The Real Deal South Florida - Latest News

Fort Lauderdale's Holly Heights complex sells for $1.6 million

Thu, 12 Nov 2009 12:15:00 -0500

Holly Heights Apartments, a one-story, 32-unit property in Fort Lauderdale, has been sold for $1.6 million, about $51,400 per unit. The complex was built in 1969 and sits on a 1.46-acre plot of land. Associate Joseph P. Thomas and Senior Associate Felipe J. Echarte of Marcus & Millichap’s Fort Lauderdale office represented the sellers of the property, private investors from New York and Boca Raton. Thomas also secured the buyer, an unidentified corporate entity based in Davie. TRD

LeFrak compares bank closures to "death by 1,000 cuts"

Thu, 12 Nov 2009 11:30:00 -0500

Richard LeFrak, president of the LeFrak Organization, told CNBC’s Squawk Box today that he’s far more optimistic about the residential real estate market than the commercial, as he anticipates a longer road to recovery for the latter industry. “We’re kind of in the second inning or the third inning,” LeFrak said of the commercial market crisis. While other analysts have made estimates regarding how many banks may fail in the coming months, LeFrak said that he abstains from making those kinds of judgments. “It’s kind of death by a thousand cuts at this point,” LeFrak said of the numerous possible small bank closures nationwide.

Florida leads in mortgage job losses

Thu, 12 Nov 2009 10:45:00 -0500

A nationwide quarterly analysis of the mortgage industry has shown that people are still losing jobs, but at a slower rate than they were during the exodus of two years ago. Florida still leads the nation with 1,355 mortgage job losses in the third quarter, a figure spurred by the bankruptcy of mortgage firm Taylor Bean & Whitaker Mortgage Corp., according to MortgageDaily.com's third Quarter Mortgage Employment Analysis. Nationwide, employers eliminated 710 more positions during the third quarter than they added, the report said. The net loss reversed an 8,253 net gain in the second quarter but was better than the 10,233 net loss during the third quarter of 2008. In 2007, lenders cut 87,000 more jobs than they added. TRD

Shrinking workforce and telecommuniting allow businesses to downsize office space, S&P cash flow still going strong since 2007 ... and more

Thu, 12 Nov 2009 10:00:00 -0500

1. For the eighth month in a row, U.S. sees more than 300,000 foreclosures [Bloomberg]
2. FHA loosens grip on condo guidelines, temporarilty [Calculated Risk]
3. Getting a mortgage in today's environment isn't hopeless [Post]
4. After billions in capital infusions, Fannie and Freddie say more losses are still on the way [WSJ]
5. Shrinking workforce, telecommuting allow businesses to downsize office space [AP]
6. Negotiating power among U.S. homebuyers down in August [Reuters]
7. Predictions of a commercial real estate crash greatly exaggerated, Zell says [Chicago Real Estate Daily]
8. Ideal year to invest in commercial real estate: 2010, survey says [DS News]
9. Housing prices will not increase until glut gone [CNN via Patrick.net]
10. U.S. home sellers slash asking prices by $28.1 billion as of Nov. 1, Trulia report finds [Bloomberg]
11. S&P 500 cash flow still going strong since 2007 [Running of the Bull]
12. Realogy posts $58 million profit in third quarter [Inman]
13. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac fire their own inspector general [HuffPo]

Toll reports positive results in fourth quarter

Sarabeth Sanders — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 19:15:00 -0500

A larger-than-expected fourth-quarter surge in signed contracts at Toll Brothers may signal a comeback for the beleaguered luxury building market. Following the release of the company's preliminary fiscal 2009 fourth-quarter results, Robert Toll, chairman and CEO at Toll Brothers, said in a conference call today that he believes the housing market recovery is in the same place now as it was in May or June of 1991. The Horsham, Penn.-based luxury homebuilder saw a 42 percent rise in signed contracts year-over-year, to 765 units in the fourth quarter ending Oct. 31, Toll said. While 2008 was a particularly rough year for homebuilders, the fourth-quarter number also represents a 17 percent improvement over the same period in 2007, prior to the Lehman Brothers crash. The cancellation rate -- 6.9 percent -- returned to its pre-downturn average. Shares of Toll Brothers rose 16 percent to $21.30 this morning as Wall Street reacted to the results, which were released late yesterday.

Biggest price cut of the day

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 18:00:00 -0500

667 Ocean Boulevard

The South Florida home to see the biggest price cut today is a seven-bedroom, eight-bathroom house at 667 Ocean Boulevard in Golden Beach, according to data from Condo Vultures Realty. The $9.9 million oceanfront Dade County home saw a $550,000, or 5 percent, price cut off its original asking price. It was listed at $10.5 million when it first hit the market in August. The home features a pool, walk-in closets and water views, and sits on a 24,900-square-foot lot. Nelson Gonzalez of Esslinger-Wooten-Maxwell 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

Royal Poinciana Plaza plans still fluid

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 17:00:00 -0500

The players behind the renovation and redevelopment of Palm Beach's Royal Poinciana Plaza remain open to input even after 200 meetings with various interest groups. Leaders of the Sterling Organization and Boston architect Ann Beha said a plan developed with landscape architect Morgan Wheelock was still flexible. The plan's current form calls for elimination of the Gucci building from the center of two John Volk-designed commercial buildings on site to restore the east-west vista. It will more than double green space on the 12-acre property, reduce surface parking spaces, add a waterfront park and restaurant where the shuttered, 1957 Royal Poinciana Playhouse now stands. Four residential buildings with no more than 30 residential units will be built. [Palm Beach Daily News]

Treasury loan help report irks McCollum

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 16:00:00 -0500

Yesterday's Treasury Department report that only 12.4 percent of Florida borrowers who are at least two months behind on their mortgages are getting help -- well below the 20 percent national average -- has irritated Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum. McCollum, now a candidate for governor, said he has received more than 450 complaints about mortgage lenders across the state, adding that he is outraged that homeowners are getting the run-around from banks instead of being assiste their mortgage refinancing and loan modifications. Nationwide, 3.2 million borrowers are at least 60 days behind on their mortgage payments, including many South Floridians. In September, 17.8 percent of home loan payments in Palm Beach County, 20.7 percent in Broward County and 25.1 percent in Miami-Dade County were 90 days or more past due. [Sun-Sentinel]

Five-figure properties a reality in South Florida

Paul Bomberger — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 15:00:00 -0500

From left: Lewis Goodkin, president of Goodkin Consulting; Douglas Rill, a realtor at Century 21 America's Choice Realty; Brad Hunter, chief economist at Metrostudy

Buying a condominium in South Florida for $100,000 seems improbable, even impossible. But it’s not. Plenty now languish on the market, despite selling for a song. The implosion of the overbuilt condo sector in Palm Beach, Broward and Miami-Dade counties has caused a price retreat to 2003 levels. Indeed, the recently released September condo sales report from the Florida Association of Realtors showed median prices of $78,300 in Broward and $106,700 in Palm Beach counties, respectively. In Miami-Dade County, where prices fell 37 percent from the previous year, the median stood at $132,900. As prospects wait and condo prices in South Florida keep falling, prices going below $100,000 -- a return to pre-boom levels -- could bring more buyers off the sidelines.

Law firm's tumble may have been prompted by suspicious real estate transaction

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 14:15:00 -0500

Real estate transactions were among the many aspects of commerce and law thrown into disarray after the Rothstein Rosenfeldt Adler law firm in Fort Lauderdale was hit with an involuntary bankruptcy filing late yesterday. Attorney Scott Rothstein allegedly ran a massive Ponzi scheme in addition to the legal business, and investors are now trying to recover money they say is missing. Prosecutors said $1.4 million from an escrow account for a stock and real estate transaction was spent immediately after being moved into the firm's operating account, causing observers to suspect foul play. The transaction had involved Ricardo Martinez and Camilo Manrique, clients of attorneys in the firm's Venezuela office, according to court records. [Sun-Sentinel]

Lenders becoming more open to retail borrowers

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 13:30:00 -0500

Due to the recent credit crunch and subsequent slowdown in the commercial mortgage-backed securities market, retail borrowers have found extreme difficulty in securing loans to support their businesses. However, some of these reluctant lenders now say they’re more willing to provide loans because they believe that the worst is over. “I think as soon as we hit Jan. 1 there will be a psychological shift, and more money will enter the market,” said Kenneth Fox, managing director at Chicago-based Cohen Financial. Additionally, nearly 75 percent of the bankers surveyed by Jones Lang LaSalle said that they expect their commercial real estate loan production to increase next year, the brokerage reported.

Miami real estate soared, plunged under Diaz

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 13:30:00 -0500

Outgoing Miami Mayor Manny Diaz oversaw a huge boom in the city’s development, and put ambitious plans for the future in place. But the subsequent collapse of the construction industry and plunge in the real estate market casts a shadow on his major achievements. Those include prodding developers to create a new urban neighborhood, Midtown Miami; and the successful, though bitterly debated, push for a new baseball stadium, a new downtown park and museums, and a port tunnel in his second term. He also revived a historic-preservation program, creating several new historic districts and protecting modern architectural landmarks like the Bacardi buildings. [Miami Herald]

Survey shows 1 in 20 Americans plan to buy a home within next year

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 13:00:00 -0500

Five percent of U.S. residents plan to purchase a home in the next year, according to a survey released today by Move.com, an online real estate database. This percentage is down slightly from a survey conducted in March, according to the New York Times, but up around 1 percent from June figures. Of those who said they planned to buy, around a quarter said that their decision was motivated by their belief that housing prices had bottomed out. Home purchasers are most likely to be 34 years old or younger and to live in the southern or western states, the survey says.

Obama's mortgage mod program getting participants, but few see permanent fixes

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 12:00:00 -0500

Obama’s Making Home Affordable program, which launched in February, has begun modifying loans on a trial basis for 650,000 borrowers, or one-fifth of those eligible, the administration announced yesterday. The program aims to modify loans for up to four million borrowers whose payments are more than 60 days delinquent over the next several years by enticing mortgage companies and investors to reduce their demands. While the Treasury Department said yesterday’s data means the program is on track to meet that goal, JPMorgan Chase said only 26 percent of customers who made trial payments under the program had submitted the necessary documents to make the modifications permanent. At Morgan Stanley, just 500 participating customers have received permanent modifications so far. A permanent fix is only granted if borrowers become current on their payments after three months and submit both a hardship affidavit and other documentation. Because much of the problem seems to stem from documentation, the Treasury Department has begun relaxing some requirements. Last month, borrowers who had made three trial payments were granted 60 extra days on their paperwork.

Treasury report shows Bank of America approves least mortgage mods

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 11:15:00 -0500

The U.S Treasury Department has released the latest numbers for the Home Affordable Modification Program in its October report. Out of all the major banks, Bank of America has approved the least amount of mortgage modifications, granting mods to only 21 percent of all eligible homeowners, according to the report. CitiMortgage approved the most, offering modifications to 50 percent of eligible homeowners and JPMorgan and Wells Fargo trailed close behind CitiMortgage, offering mortgage modifications to 43 percent and 41 percent of homeowners, respectively. Since the program began in May, there have been 650,994 trial modifications started across the country, with 28,773 active modifications currently in New York state. In October, 163,000 new trial modifications were started, up from 100,000 new trials started a month earlier, according to the report.