explosion that also took out two lightning towers and a fixed umbilical tower. The site was previously used for eight Saturn 1 and 1B launches in the 1960s in support of the Apollo program.

End of an era: @elonmusk not wasting time as LC-37 was cleared Thursday morning, making way for Starship. pic.twitter.com/pg614jPPGr

— Michael Seeley (@Mike_Seeley) June 12, 2025

It then became home for what was initially Boeing Delta IV rockets starting in 2002. Boeing teamed up with Lockheed Martin to form ULA in 2006. read more

Real estate

Mary Lannin has joined Premier Sotheby’s International Realty, Southwest Orlando, as a sales advisor.

Tara Lovesee has joined Premier Sotheby’s International Realty, Port Orange, as a sales advisor.

Brady Richardson has joined Premier Sotheby’s International Realty, Southwest Orlando, as a sales advisor.

Lisa Saleeby has joined Premier Sotheby’s International Realty, Port Orange, as a sales advisor.

Juliana Zannoni has joined Premier Sotheby’s International Realty, Southwest Orlando, as a sales advisor.

Submit professional appointments, management-level promotions and significant awards for individuals, along with photos as .jpg attachments, to peopleonmove@orlandosentinel.com.

A century ago, orchards were the primary source of income for Parker Flamm’s grandfather and many others in Cobden, a 1,000-person town in southern Illinois. Today, Flamm Orchards is one of the last standing. 

“Right now, it’s pretty much just us,” said Flamm, a sixth-generation orchard owner whose primary customer is a Kroger distribution center in Louisville that buys their peaches and apples.  

He blames the mass exodus of orchards on the challenges rising labor costs and a shortage of workers pose to an industry where the standard is to do everything by hand, from pruning trees and harvesting to packing and shipping. 

“For every dollar we make, you can safely say that half of it goes back into labor expenses,” he said. 

At peak season in June and July, Flamm Orchards employs about 90 workers from Oaxaca, Mexico, with temporary visas to do agricultural work. Flamm spends tens of thousands of dollars to get the workers into the country for just a few months at a time. 

Reporting for this story was supported by the MIT Environmental Solutions Journalism Fellowship. read more