The Housing Bubble

A report from the Arizona Republic. “Complaints to the county about algae-laden “green pools” behind vacant or abandoned homes have leaped almost 250 percent since a year ago, increasing to 2,069 during the first five months of 2008 compared with 597 during the same period in 2007, said Johnny Dilone, spokesman for Maricopa County Environmental Services.”

“Kara Cox, a Maricopa County vector-control specialist, said she is working six 10-hour days a week, responding to as many as two dozen complaints every day. About 80 percent of the properties she visits are vacant, Cox said.”

“‘Our workload has increased significantly,’ she said.”

“Roughly 75 percent of green-pool calls to Maricopa County Environmental Services since July 1 have been for swimming pools behind abandoned or unoccupied homes, up from just 25 percent of calls the previous year, said John Townsend, manager of the Vector Control Program in Maricopa County.”

“In all, the county has received about 8,000 mosquito-related calls during that time and expects the number to reach 10,000 by the end of June.”

“‘It’s all kind of new,’ Townsend said about complaints leading to abandoned properties. ‘Last year, we had a few, and this year we’ve seen a lot.’”

“The increase in abandoned homes also has created an enforcement dilemma for the county, Townsend said, because in most cases the listed owners are long gone.”

“Townsend said if homeowners facing foreclosure decide to abandon their property and don’t want to drain the pool, they should at least call the Vector Control Office to pick up free gambusia fish from the county.”

“Troy Corder, committee member and resident of Surprise, said his community’s greatest concern is the consensus of housing-industry experts that the foreclosure rate has only begun to climb.”

“‘We haven’t even hit the tip of the iceberg when it comes to foreclosures,’ he said.”

The East Valley Tribune from Arizona. “The Valley’s average apartment rent hit a record high recently, but experts say it’s still the best time in years to be a renter. That’s because landlords are being forced to compete with thousands of vacant single-family houses put up for rent by frustrated home sellers.”

“Valleywide, 67 percent of landlords offered some sort of special deal to lure renters in the first three months of 2008. That’s up from 55 percent a year ago, according to a report by Pete TeKampe with commercial real estate brokerage Marcus & Millichap.”

“‘Compared to the last two years, this is a great time to be a renter,’ said TeKampe.”

“Failed condominium conversion projects have also added to the excess supply of rentals as investors returned thousands of units to the rental pool.”

“‘There’s just so many rooftops for people to live under,’ said Greg Thielen, associate partner with Hendricks & Partners.”

“Investors bought properties based on projected rents that never materialized, he said. And some investors are starting to miss payments to their banks, Thielen said. ‘Lending’s gotten more difficult, as well,’ he said. ‘In the past, they’ve been able to refinance to get help.’”

“The state’s new employer sanctions law has also hurt some apartment operators. Many landlords were impacted in December, when tenants left before the law went into effect, Thielen said.”

“The vacancy rate in one area near 29th Street and Greenway Road jumped from 7 percent to 22 percent in a year, said TeKampe. ‘That’s an area that just got absolutely devastated,’ he said.”

“Thielen said he’s heard of some buildings that are up to 30 percent vacant. It’s difficult to know if the growing vacancies are just related to immigration reform or also job losses in certain industries, such as construction, he said.”

The Las Vegas Business Press from Nevada. “Las Vegas’ housing downturn has ratcheted up competition amid area contractors, increasing bid lists and lowering profit margins, panel participants said at a National Association of Industrial and Office Properties event.”

“Several specialty trade companies which had relied on the housing boom for steady income, are finding themselves out of work and struggling to make ends meet. There were 1,781 Clark County housing permits pulled in March, a 77.7 percent drop from a year ago. Also, a 22.5 percent decline was reported in the number of active Las Vegas Valley subdivisions in March.”

“‘We’re definitely seeing longer bid lists,’ said Frank Martin, president of Las Vegas-based Martin-Harris Construction. ‘A couple of years ago, some of these jobs were lucky to get a couple of bids. Now, we’re seeing double and triple the number of bidders.’”

“Yet many of those companies are ill-equipped to move from residential to commercial construction.”

“The market slowdown is especially noticeable due to the deluge of general and specialty contractors that have migrated to Las Vegas in recent years, attracted by its building bonanza.”

“‘There is more competitiveness in the construction industry than we’ve seen in the past few years,’ said Kevin Burke, president of a Las Vegas general contracting firm.”

“The number of bids is reducing contractor margins, in some cases creating unrealistic expectations. Owners will ’shop’ bids, pitting one contractor against another, to secure the lowest project cost estimate.”

“‘It will drop margins by a percent, which, in contracting, is significant,’ said Brooks Williams, president of a Las Vegas general contractor. ‘We have (subcontractors) calling us constantly looking for anything to bid.’”

The Review Journal from Nevada. “Sen. Barack Obama led a sober town hall meeting Tuesday in North Las Vegas where people told the Democratic presidential candidate that there’s more to the housing crisis than foreclosures and that its effect isn’t limited to those who bought more home than they could afford.”

“The Illinois senator used the campaign stop to highlight his plans to address the nation’s real estate troubles. Obama also told the crowd that he favored a plan proposed by Sen. Chris Dodd, D-Conn., that would use the Federal Housing Administration to convert high-cost mortgages into more traditional, and affordable, loans.”

“The mortgage lending industry needs more monitoring and consumer protection requirements, he said.”

“During the North Las Vegas town hall meeting, Francisco Lomeli told Obama that tighter lending standards in the wake of the foreclosure crisis, with student loan debt, were preventing him from buying a home.”

“Lomeli and his wife decided to put off buying a house until she finished nursing school, he said.”

“‘It seemed back then that the house dream was there. Make it through college, we can make it happen,’ he said. ‘But now the dream seems to have gotten further away from us. We don’t know who to trust. We don’t trust the lenders. We don’t trust the banks.’”

“And because they have student loan debt, the lenders do not trust them either: ‘Now the credit people are, ‘No, no, no,’ because we’re in debt.’”

“Tighter regulation of lenders could have prevented their plight, Obama said. ‘A lot of this wouldn’t have happened if we had done a better job of regulating the banks and the mortgages. Nobody was watching them,’ he said.”

“Before the town hall meeting, Obama stopped briefly at the downtown Las Vegas residence of Felicitas Rosel and Francisco Cano, who are worried they might lose the home they bought three years ago with an adjustable-rate mortgage.”

“‘At the beginning it was OK, but all of a sudden, it started going up and up,’ Rosel told Obama.”

The Spectrum from Utah. “Southern Utah’s real estate sales were at their peak in May of 2005. The numbers had dropped by nearly half in December of 2007. While it’s not what it once was, the market is still solid. That was the message from Joseph McPhie, general manager of Southern Utah Title, at Wednesday’s meeting of the Chamber.”

“‘There’s a lot of good news, particularly if you’re a buyer right now,’ McPhie said. Foreclosures, unfortunately, ‘are something that can’t be ignored’ because they are affecting the product available as well as the price point.”

“McPhie said drawing something from the numbers is a matter of attitude. He told the story of an ancient ruler who dreamed he was losing all his teeth. When he asked for an interpretation, one wise man told him all his family members would die before he did.”

“Disliking that message, the ruler had the man beheaded. The second wise man told him he would live a long life and outlive many of his family members. Same message, different delivery.”

“McPhie’s ultimate message is that the market has been growing slowly the past few months. He said he believes that growth will continue.”

“‘I hope all of us will be cheerleaders for our area,’ he said of the way to help the area rebound. ‘We live in a great place with great people. I think we’ll enjoy a renewness(sic) in our market.’”

The Daily Herald from Utah. “A Las Vegas real estate auctioneer is putting up for sale more than 50 foreclosed residential properties and lots in Utah in yet another sign of softness in the high-end residential market.”

“The inventory, owned mostly by Centennial Bank, is valued at more than $20 million in total. About 35 of the 52 homes and lots for sale are located in northern Utah County.”

“On the auction block are 23 finished and unfinished homes ranging between $175,000 and $2.6 million, based on previous list prices or bank-appraised values. Also included in the sale are 29 custom lots that range between $111,800 and $408,000.”

“‘Many of those properties were owned by speculating owner-builders who had hoped to finish the homes and resell them, but ran out of money and time,’ said Eric Nelson, founder of Eric Nelson Auctioneering. ‘If the bank can sell the properties all in a short period of time, that prevents vandalism, reduces holding costs and helps them recover the loans faster.’”

“‘The bank is not in the business to hold real estate. If they find themselves with a lot of foreclosed property, auctioning them is one of the fastest and fairest ways to sell the properties,’ said company co-founder Aleda Nelson. ‘The builders may have been unable to sell the properties, make payment on the lots or obtain financing for construction.’”

“Sales of homes priced above $500,000 in Utah County plunged 71 percent in April from a year ago. No sales were recorded for homes priced above $1 million in April — the second time this year, said said Taylor Oldroyd, CEO of the Utah County Association of Realtors.”

“‘Mapleton and Alpine are some of the highest-priced areas that are seeing a lot less sales,’ Oldroyd said.”

“Median sales prices of all residential types in Utah County fell to $219,500 in April from $225,000 last year, according to the latest data from the Utah County Realtors.”

“Nelson sees more bank-owned property auctions being held in Utah in the coming months. ‘We’ve held two such auctions in Arizona in the past few months. And we’re doing the same thing in Nevada, and now Utah, although the market here isn’t as bad as in Nevada or Arizona.’”

“‘These are basically brand-new homes, the majority of which are 80 percent to 90 percent finished,’ he said.”"

Some housing bubble news from Wall Street and Washington. Reuters, “House prices fell a record 2.5 percent in May, the Nationwide Building Society says. The monthly decline, the largest since the lender started compiling records in 1991, wiped 5,000 pounds off the value of the average home and took prices 4.4 percent lower than a year ago — the sharpest rate since the 1992 economic slump.”

“Prices have now fallen for seven months running — the longest stretch of falls in 26 years when the last housing market crash plunged millions of Britons into negative equity, or owing more on their mortgage than the value of their home.”

“‘The sheer size of the drop in house prices, without the economy having yet slowed significantly, suggests that this housing market correction will be deep and prolonged,’ said Seema Shah of Capital Economics.”

“‘All this is with the support of a still relatively healthy labour market. Imagine then, what will happen to house prices once the economic downturn gathers pace and unemployment rises,’ Shah said.”

“Two-thirds of British households own their homes, making prices an extremely emotive issue up and down the country.”

“‘Correlation between house prices and consumer spending in the UK is high, and indeed it is the highest among major industrial countries,’ said Michael Saunders, economist at Citigroup.”

From Bloomberg. “KeyCorp fell the most since the stock-market crash of 1987 after doubling its forecast for loans that won’t be repaid, prompting concern that regional banks have underestimated the cost of bad mortgages.”

“The revision by the Ohio bank, which last month quadrupled its provision for loan losses to $187 million, may foretell similar increases at U.S. commercial banks as home prices keep sliding, analysts said.”

“‘Banks are a little bit delusional right now about when they’re going to turn around,’ said said Mark Fitzgibbon, an analyst at Sandler O’Neill & Partners LP. ‘Recessions don’t turn around in days or weeks or months. It’s a multiyear kind of thing.’”

“Banks are concluding that they must unload foreclosed properties to get the properties off their books, said Jeff Davis, an analyst at FTN Midwest Securities in Nashville. ‘We’re getting to the point where reality is sinking in and the sellers are cutting prices,’ Davis said. ‘The deeper we go into the year, the more foreclosed properties trading hands will impact the data.’”

The Atlanta Journal Constitution. “Synovus Financial Corp. said it has turned to auctions to speed up the disposal of foreclosed homes, many of which are concentrated in the Atlanta area.”

“Synovus CEO Richard Anthony said the Columbus-based banking company is in the ‘fifth inning’ of dealing with its credit problems stemming from the nationwide meltdown of home values and mortgage defaults.”

“Almost 12 percent of Synovus’ $1.67 billion residential loan portfolio, or $199 million, is classified as nonperforming, accounting for more than half of its problematic home loans, according to the bank’s presentation.”

“‘Our attention is more focused on turning the … assets in Atlanta than it is in Florida,’ said Anthony, because it is a much bigger share on Synovus’ problem loan portfolio.”

The Houston Chronicle. “Kenneth Hocking watched as the auctioneer began to drop the prices on his Inner Loop duplexes, in hopes that someone in the audience would start the bidding. $225,000 … $200,000 … $170,000.”

“When he hit $100,000 and the audience remained motionless, the auctioneer moved on.”

“‘It’s a reflection of the market,’ said Keith Jaehne, a commercial real estate broker and investor who attended Wednesday’s real estate auction. ‘There are a lot of new houses on the market without a lot of activity.’”

“We’re in a correction period,” said Kelly Toney, co-owner of Tranzon VenueBid, the real estate auction franchise running the event. ‘That was very evident today.’”

“A handful of the 25 properties being auctioned didn’t get a single bid.’

“‘Buyers are leery of prices falling further,’ Toney said. ‘They don’t feel like the market has bottomed out yet.’”

“The high bid on a 3,000-square-foot duplex on Hutchins near the Museum District was $75,000. It was a court-ordered sale, however, and the minimum bid had been set at $135,000. Several Midtown townhomes were left unsold, as no one was willing to pay the $315,000 and $415,000 minimums.”

The Detroit News. “Metro Detroit home builders, battling a nearly three-year slump in new home sales, are sweetening their deals to lure scarce buyers. They not only are dropping prices, but also are offering to buy customers’ existing houses…and throwing in upgraded fixtures and finishes that just a few years ago would have cost thousands extra.”

“In addition, some builders have put empty lots up for sale in hopes of recovering at least part of their investment.”

“‘We’re talking price declines of 30 and 40 percent at least,’ said Russ Long, director at a Birmingham-based financial firm that is acting as a bank-appointed receiver for financially troubled builders in Metro Detroit. ‘It’s a more acute drop with new properties than existing ones.’”

“‘This is stacking up as the most dramatic housing contraction in the post-World War II period,’ said David Seiders, chief economist for the National Association of Home Builders.”

“In some cases, even drastic price reductions and free upgrades haven’t helped to move some new homes.”

“Wake-Pratt Construction Co.’s Cedar Pines of Troy subdivision included plans to build 17 luxury single-family homes, some with price tags in excess of $650,000. But three years after Wake-Pratt broke ground on the project, only three home sites have sold, and the latest top listing price is right around $550,000, though there hasn’t yet been a sale this year.”

“Those prices include thousands of dollars’ worth of upgrades like granite counters, his-and-hers sinks in the bathrooms and upgraded fixtures. Just a couple of years ago, such extra amenities wouldn’t have been included.”

“Some companies, including Bloomfield Hills-based Pulte Homes Inc., have been aggressively selling excess land and speculative home inventories to boost their bottom lines.”

“‘Nobody is even talking about building homes unless they’re build-to-suit,’ said Long, the bank-appointed receiver. ‘There’s no money in empty lots.’”

From Post Dispatch. “For local house builders looking for an end to the housing market slump, April didn’t offer much hope. In the St. Louis region, the number of building permits sunk in many counties to levels not seen in at least six years.”

“The pace of sales is still not where most in the industry would like. Chris Jones, president of Columbia, Ill.-based CA Jones Inc., has experienced that first hand. Sales at his company are off about 40 percent from an average year, Jones said.”

“‘April is usually one of our hot months. We could sell five or six houses easily,’ he said. This year he sold three. But the month was still better than March, Jones said, when he sold just one house.”

“And the buyers in the market are bargain shopping, Jones said, because there is such a large supply of houses. ‘There have been weekends when we had one person visiting the display,’ Jones said. ‘It is very discouraging to the sales people.’”

The Gazette. “Amid an atmosphere of homes waiting months to sell and the number of foreclosures in the state having passed 11,000, one Prince George’s County builder is offering homebuyers the chance to rent before they buy.”

“‘It’s not something we usually see in the new home arena, even in this market,’ said Katie Maloney, executive VP of the Maryland State Builders Association.”

“Atkinson Properties & Builders’ homes are at least 3,000 square feet and brick-based, feature four to five bedrooms with ceiling fans, four or more bathrooms, whirlpool baths, gas fireplaces, in-law suites or sun rooms and fully finished basements.”

“Buyers pay Atkinson an initial nonrefundable down payment, usually $20,000, and then provide monthly rental payments until they are ready to purchase the home. Most Atkinson homes go for around $600,000, with renters paying about $3,700 each month; $1,000 of this goes toward the final purchase. Jean Atkinson, president, took in more than $309,000 in revenues last tax period but says she is closer to breaking even now.”

“‘I’ve had a tenant now that still hasn’t bought in almost five years. I’ve had to refinance her house; it was either that or ask her to leave,’ Atkinson said. ‘They have realized it’s cheaper to rent the house as long as they can without buying.’”

From ABC News. “In nearly every American metropolis, the housing downbeat goes on, and the numbers in some cities are staggering. At the bottom of the heap is Las Vegas. Once America’s fastest growing city, it has seen home prices tumble 26 percent since last year.”

“Not far behind is Miami, where the condo craze crumbled and overall housing prices are down almost 25 percent. The other big losers are in the West: Prices in Phoenix, Los Angeles, San Diego and San Francisco are each down more than 20 percent.”

“Homeowner Deborah Gorman and her husband decided to sell their home in Pittsburgh when they took new jobs working for an insurance company in New Mexico in 2005. But by the time they put their house on the market, the Pittsburgh metro area was already glutted with inventory.”

“‘We did lower the price significantly, dropped it by about $25,000; at this point, we really just want to be able to pay off the mortgage so that we can kind of move on and not have the stress of owning a house 1,700 miles away,’ Deborah said. ‘Once the house had been on the market for nine months, we were starting to get a little bit more than discouraged that it really wasn’t going to sell.’”

“Their original listing price was $150,000, but since then, the Gormans have dropped it $25,000. Her realtor recently told them that he has had clients in comparable situations sell their house for less than their mortgage.”

“‘It is really kind of disillusioning to realize that, after 20 years, you’re really going to walk away with not much,’ Deborah said.”

“She hoped to have a small gain from selling her house for a future home, but now that ‘hope has evaporated.’”

“‘It’s disheartening when you think you’ve done everything right. You have a lovely home and it’s in a great area and it just won’t sell. You really are at the mercy of the market,’ she said.”

The Daily Business Review reports from Florida. “The owners of Villa Mare, a failed residential condo conversion project in Boca Raton, have seen the property’s debt balloon from about $50 million to more than $70 million since last year. The debt is growing at the rate of $21,000 per day because of interest charges. The development, which NRW purchased in 2006, has two five-story buildings, boat slips and ocean access.”

“It was expected to generate about $90 million in sales with units averaging more than $550,000.”

“In general, it’s not uncommon for the senior lender to opt for the foreclosure, said Jeff Bast, (an) attorney who represents NRW. He added that many condo developers with troubled projects are grappling with the issue of accumulating interest.”

“‘Default interest can accumulate very quickly and dramatically increase the amount of the debt obligation,’ he said.”

“But that only compounds the developer’s problems, he said. ‘If they are under water to begin with, in some situations it may not matter,’ he said.”

The Miami Herald. “Coldwell Banker might seem the least likely sort of business to take a page from the marketing manual of the car dealer’s factory blowout or a Memorial Day mattress sale. But for the prestigious real estate brokerage, desperate times call for desperate measures.”

“Last week, South Florida’s largest real estate firm started hyping its own version of a door-buster sale that starts Sunday. Prices on hundreds of homes, mostly in Miami-Dade and Broward counties, will be slashed by at least 10 percent.”

“Like most sales events, the discounts are good for a limited time only, in this case 10 days — or, presumably, while supplies last!”

“Gus Rubio, senior VP of Coldwell Banker for Southeast Florida, said the firm was simply offering the public a unique chance to ‘buy today at tomorrow’s prices.’ ‘Everybody that is analyzing the market is saying that prices have the possibility of [falling] further,’ Rubio said.”

“If a test sale hosted by the firm in Tampa a few months ago is any indication, buyers should respond positively. Rubio said of 847 participating sellers, 70 got their homes under contract.”

“To participate, sellers with homes listed at $750,000 or below must reduce their asking price by 10 percent; those with more expensive homes can start with 5 percent cuts. No short-sale deals or bank-owned properties are allowed because administrative obstacles make discounting them tricky.”

“‘For a lot of sellers, this was not a program for them because they were upside down,’ Rubio said.”

“With concerns of further price declines keeping many on the sidelines, the sale would seem to answer skepticism that the time to buy has not yet arrived — a difficult thing to do, said Doug DeWitt, a Miami real estate agent.”

“‘When we get to buy-one, get-one-free, then we’re really in trouble,’ he said.”

The Sun Sentinel. “Roughly 400 homes and condominiums in Palm Beach County are participating in the event that starts Sunday, with an average price reduction of 9.1 percent. In Broward County, there are about 300 properties participating at an average price drop of 9.5 percent.”

“‘For the buyer, it’s going to be a huge incentive,’ said Rubio.”

“Its success will depend on whether the asking prices were fair to begin with, said Miami-based housing analyst Lewis Goodkin. ‘If the prices were realistic, then buyers will respond,’ he said.”

“But competing real estate agents are skeptical. ‘It’s meaningless. It’s hype,’ said Bob Melzer of Prudential Florida WCI Realty in Boynton Beach. ‘No serious home buyer falls for that. He offers what he wants to offer.’”

“The median price in Broward fell 18 percent to $298,100 last month, the first time the county’s median has been below $300,000 since October 2004. The median in Palm Beach County in April was $314,000, down 17 percent from $376,300 a year ago.”

“With the city seeing more than 1,800 foreclosures this year alone, Coral Springs officials mulled over a law to accelerate the code enforcement process for vacant and abandoned properties.”

“‘Foreclosures are increasing by 10 percent every month. Lender owned properties have increased 40 percent this year,’ said Erdal Donmez, assistant city manager.”

“Vice Mayor Vince Boccard said the city should consider neighborhood house watch, which is along the same lines as neighborhood crime watch. ‘Abandoned houses can become clubhouses for neighboring kids,’ he said.”

From CBS 4.com. “CBS4 News encountered half a dozen people on a Ft. Lauderdale neighborhood trying to sell or rent their homes. Many are stuck, and everyone is left wondering how low things still have to go during this recession.”

“‘We don’t have the funds to pay the mortgage,’ said Nathan Cohen.”

“Cohen and his family are among dozens of South Floridians who attended a workshop Tuesday night to get help saving their home. It is another sign of a deeply troubled housing market. New numbers show Miami Dade and Broward home prices dropped by a quarter over this time last year.”

“For the Cohens, and so many others, it’s their personal disaster. ‘We don’t pay the credit cards. We pay the minimums if we can. Since my wife doesn’t work we try to survive on my salary,’ said Cohen.”

The News Journal. “Neighbors say an oceanfront timeshare condominium damaged by hurricanes in 2004 continues to be an eyesore but the city’s code board has ended its case against the Ocean Palms Beach Club.”

“‘I live just to the south of this disaster. I’ve been looking at this thing for four solid years,’ said Hill Street resident William Hoffmeister. ‘The city just keeps putting it off. Nothing is being done. (Ocean Palms is) doing the minimal amount of work there that can be done.’”

“‘Everybody’s ticked off because it’s taken so long to fix,’ said Attorney Edward Beazley, representing Ocean Palms. ‘We’ve explained why it’s taken so long to fix. It was a timeshare and everybody walked away.’”

The Herald Tribune. “Sales of new homes showed some life in April, but it was life at one of the lowest levels of activity in nearly two decades.”

“There have been indications of improvement in Southwest Florida real estate…but calling a bottom is problematic with the huge overhang in inventory that built up during the recent housing boom.”

“Some home builders are seeing a spike in sales - albeit at deep discounts - but others complain that they are still competing largely with the overhanging inventory. Just in the Sarasota MLS there are 12,000 homes and condominiums for sale compared with a pre-boom level in the 2,500 range.”

“Overshadowing everything is the question of where prices stand, builders say. ‘A lot of people were waiting to see if prices were going to go any lower,’ said Lee Wetherington of Lakewood Ranch-based Lee Wetherington Homes.”

“For Pat Neal, president of Lakewood Ranch-based Neal Communities, the answer to the bottom question was February. That is not to say the sales that he has made since then - sometimes at very low prices - are generating a profit.”

“The deals out there - Neal is selling homes for as low as $146,900 - will not last long, as demand increases along with the prices of fuel, wood and other items needed to build a house, he said.”

“‘I’m currently giving away some houses to move the land, but eventually prices will go up and I’m going to put some profit in there,’ said Neal, who has built more than 7,300 homes in Sarasota and Manatee counties since 1970.”

The Naples News. “It was a surprise when Robert Toll, CEO of Toll Brothers, recently gave Naples an ‘A’ rating in his financial update. He had previously given Southwest Florida failing grades in new-home sales.”

“Toll regularly grades the markets in which the company invests. Here are some of the grades he gave: Florida Central - F-plus, Florida East - F-minus, Florida North - F.”

“When asked to elaborate on his optimistic grade for Southwest Florida, Toll said, ‘It’s just one market; it’s not a huge market. But it gave us some happy times, especially considering that Naples was one of the worst markets that we had. A year ago, you couldn’t give a house away in Naples… And so we practically did give some homes away, I guess, in order to get rid of our specs.’”

From Law Jobs.com. ” In another sign of the hard times facing the legal industry, particularly in real estate-heavy south Florida, two law firms — Holland & Knight and Shutts & Bowen — have laid off nonlawyer staffers.”

“On a day that could be dubbed ‘Black Friday’ in south Florida legal circles, Holland & Knight, one of Florida’s largest and most venerable firms with 1,150 lawyers, laid off 70 staffers on May 16, including legal secretaries, information technology and accounting staff.”

“No lawyers were laid off.”

“The news comes on the heels of a decision announced internally on May 16 by Fort Lauderdale, Fla.-based Becker & Poliakoff to temporarily and immediately cut all lawyer salaries by 12 percent. The firm, which is heavy in condo and real estate representation, said it was forced to take the action since clients are delaying payment in the lean economic environment.”

“Carl Schuster, managing partner of Fort Lauderdale-based Ruden McClosky, acknowledged his 175-lawyer firm is experiencing ‘a slowdown.’”

“‘Because we do a lot of real estate work, we do have a slowdown,’ he said. ‘Fortunately, we do so much work in other areas, including workouts, bankruptcy and litigation. Like Becker & Poliakoff, we are having trouble getting some of our developer clients to pay. But they’ve been good to us, so we try to be good to them.’”

From US News and World Report. “No matter what you think about the controversial housing legislation moving through Congress, at least we can all agree there just hasn’t been enough TV coverage of the nation’s foreclosure epidemic.”

“So, for all of you begging for a closer look at a process that’s now shattering communities, gutting home values, and threatening to drag the entire country into a recession, meet real estate agent Tom Bruzzesi, the star of The Foreclosure Shoppe-a new realty/reality TV show focusing on Florida’s treacherous real estate market.”

“From the press release: In each episode of ‘The Foreclosure Shoppe,’ camera crews follow Tom on a typical wild and crazy day at the office. Tom (affectionately nicknamed ‘The Maniac’ by his peers) confesses that he is a master at frustrating people.”

“‘I know how to get underneath their skin and throw off their bidding strategies,’ Tom admits. From irritating bidders at the courthouse, to walking through his purchased properties for the first time, to evicting tenants that won’t leave, to picking up his large paychecks, viewers get an inside pass to witness Tom navigating through the messy foreclosure process.’”

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