Developers have sold 85 percent of the condos built in South Florida during the building boom beginning in 2002, according to a report released this week by Bal Harbour-based consultancy Condo Vultures.
The report, which studies condo markets from South Beach to West Palm Beach, found that developers have sold 41,258 condos in the last eight years, with the largest chunk of sales taking place in downtown Miami.
``People are certainly taking advantage of the fact that [condos] are affordable and available both to live in and also to invest in,'' said Leo Zabezhinsky, manager of business development and real estate for the Miami Downtown Development Authority.
While many of the boom-time buyers were speculators , many of today's buyers are investors and vultures, hoping to capitalize on the troubled market by renting out the units.
That explains much of the shift in sales activity taking place between South Beach and downtown Miami, as rental demand is up in places like Brickell and purchase prices are lower in the city than by the ocean, said Peter Zalewski, principal at Condo Vultures.
``An investor comes in, they look in South Beach, and they get sticker shock,'' he said. ``If they want to be on the sand, they go up to Sunny Isles Beach. If they're looking for investment value, new construction, they go to downtown Miami.''
Spurred by bulk buyers and lender takeovers, condo sales in downtown Miami reached 3,675 in 2010, up 57 percent from 2009, according to the report, based on county records. Condo sales in South Beach totaled only 123 last year, up from 107 in 2009. At the current sales pace, it would take about a year to sell out the remaining developer inventory in downtown, and more than a decade to sellthe 1,300 new condos in South Beach.
Areas like downtown Fort Lauderdale benefitted from good timing, as developers completed most of their condo projects before their housing market crashed. There are only 160 new condos yet-to-sell in downtown Fort Lauderdale, where more than 5,000 units were built during the boom.
Condo Vultures focused its report on seven housing markets in Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties, concentrating on areas east of I-95 and near bodies of water. During the 8-year span covered in the report, 244 new condo projects were created in those markets, for a total of nearly 50,000 units.
The epicenter of the building, sales and developer default activity has been in downtown Miami and Brickell, where more condo units were built in the 2000s than in the previous four decades combined.
About 18,675 new condos have sold in the downtown area in the last 8 years, totaling about 84 percent of the inventory, according to the report, based on county records.
Developers ``built 23,000 condos, and when over 80 percent have been sold and occupied, clearly it tells you that this is where people want to live and invest,'' said Zabezhinsky. ``The condos have single handedly helped lead the transformation of downtown Miami into a 24/7 global city.''
The Point Aventura
Thursday, January 27, 2011
Condo inventory detailed in new report - 85% of boom era condos have sold
Friday, January 7, 2011
Real Estate: South Florida's still a national leader in mortgage fraud
South Florida remains a national hub for mortgage fraud, as a new federal report shows the region led the nation in reports of suspicious activity in the third quarter of 2010.
BY TOLUSE OLORUNNIPA
TOLORUNNIPA@MIAMIHERALD.COM
South Florida's mortgage market had the nation's highest number of suspicious activity reports in the third quarter of 2010, according to the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network's third-quarter mortgage fraud report released Thursday.
Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties logged 3,039 reports of questionable mortgage loan activity between July and September, about 33 per day, and more than any other metropolitan area in the nation. Florida's 5,404 suspicious activity reports, or SARs, during that time period ranked it second in the nation, behind California. On a per capita basis, Florida ranks ahead of California.
Miami-Dade County had the lion's share of South Florida's fraud reports, with 1,784 in the third quarter, second only to Los Angeles County, which had 1,967.
Jonathan Heller, a Miami defense lawyer defending a client who he believes was a victim of mortgage fraud, said he is not surprised by South Florida's ranking.
``When you have mortgage brokers who are unsavory, who are fueled by irresponsible lenders, it's like the perfect storm,'' he said.
Nationwide, there were 16,693 suspicious activity reports in the third quarter of 2010, up 2 percent from the same period in 2009. Florida was responsible for 32.3 percent of the nation's mortgage loan fraud reports that quarter, the report found.
The top types of mortgage fraud reported were false statements, debt elimination scams, identity theft and money laundering.
Most reports of mortgage loan fraud occur more than two years after the original loan was made. Of Miami-Dade's 1,784 reports logged in the third quarter of last year, only 404 involved loans made after Jan. 1, 2008.
That is consistent with the national trend, as those reporting fraud are focusing more on older incidents.
In the third quarter, 76 percent of SARs occurred before 2008, compared to 54 percent in 2009.
Read more: http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/01/07/2004440/south-floridas-still-a-national.html#ixzz1AN8OfBbs
Wednesday, January 5, 2011
Short sales in region rose sharply in 2010 - Business - MiamiHerald.com
Short sales -- transactions where a home is sold for less than the outstanding mortgage amount -- increased 49 percent in South Florida last year, a new report from Condo Vultures shows.
There were 16,800 short sales in Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties in 2010, up from 11,300 in 2009, according to the Florida Association of Realtors. That was about 22 percent of all transactions.
Short sales -- which take longer to close than traditional sales because mortgage holders have to approve -- were able to sell at a faster pace in 2010. The average 2010 short sale was on the market for 195 days before selling, down from 203 days in 2009. The average time on the market for all sales was 121 days.
-- Toluse Olrunnipa
Source: Miami Herald - Residential Real Estate
Tuesday, November 23, 2010
4 Home Upgrades Worth the Tax Break
Both home owners and real estate investors are dying to find new, bigger, and better ways to improve their investments. In this case, we are specifically talking about property investments. This could be your personal home or even some of your investment real estate, the bottom line here today is all about tax breaks and saving money. Music to every one’s ears these days.
Our Government is very interested in stimulating this economy, therefore, there are some wonderful tax breaks and incentives out there to get you to spend money, put it into the hands of a business, have it trickle down to their employees, and they will give you some killer tax breaks as a result of doing this and improving your existing houses.
Specifically, there are 4 home upgrades that are worth the tax breaks offered that we want to share with you today. This piece was influenced by an MSN article here, which you can review for further information and ideas, but we are going to give you the crux of the matter here.
4 Tax Breaks to Consider
Here are the four home improvements that you should consider immediately in order to qualify for your tax breaks.
1. Adding Insulation
Believe it or not, adding insulation to your home can qualify you for a tax break and is a great idea. Insulation can save you as much as 20% on your energy bills, which is terrific, but it can really save you on your budget because this is the most inexpensive way to improve your home and still qualify for the tax breaks the Government is issuing to people. However, if your home is less than 5 years old, then it is more likely that you won’t need new insulation, but you could consider it.
We suggest hiring a professional to install your insulation, but if you want to go for it and be a do it yourself warrior, then you have our blessing considering you know what you are doing.
2. Replacing Windows and Doors
This tax breaks cap was raised from $200 to $1,500, which could be music to an homeowner or investor’s ears. Who couldn’t use this type of extra money? It could be yours with a few considerations. Your installments must have a label from the National Fenestration Rating Council with the U-factor rating on it that is no more than 0.30. This measures how well your improvement keeps heat from escaping the home. In addition, the label should have a list of the solar heat gain coefficient, or SHGC, of no more than 0.30 as well.
This improvement can be a bit costly as windows and doors are not very cheap, but very useful. As we are sure you are aware that the right windows and doors can help save another 20% on your heating bills as well this winter, which is always a welcomed site.
3. Installing Air Conditioners
The typical air conditioner will cost you about $2,000, which isn’t something to sneeze at, but they typically have a useful life of about 12 years, which can be a great investment. Like everything else, you will need an AC unit with specific standards in order to qualify for the tax break. And with the AC unit, you will need a seasonal energy efficiency ratio, or SEER (measures the efficiency of central air, of at least 16 and an energy efficiency rating, or EER, tracks how it operates once outdoor temperature reaches 95 degrees, of 13 at least.
If you are interested in finding out if your AC unit qualifies for this tax break, then visit CEE HVAC Directory.
4. Put on a New Roof
In my neighborhood, it seems like very one is adding a new roof these days. Guess they are taking advantage of the tax breaks, maybe we should get in on the act as well. You don’t have to create a green roof in order to qualify, although that would open you to additional tax breaks, but it is something that you might want to consider.
A new roof can run you anywhere between $5,000 to $10,000 depending on the size of your home and the type of roof that you are putting down. But after you hit the $5,000 cost, you would be eligible for the full $1,500 tax break from the Government. This is welcomed considering the cost of adding a new roof. However, if your roof is currently less than 15 years old, then you shouldn’t need a new one any time soon, but that should be determined on a case by case basis. Some roofs are leaking and need to be changed now, while others might last 20 years.
Nevertheless, if you are looking for some extra tax breaks this tax season, then don’t look any further than our list of four here. There are many more tax breaks out there to be taken advantage of, but when you have to make repairs to your home and investment properties anyway, this seems like a good idea and time to get them done, enjoy their benefits, and save a little extra money in the process.
Friday, November 5, 2010
Open House - Miami Beach - Gorgeous Waterfront Home
Join us for Mimosas and appetizers in this gorgeous Waterfront home in Miami Beach
Open House- Sunday, November 7th, from 2 to 4pm
1471 Stillwater Drive, Miami Beach FL
Also, visit the Virtual Tour: http://www.Obeo.com/635079
Map to the property:
1471 Stillwater Dr, Miami Beach FL
Sunday, October 31, 2010
Monday, October 4, 2010
The Associated Press: Bank of America delays foreclosures in 23 states
WASHINGTON — Bank of America is delaying foreclosures in 23 states as it examines whether it rushed the foreclosure process for thousands of homeowners without reading the documents.
The move adds the nation's largest bank to a growing list of mortgage companies whose employees signed documents in foreclosure cases without verifying the information in them.
Bank of America isn't able to estimate how many homeowners' cases will be affected, Dan Frahm, a spokesman for the Charlotte, N.C.-based bank, said Friday. He said the bank plans to resubmit corrected documents within several weeks.
Two other companies, Ally Financial Inc.'s GMAC Mortgage unit and JPMorgan Chase, have halted tens of thousands of foreclosure cases after similar problems became public.
The document problems could cause thousands of homeowners to contest foreclosures that are in the works or have been completed. If the problems turn up at other lenders, a foreclosure crisis that's already likely to drag on for several more years could persist even longer. Analysts caution that most homeowners facing foreclosure are still likely to lose their homes.
State attorneys general, who enforce foreclosure laws, are stepping up pressure on the industry.
On Friday, Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal asked a state court to freeze all home foreclosures for 60 days. Doing so "should stop a foreclosure steamroller based on defective documents," he said.
And California Attorney General Jerry Brown called on JPMorgan to suspend foreclosures unless it could show it complied with a state consumer protection law. The law requires lenders to contact borrowers at risk of foreclosure to determine whether they qualify for mortgage assistance.
In Florida, the state attorney general is investigating four law firms, two with ties to GMAC, for allegedly providing fraudulent documents in foreclosure cases. The Ohio attorney general asked judges this week to review GMAC foreclosure cases.
In New York, State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo is reviewing the matter "to prevent homeowners from being improperly removed from their homes," according to a spokesman, Richard Bamberger, who said Friday that Cuomo's office has been in contact with several of the financial institutions.
Mark Paustenbach, a Treasury Department spokesman, said the Treasury has asked federal regulators "to look into these troubling developments." And the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, which regulates national banks, has asked seven big banks to examine their foreclosure processes.
"We both want to see that they fix the processing problems, but also to look to see whether there is specific harm" to homeowners, John Walsh, the agency's acting director told lawmakers Thursday.
A document obtained Friday by the Associated Press showed a Bank of America official acknowledging in a legal proceeding that she signed up to 8,000 foreclosure documents a month and typically didn't read them.
The official, Renee Hertzler, said in a February deposition that she signed 7,000 to 8,000 foreclosure documents a month.
"I typically don't read them because of the volume that we sign," Hertzler said.
She also acknowledged identifying herself as a representative of a different bank, Bank of New York Mellon, that she didn't work for. Bank of New York Mellon served as a trustee for the investors holding the homeowner's loan.
Hertzler could not be reached for comment.
A lawyer for the homeowner in the case, James O'Connor of Fitchburg, Mass., said such problems are rampant throughout the industry.
"We have had thousands, maybe hundreds of thousands of foreclosures around the country by entities that did not have the right to foreclose," O'Connor said.
The disclosure comes two days after JPMorgan said it would temporarily stop foreclosing on more than 50,000 homes so it could review documents that might contain errors. Last week, GMAC halted certain evictions and sales of foreclosed homes in 23 states to review those cases after finding procedural errors in some foreclosure affidavits.
Consumer advocates say the problems are widespread across the lending industry.
"The general level of sloppiness is pervasive around the industry," said Diane Thompson, counsel at the National Consumer Law Center.
Vickee Adams, a spokeswoman for Wells Fargo & Co., said Wells' "policies, procedures and practices satisfy us that the affidavits we sign are accurate."
Mark Rodgers, a spokesman for Citigroup Inc., said the bank "reviews document handling processes in our foreclosure group on an ongoing basis, and we have strong training to ensure that appropriate employees are fully aware of the proper procedures."
Mortgage finance companies Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac said Friday they're directing companies they work with that collect loan payments to follow proper procedures.
In some states, lenders can foreclose quickly on delinquent mortgage borrowers. By contrast, the 23 states in which Bank of America is delaying foreclosures use a lengthy court process. They require documents to verify information on the mortgage, including who owns it.
Those states are:
Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Nebraska, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Vermont and Wisconsin.
AP Business Writer Christopher S. Rugaber contributed to this report.
Copyright © 2010 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.