The Real Deal South Florida - Latest News

Biggest price cut of the day

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 19:00:00 -0500

2708 Sea Island Drive

The South Florida home to see the biggest price cut today is a five-bedroom, five-bathroom house in Fort Lauderdale at 2708 Sea Island Drive, according to data from Condo Vultures Realty. The $9.5 million Miami-Dade County home saw a $500,000, or 5 percent, price cut. It was originally listed for $10 million when it first hit the market in December 2008. The home sits on a 13,362-square-foot lot that includes a pool, spa, and waterfront access. Christopher White of the Christopher White Group has the listing. (Condo Vultures data includes condos and single-family home listings in the main metropolitan areas of Miami, Fort Lauderdale, West Palm Beach and Key West that are priced at $1 million and above, and that include photographs. Listings are taken from the South Florida MLS.) TRD

Home builder association's “New American Home” victim of market conditions

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 18:30:00 -0500

While more evidence highlighting the financial plight of the American home builder is hardly needed, the National Association of Home Builders has offered up an evocative image of the industry’s woes. “The New American Home,” a perennial showcase feature in the association’s yearly convention, typically highlights the latest, most cutting edge innovations in the industry, with high end details like swimming pools and an aesthetically-pleasing landscape design. This year, however, “The New American Home” is an exercise in modesty. The 6,800-square-foot home, built just outside Las Vegas, is equipped with over 50 solar panels, but little else. Domanico Custom Homes, which had been tapped for the project, bailed partway through, when a private investor ditched the deal. Now the home, which was intended to showcase all the newest and finest the industry offers, sits without flooring, without a swimming pool and without any buyers. The situation for “The New American Home” is so bad that it’s now on the market for $1.8 million -- a so-called “fire sale” price, according to Domanico.

Housing recovery may not come until next year ... and more

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 18:00:00 -0500

1. Latana residents rally to save local post office [Palm Beach Post]
2. Florida unemployment reaches 11.2 percent [St. Petersburg Times]
3. Counseling proven to be effective in preventing foreclosure [MarketWatch]
4. FHA loan credit scores steadily improving [National Mortgage News]
5. Industry experts say misleading ads plague the reverse lending business [National Mortgage News]
6. Top tips for buying foreclosures [CNNMoney]
7. Commercial property values have dropped 43 percent, Moody’s says [GlobeSt]
8. Homebuyers face uphill battle after cutting out brokers [AP via MSNBC]
9. Housing recovery may not come until next year, industry experts say [Bloomberg]
10. Commercial property sales to decline to $49 billion in 2009 [Bloomberg]

MBA says more prime loans facing trouble

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 17:30:00 -0500

Prime fixed-rate loans are accounting for 33 percent of foreclosures, as opposed to subprime loans, which had been the culprit at the beginning of the housing crisis, according to the most recent data from the Mortgage Bankers Association. Federal Housing Administration-backed loans also played a role, with the rate of foreclosures on FHA loans outpacing the rate at which the loans are being taken out, according to CNBC's Diana Olick. This is typical for FHA loans, however, said Jay Brinkmann, chief economist with the Mortgage Bankers Association, because FHA loans often go to riskier borrowers. “Keep in mind that any time you have the economic downturn, the FHA is always affected more than the prime market," said Brinkmann, adding that the crisis is extending beyond the usual suspects -- Florida, Nevada, California and Arizona -- which had seen the bulk of national foreclosures in the past. "In otherwise unaffected states, the unemployment is spreading and it's impacting every place and foreclosure has become much more of a national issue than it was before."

Author James Patterson lists Palm Beach home for $14.95M

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 17:00:00 -0500

The Palm Beach home of James Patterson, author of thriller novels like "The Lake House" and the "Alex Cross" series, has hit the market fro $14.95 million. The plantation-style five-bedroom, 7,970-square-foot house, which Patterson has dubbed "the house that Alex Cross built," is on the Intracoastal Waterway and sits on a property with a heated pool, spa and boat dock. Betsy Hall of Fite Shavell & Associates has the listing. Patterson, meanwhile, is moving into a Palm Beach property nearly three times the size. He purchased it for $17.45 million this summer. [WSJ, 2nd item]

Flagler Bank cautioned

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 16:00:00 -0500

Banking officials have warned Flagler Bank of West Palm Beach it will have to shore up its capital reserves and boost its oversight of management and operations if it is to remain in business. The Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta ordered Flagler to submit an improvement plan after it sustained loan losses and suffered other problems during the real estate market collapse. Edward Sterling, president of Flagler, said the bank is well-capitalized and intends to comply with the agreement. Florida has had 11 bank failures in 2009. [Palm Beach Post]

Holly Real Estate woes mount

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 15:00:00 -0500

A recent foreclosure lawsuit against Holly Real Estate's headquarters marks another stage in the company's downward spiral, a collapse precipitated by massive litigation against CEO William Holly. Branch Banking & Trust filed a $3.3 million foreclosure lawsuit against Holly, his real estate company, Minnie Minorca, and business partner Robert McCammon earlier this month over the company's 10,760-square-foot building at 370 Minorca Avenue in Coral Gables. The property was purchased in 2006 for $3.5 million. Several recent projects have been caught in the credit crunch and market collapse, triggering at least 13 lawsuits against the top executive and 2007 recipient of the Entrepreneur of the Year Award from the Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce. [SFBJ]

J.C. Penney secedes from Palm Beach Mall

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 14:00:00 -0500

Department store J.C. Penney has closed itself off from the faltering Palm Beach mall, sealing its inside entrance after the air conditioning in that section was shut down. The mall was sued for foreclosure in April and lost anchor tenants Dillard's and Macy’s. Sears plans a liquidation sale there in January. About 30 percent of the shopping center's storefronts are occupied. [Palm Beach Post]

Investors confident in multi-family sector above all others, survey shows

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 13:00:00 -0500

Investors are favoring apartments over other property types now more than ever. Nearly half of those surveyed, 46 percent, said they were most interesting in buying multi-family units, in a recent quarterly report by National Real Estate Investor, Retail Traffic and Marcus & Millichap. In the second quarter, only 38 percent had that preference. The next-best property type was considered undeveloped land, with 28 percent of investors choosing it as their favorite. Retail and industrial property followed with 26 and 24 percent, respectively. Hotels registered as most lucrative by only 18 percent of respondents. While multi-family properties have suffered from weak absorption levels and rising vacancies, investors’ preferences may reflect their relative stability compared with other properties, like office buildings. Investors expressed optimism about the outlook for the apartment sector, with a combined 74 percent predicting that rents will either increase or remain flat in the future as distressed properties make their way onto the real estate scene. [Retail Traffic Mag]

Is now a good time to buy a vacation home in South Florida? Has that market hit bottom?

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 12:00:00 -0500

The Real Deal is looking for your feedback on market-related issues. Please comment below. If you have questions you'd like posted, please e-mail news@therealdeal.com.

Foreclosure stats for the week

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 11:30:00 -0500

The number of foreclosures in South Florida year-to-date increased to 88,923 from 69,114 at the same point last year, according to data from Condo Vultures Realty. For this week alone, the number dropped to 1,776 from 2,124 in the same week last year. The graph below shows foreclosure activity in South Florida's three counties. TRD

Condo Vultures Realty compiles foreclosure data using information collected from the respective county clerk of the court by a third-party service. The reported time period is adjusted to reflect the comparable week from the previous year. The year-to-date number reflects the cumulative total of foreclosure filings for the year, as of the week noted.

Proverbial "next shoe" has already dropped for commercial real estate, panelists say

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 11:00:00 -0500

Commercial real estate isn’t waiting for the next shoe to drop, because the crisis is already here, said Diana Olick on a recent CNBC panel. Participants discussed the driving forces behind the commercial fallout, including a lack of available credit, rising delinquencies and vacancies, and unemployment. Marisa Manley, president of Commercial Tenants Real Estate Representation, said there are many opportunities for tenants amid the gloomy numbers. Olick said the commercial real estate market is going to take at least two to three years to recover, since it is slower moving than residential real estate.

Highwoods Properties purchases the 4200 Cypress building near Interstate 275 ... and more

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 10:00:00 -0500

1. Highwoods Properties purchases the 4200 Cypress building near Interstate 275 [GlobeSt]
2. Urban league sponsoring free mortgage clinic [Sun-Sentinel]
3. Antique furniture showroom to occupy empty West Palm lot [Palm Beach Post]
4. Florida topped the nation in the percent of home loans in foreclosure for the third quarter [Palm Beach Post]
5. Comcast of Greater Florida/Georgia leases 106,000-square-feet at Deerwood North [GlobeSt]
6. Palm Beach County commissioners will weigh moving the county's urban service boundary eastward. [Palm Beach Post]
7. Florida has been slow to use federal funds for Chinese drywall repairs [Sun-Sentinel]
8. Why no one is regulating Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac [WSJ]
9. Donald Trump to sell nutritional product line [Yahoo]
10. Roubini predicts U-shaped economic recovery [Business Insider]
11. Why it is still a terrible time to buy real estate [New Yorker via Patrick.net]
12. Cheaper home prices motivating buyers more than the tax credit is [US News]
13. Fed may not increase interest rates until 2012 [Bloomberg]
14. Barbara Corcoran tweets that's she's buying AOL stock [Business Insider]
15. Housing numbers this week signal still-elusive recovery period [Bloomberg]

Biggest price cut of the day

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 18:30:00 -0500

4020 Hardie Avenue

The South Florida home to see the biggest price cut today is a four-bedroom, four-bathroom house in Miami at 4020 Hardie Avenue, according to data from Condo Vultures Realty. The $1.1 million Miami-Dade County home saw a $455,000, or 29 percent, price cut. It was originally listed for $1.7 million when it first hit the market in August. The home sits on a 16,497-square-foot lot that includes a lagoon-style heated pool. Christopher Infante of Coldwell Banker Residential has the listing. (Condo Vultures data includes condos and single-family home listings in the main metropolitan areas of Miami, Fort Lauderdale, West Palm Beach and Key West that are priced at $1 million and above, and that include photographs. Listings are taken from the South Florida MLS.) TRD

Protestors say few local contractors have been hired for new Marlins Stadium project

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 17:45:00 -0500

Hundreds of construction workers and contractors staged a protest Tuesday outside the site of the new Florida Marlins stadium, which recently broke ground in Miami's Little Havana neighborhood, the Miami Herald reported. The stadium was once welcomed as a beacon of hope for the area's small businesses and contractors who are already short on jobs, but protestors said the Marlins were not hiring enough local firms for the project. The team said they're not only complying with the government's requirements, but are also exceeding them in terms of local firms' participation. The stadium is on budget and is slated to open in 2012 as planned, a Marlins representative said.