South Florida Average Discount Reaches 54%

Nearly 900 residences in the Vultures Database™ have closed in the first five months of 2009 at an average discount of $357,500, or nearly 54 percent, a dramatic change from the average price reductions of 44 percent in 2008 and 29 percent in 2007, according to a new report from Condo Vultures® LLC.

Buyers closed 232 single-family houses, condos, and townhouses in the tri-county South Florida region of Miami-Dade, Broward, and Palm Beach counties in May for a daily average of 7.5 transactions. In April, buyers closed an average of 7.0 properties per day. The running average in the first five months of 2009 is 5.9 closings per day on properties in the Vultures Database™, according to the report.

“Discount investors and first-time home buyers are having a noticeable impact on the coastal residential real estate market in South Florida,” said Peter Zalewski, a principal with the Bal Harbour, Fla.-based real estate consultancy Condo Vultures®. “Half of the transactions involving properties in the Vultures Database™ have closed in the last two months. We anticipate the pace will continue at the same level, if not stronger, throughout the summer if conditions remains the same.”

In its third year of monitoring South Florida discounts, the Vultures Database™ is comprised of nearly 3,800 condos, townhouses, and single-family houses actively for sale east of Interstate 95 in Miami-Dade, Broward, and Palm Beach counties that have been reduced in price by at least 10 percent and/or $100,000.

Discounts are proving to be the single-most important factor in determining whether a property is sold or not. With conventional financing difficult to obtain, the majority of today’s buyers are selectively purchasing with cash or the assistance of government-backed programs, such as the Obama $8,000 tax credit for first-time home buyers.

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Peter Zalewski of Condo Vultures® can be reached at 800-750-0517 or by email at peter@condovultures.com. Don’t forget to sign up for our weekly Market Intelligence Report™ for detailed condo reports. Looking for a property at a deep discount? You are encouraged to take a peek at the Vultures Database™ or our Video Gallery. Our new books, the Official Condo Buyers Guide to Miami™ , Miami’s Great Condo Crash: A Chronicle of the Boom and Bust™ , and First-Time Home Buyers Guide To South Florida™ are now available. Want to see every foreclosure filed in South Florida since 2007? Check out our Foreclosure Database™.

Copyright © 2009, Condo Vultures® LLC

Fort Lauderdale Inventory Down 30% In 7 Months

Resale residential inventory in the Greater Fort Lauderdale area is shrinking at a faster rate than is the case for the South Florida region, according to a new report from Condo Vultures® LLC.

Resale inventory in Broward County, where Fort Lauderdale, Hollywood, and Pompano Beach are located, is down 30 percent to nearly 26,000 single-family houses, condos, and townhouses in the last seven months dating back to Thanksgiving week.

By comparison, South Florida inventory is down 25 percent for the tri-county region. Resale inventory has fallen by 26 percent in Miami-Dade County, where Miami Beach, Coral Gables, and Aventura are located, and by 19 percent in Palm Beach County, where Boca Raton, Delray Beach, and West Palm Beach are located, according to the report created using Florida Association of Realtors data.

“Broward County is South Florida’s middle ground in terms of location and price point between expensive Miami and more reasonably priced West Palm Beach,” said Peter Zalewski, a principal with the Bal Harbour, Fla.-based real estate consultancy Condo Vultures®. “It is not uncommon for dual-income families to have one person working in the Miami area and the other in Broward and/or Palm Beach. In these situations, Broward is often times the place where the families ultimately decide to buy given the lower price compared to Miami.”

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Peter Zalewski of Condo Vultures® can be reached at 800-750-0517 or by email at peter@condovultures.com. Don’t forget to sign up for our weekly Market Intelligence Report™ for detailed condo reports. Looking for a property at a deep discount? You are encouraged to take a peek at the Vultures Database™ or our Video Gallery. Our new books, the Official Condo Buyers Guide to Miami™ , Miami’s Great Condo Crash: A Chronicle of the Boom and Bust™ , and First-Time Home Buyers Guide To South Florida™ are now available. Want to see every foreclosure filed in South Florida since 2007? Check out our Foreclosure Database™.

Copyright © 2009, Condo Vultures® LLC

Short Sales Account For 31% Of South Florida Properties For Sale

BY WILLIAM BETANCOURT

There were a total of 83,445 residences listed for sale in South Florida as of June 12th, 2009. Of that, 25,814, or 31 percent are in some stage of the short sale process, according to a new report based on the Condo Vultures® Foreclosure Database™.

“The month of May proved to be busy at the courthouse recording office accounting for 1,899 new Lis Pendens filings in Miami-Dade County, 4,442 filings in Broward County, and 2,661 filings in Palm Beach counties, respectively,” said William Betancourt, a licensed Florida real estate agent and short sale specialist with Condo Vultures® Realty LLC. “The real story is the 2,866 filings in Miami-Dade, 4,223 filings in Broward, and 2,029 filings in Palm Beach in the previous month of April and what June has in store ending the second quarter with more distressed inventory. The spike isn’t likely to continue to rise.

“However, we will still see a continuing stream of filings throughout the remaining two quarters.”

Over the past two months, 18,120 new properties are in pre-foreclosure in the three counties. Broward County accounts for 47.8 percent of the new filings, with Dade at 26.3 percent and Palm Beach County with the remaining 25.9 percent, according to the Condo Vultures® Foreclosure Database™, which tracks the filing of Lis Pendens notices through court records since January 1st, 2007.

To date, the database contains more than 158,000 filings.

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Bank Regulators Hold Key To Lending Rebound In Florida

BY JIM FREER
Special Correspondent
CondoVultures.com

It’s not just bankers who will determine when the residential and commercial real estate markets will begin a rebound in Florida and around the country.

Bank regulators always have major influence on banks’ overall strategies, and they have been taking actions that likely will result in many banks remaining cautious on lending for the remainder of this year.

As part of a stepped-up review process they began approximately two years ago, federal and state banking regulators are telling many banks to keep adding to their reserves to cover potential loan losses, experts tell CondoVultures.com.

Those additions to reserves are taken from a bank’s quarterly earnings, or from capital during quarters when there are no profits.

That review of loan quality is part of what some bankers say is regulators being figuratively “in banks” that are having earnings problems. In some cases, they are instructing banks on lending strategies but not necessarily on making individual loans.

Regulators also are telling some banks to raise capital or reduce assets, to improve their capital-to-asset ratios.

For many banks that means making fewer loans and reducing asset size as other loans are paid off.

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Chinese Drywall Impact ‘Huge’ On Florida Valuations

BY ERIK BOJNANSKY
Special Correspondent
CondoVultures.com

Eight months ago, hardly anyone knew or cared about Chinese drywall. And eight months later, the full impact of this imported building material that has been blamed for metal corrosion, electrical mishaps and health problems is still unknown, according to CondoVultures.com.

Most agree, however, that Chinese drywall will have a huge negative impact on South Florida’s already troubled real estate market and any home built with significant amounts of it may be worthless.

“It’s a huge problem,” said Randall Jimenez, owner of Under Pressure Home Services, a Fort Lauderdale company that cleans up and manages foreclosed homes for banks. “No one has real answers to this problem and no one wants to say anything yet.”

The true number of homes constructed with Chinese drywall remains uncertain but estimates suggest that between 35,000 and 100,000 homes and commercial properties across the United States, Canada and the Bahamas were made from this material.

The adverse affects of Chinese drywall was first discovered in homes located within the Sunshine State in January 2009.

Colson Hicks Eidson attorney Elvin Gonzalez, who has been representing hundreds of clients with drywall problems, suspects there may be 35,000 homes infected in Florida alone with large pockets in Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties.

“Broward is very, very hard hit,” Gonzalez said.

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South Florida Inventory Falls 1.1% To 81,000 Residences

South Florida residential real estate inventory dropped by 1.1 percent in the last week, dragging the total number of resales available down to 81,159 properties, according to a new report from Condo Vultures® LLC.

Residential resale inventory slipped by 888 properties between June 15 and June 22 for an average decreased of 127 properties per day. On June 1, there were 83,491 residential resales on the market in the tri-county region of Miami-Dade, Broward, and Palm Beach counties, according to the report compiled using data from the Florida Association of Realtors.

“The single-family house inventory is shrinking at a faster pace than the condo and townhouse market,” said Peter Zalewski, a principal with Bal Harbour, Fla.-based real estate consultancy Condo Vultures®. “Condo and townhouses now represent about 61 percent of the total South Florida inventory. Back in November, condos and townhouses represented 57 percent of the overall residential inventory in South Florida.”

On a county-by-county basis, Broward has the fewest number of single-family houses available for resale with 10,179 properties, or 32 percent of the total South Florida inventory of 32,125.

Miami-Dade and Palm Beach are in a tie in percentage terms with each accounting for 34 percent of the remaining single-family house inventory. Palm Beach, with a population of about 1.1 million, has 10,888 houses for sale compared to 11,058 houses on the resale market in Miami-Dade, with a population of 2.5 million, according to the Condo Vultures® report.

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Peter Zalewski of Condo Vultures® can be reached at 800-750-0517 or by email at peter@condovultures.com. Don’t forget to sign up for our weekly Market Intelligence Report™ for detailed condo reports. Looking for a property at a deep discount? You are encouraged to take a peek at the Vultures Database™ or our Video Gallery. Our new books, the Official Condo Buyers Guide to Miami™ , Miami’s Great Condo Crash: A Chronicle of the Boom and Bust™ , and First-Time Home Buyers Guide To South Florida™ are now available. Want to see every foreclosure filed in South Florida since 2007? Check out our Foreclosure Database™.

Copyright © 2009, Condo Vultures® LLC

Bulk Condo Deal Closes In Greater Downtown Miami

A Miami entity headed by Carlos Mattos paid $203 per square foot for 31 units at the 1060 Brickell condominium in Miami’s financial district, according to Condo Vultures® LLC.

Mattos’ newly created 1060 Brickell Apartments LLC paid nearly $6.1 million without financing for four studio units, 22 one-bedroom units, and five two-bedroom units with a combined 29,913 square feet of livable space, according to Condo Vultures® LLC.

“We have reason to believe that 1060 Brickell has about 200 units under contract and/or closing as we speak,” said Peter Zalewski, a principal with the Bal Harbour, Fla.-based real estate consultancy Condo Vultures®. “In the last week, 1060 has closed 58 units including the 31 from this bulk deal. It will be interesting to see what our second quarter closing rate report for new condos in Greater Downtown Miami will show.”

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Peter Zalewski of Condo Vultures® can be reached at 800-750-0517 or by email at peter@condovultures.com. Don’t forget to sign up for our weekly Market Intelligence Report™ for detailed condo reports. Looking for a property at a deep discount? You are encouraged to take a peek at the Vultures Database™ or our Video Gallery. Our new books, the Official Condo Buyers Guide to Miami™ , Miami’s Great Condo Crash: A Chronicle of the Boom and Bust™ , and First-Time Home Buyers Guide To South Florida™ are now available. Want to see every foreclosure filed in South Florida since 2007? Check out our Foreclosure Database™.

Copyright © 2009, Condo Vultures® LLC

NAR Chief Economist: South Florida Real Estate Market At Bottom

The South Florida residential real estate market is at bottom and likely to experience some appreciation within a year, the National Association of Realtors Chief Economist Dr. Lawrence Yun said.

“I think the prices have already pretty much bottomed in the South Florida market,” Yun said. “The rest of the country is more difficult to say but I think here, given the buyers, the prices have already bottomed in Florida.”

Yun made the declaration (Watch The Video) on June 11 during a keynote address to a lunch crowd of the International Real Estate Congress and Expo. The event was hosted by the Realtors Association of Greater Miami and the Beaches at the Biltmore Hotel in Coral Gables.

Yun’s keynote address preceded a panel discussion on the South Florida real estate market with Peter Zalewski, founder of Condo Vultures® LLC; Rei Mesa of Prudential Florida Realty; Oliver Ruiz of Fortune International Realty; and Ron Shuffield of EWM.

Given the growing number of residential deals occurring in South Florida despite no readily available financing, Yun projects that today’s buyers could actually realize some home price appreciation as soon as next year when credit is expected to be available once again.

“Soon you will reach the point of equilibrium where home prices begin to show growth,” Yun said. “It is always difficult to precisely predict. I think that many people who are buying today in this month – June of 2009 – if they look back a year from now in June 2010, I think many people will see that they have actually gained in equity.”

Yun cautioned that the South Florida market conditions – a diverse community with limited developable land, attractive weather, and an international appeal – give the region an advantage over many other areas in the United States.

“There will be some premium attached to Miami, in relation to say Atlanta, Birmingham, and others,” Yun said. “So the price point in Miami will be much stronger when compared to other, say, southern states across the country or even say the rest of America. For that reason, I am very hopeful that currently it is an undervalued market.

“Buyers are recognizing [that]. Sales up about 100 percent from one year before.”

Yun’s comments come a month after national real estate analyst Jack McCabe of McCabe Research & Consulting in Deerfield Beach, Fla., told CondoVultures.com that he thinks South Florida residential prices are within 15 percent of the bottom.

McCabe, who began warning of a Florida housing bust in 2005, projects the South Florida residential real estate bottom will be reached by the summer of 2010.

“I think the worst is behind us, but I still believe we have another 10 to 15 percent drop because of the unemployment and the foreclosures depressing prices, and the amount of inventory we have yet to absorb,” McCabe told CondoVultures.com.

Peter Zalewski of Condo Vultures® can be reached at 800-750-0517 or by email at peter@condovultures.com. Don’t forget to sign up for our weekly Market Intelligence Report™ for detailed condo reports. Looking for a property at a deep discount? You are encouraged to take a peek at the Vultures Database™ or our Video Gallery. Our new books, the Official Condo Buyers Guide to Miami™ , Miami’s Great Condo Crash: A Chronicle of the Boom and Bust™ , and First-Time Home Buyers Guide To South Florida™ are now available. Want to see every foreclosure filed in South Florida since 2007? Check out our Foreclosure Database™.

Copyright © 2009, Condo Vultures® LLC

South Florida Rental Rates Seminar Tonight

Looking to invest in South Florida residential real estate but not sure where rental rates are heading? Struggling to find a double-digit cap rate to justify an investment?

Many of these questions will be addressed by a five-member panel of South Florida experts convening between 5.30 pm and 8 pm tonight, June 16, to discuss “Rental Rates and the Quest For Double Digit Cap Rates” at the Doubletree Grand Hotel just north of Downtown Miami. The program features a networking session, panel discussion, and question and answer period with the panel.

Condo Vultures® principal Peter Zalewski will moderate the discussion about the current and future trends in South Florida’s rental market from an investor’s perspective.

Joining Zalewski on the panel are:

- James Donnelly, the president and chief executive of the Castle Group condo association management company;

- Jack McCabe, a national real estate analyst with McCabe Research & Consulting;

- Alan Ojeda, developer of the Miami high-rise rental tower One Broadway;

- and Raul Valdes-Fauli, Miami-Dade County president of CNL Bank.

For more information, please visit the Upcoming Events page at CondoVultures.com or call 800-750-0517.

Peter Zalewski of Condo Vultures® can be reached at 800-750-0517 or by email at peter@condovultures.com. Don’t forget to sign up for our weekly Market Intelligence Report™ for detailed condo reports. Looking for a property at a deep discount? You are encouraged to take a peek at the Vultures Database™ or our Video Gallery. Our new books, the Official Condo Buyers Guide to Miami™ , Miami’s Great Condo Crash: A Chronicle of the Boom and Bust™ , and First-Time Home Buyers Guide To South Florida™ are now available. Want to see every foreclosure filed in South Florida since 2007? Check out our Foreclosure Database™.

Copyright © 2009, Condo Vultures® LLC

South Florida Real Estate Market Rebounding: Industry Watchers

BY ERIK BOJNANSKY
Special Correspondent
CondoVultures.com

Happy days are here again, acclaim Realtors and analysts interviewed by CondoVultures.com, as recent data suggest a significant increase in South Florida home purchases and a decrease in residential inventory.

Well, maybe relief and cautious optimism are better descriptions of how many Florida real estate agents are currently feeling.

South Florida’s inventory of condos, townhouses and single-family homes has fallen by nearly 24 percent in seven months. On Nov. 24 there were 107,527 residences available for resale. As of June 15, there were only 82,047 — a reduction of 25,480. Meanwhile pending sales in South Florida have increased by more than 68 percent between November 24 and June 15 from a total of 9,302 to 15,645, according to a new report released by CondoVultures.com.

“There is a percentage of the population that believes the bottom of the market has hit,” said Jeff Morr, CEO of Majestic Properties. “Sales are way up.”

Brian Paul, CEO of the Realtors® Association of the Palm Beaches , credited low home prices and the $8,000 federal tax credit for first-time home buyers for the increased buying trend, especially among those who couldn’t afford buying a condo or a house two years ago. The prospect of rising interest rates has only increased the pace of home-buying, Paul said.

“Housing is affordable again,” Paul said, “People are recognizing that and are getting into the market before they are priced out.”

Situations are popping up where investors can, in some cases, collect more on rent than the property actually costs on a monthly basis. A five-person panel is scheduled for Tuesday, June 16, to discuss “Rental Rates and the Quest For Double-Digit Cap Rates” at the Doubletree Grand Hotel just north of Greater Downtown Miami.

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