Selection, Choices A “Boon For Buyers” In Florida
The Florida realtors report on March sales. “Sales of existing homes in Florida remained at a sustainable pace in March, with buyers continuing to see favorable mortgage rates and a range of housing options available across the state, according to FAR. Statewide, sales of single-family existing homes totaled 13,469 last month compared to 18,751 homes sold in March 2006 for a 28 percent decrease.”
“Sales of existing condominiums in Florida also decreased last month, with a total of 4,236 condos sold statewide compared to 6,193 in March 2006 for a 32 percent decline, according to FAR.”
“‘The wide selection and diversity of housing choices in the Palm Beach area is a boon for buyers,’ says John Mike, president-elect of the Realtors Association of the Palm Beaches.”
The Sun Sentinel. “Palm Beach County’s median price in March was $375,100, down 5 percent from $393,700 a year ago. March home sales fell by 22 in Palm Beach County and 25 percent in Broward.”
“Delray Beach-based housing consultant David Levin said prices will continue fluctuating, with the downturn likely to continue for the balance of 2007. ‘There’s still nothing that says otherwise,’ he said.”
The Palm Beach Post. “The Treasure Coast posted the biggest drop in single-family sales last month, 41 percent year over year, as the housing boom continue to deflate.”
“Palm Beach County single-family home sales posted a total of 725 single-family homes sold in March, compared with 929 in March 2006, a 22 percent drop.”
“Prices also continued their precipitous drop in both markets - and in some categories the drop was bigger than the U.S. sales decline in March. The median price of a single-family home in the Treasure Coast fell 7 percent, to $239,700 from $$258,000 in March 2006, FAR said.”
“In Palm Beach County, the median price of a single-family home fell 5 percent, to $375,100 from $393,700 a year ago, FAR said.”
“Higher condo prices are due in large part to the crazy speculation in the condo market that drove prices up during the five-year housing boom that came to a screeching halt last year. Now those speculative buyers are trying to get their money back, at the least, a task made more difficult because of huge inventories.”
The News Press. “The median price of an existing single-family home sold in Lee County fell 5 percent to $268,000 in March from $281,300 a year ago, according to FAR. The number of existing-home sales dropped 33 percent in March to 636, down from 955 a year ago.”
“In Charlotte County, the price fell 14 percent to $193,000 from $224,700 a year ago while the number of sales fell 25 percent from 315 to 237.”
From Bizjournal. “In Tampa Bay,h only 2,502 homes sold, or 38 percent fewer than in March 2006.”
“Prices continue to plunge as well, with the median price in the state falling 4 percent to $236,000, while in Tampa Bay, the median price dropped 4 percent to $209,700, the lowest price since June 2005.”
“It was the best of times and the worst of times in the Treasure Coast last month as falling home prices and rising mortgage payments pushed hundreds of homeowners into foreclosure.”
“A total of 370 households in St. Lucie County entered some stage of mortgage default, the worst foreclosure record in the tri-county Treasure Coast region in March, and a startling 444 percent increase over March of 2006, according to RealtyTrac.”
“‘Overburdened homeowners simply can’t catch a break in this real estate market,’ said anslyst Mike Larson. ‘Home sales are down by double digits, home prices are stagnant or falling, and home inventories are through the roof.’”
“Tightened lending standards make it impossible for many troubled debtors to refinance at better terms. That’s a recipe not just for rising foreclosures but also for soaring inventory. Indeed, Palm Beach County has a 21-month supply of unsold homes, according to HomeDiscovery.com.”
“Florida ranked No. 2 in the nation for total number of foreclosures filed in March, 14,303, behind California’s stunning 31,434 filings, according to RealtyTrac.”
“In other Florida counties, Broward posted a 62 percent increase in foreclosures year over year, while Miami-Dade saw foreclosures nearly double in March, to 2,823 from 1,434 in March 2006, according to RealtyTrac.”
The Ledger. “A national title company and a jilted business partner have filed lawsuits totaling $825,000 against Independent Title Agency LLC in Lakeland, its owner and her husband.”
“Among the allegations are that the couple used escrow funds to purchase three real estate properties, a 2005 BMW Coupe, a 2005 Hummer H2, a 2004 Ford F-250 pickup and a travel trailer.”
“When the housing market goes cold, trouble heats up in the title industry, said Jim Smith, VP for Stewart Title Guarantee in Orlando. ‘It happens in typically hard times in the industry. I know of about 10 to 15 (cases) that have happened in the last 12 to 18 months (in Florida). And we are in a down market right now.’”
“‘It’s when the flow (of money) is low and the checks bounce,’ Smith said. ‘That’s when a lot of them come to light.’”
“”In February, Polk County’s home sales totaled 334, a 25 percent drop from 447 sold in February 2006. The decline in sales has been an ongoing local trend for the past nine months.”
Here are the details for single family and condos.
‘With sales of existing homes around the nation dropping in March to their largest amount in nearly two decades, some Hollywood homeowners are resorting to auctions to try and sell their properties.’
‘Like a lot of people, David Lent thought his homeowners insurance premium would go down under the new insurance law. Instead, his renewal shot up 97 percent.’
‘Like a lot of people, David Lent thought his homeowners insurance premium would go down under the new insurance law. Instead, his renewal shot up 97 percent.’
And that’s the betrayal that came out of Tallahassee. Not only did the rates shoot up, but our politicians put us on the hook to reinsure the companies that insure Floridians! Neato, huh? The taxpayer got such a major screwing over, they’ll have no idea until another hurricane hits. And then insurance AND taxes will go to the stratosphere.
“politicians put us on the hook to reinsure the companies that insure Floridians”
That should encourage people to move to fl.
How does one make a bet on the value of Florida-issued bonds going way down in price when the state approaches bankruptcy after the next major hurricane?
Any muni-savvy people out there?
Who is ultimately going assume the sheer risk of homeownership in Florida? I certainly feel for Floridians, but I don’t want to help subsidize their risk outside of compassionate federal disaster/humanitarian relief. I feel sorry for the folks of New Orleans, but do I really want to help rebuild a literally sinking city that is already build below sea level? I love visiting people who have beachfront housing, but I’m not crazy about money-losing Federal flood insurance.
Florida is never going to be able to shuffle away “risk” on anyone but themselves. This state reinsurance concept baffles me. It’s essentially just a “bet” that Florida gets lucky and avoids killer hurricanes for a while, right? Isn’t that the exact opposite of the idea of “insurance”?
I agree. As a Floridian, I don’t want to subsidize the third world state of California and its earthquakes, mudslides, fires etc. and also the costs of their illegals, which California has been so generous in spreading around the country. I don’t want to subsidize the water needs of the Southwest. I don’t want to subsidize the Great Plains and Texas with their roto-rooter-tooter tornadoes. I don’t want to subsidize the Rust Belt or the corporate welfare in the Northeast.
Palmetto - I hope my vibe didn’t imply “Floridians can go to hell” - because I don’t mean that. But - I would say we probably need to build fewer homes (and/or build them better) in hurricane prone areas, in New Orleans, on our assorted barrier islands, in earthquake/fire zones. (as far as the tornado-prone parts of the country — well, they aren’t all that population-dense to start with).
I know, as a nation, we will always socialize and share these risks to some degree, but the more that we LOCALIZE extreme risks, the few people will take them locally.
Heck - it’s analogous to mortgage lending — few folks would have ever lent money like they had in the last couple years if were actually their “own” money.
I’m sorry if I came off as insensitive. I’m just frustrated that we “build first, ask questions later” in so many areas.
Hey, zero, no worries. I agree with you about the “build first, ask questions later” operating basis. It is indeed insane. We do have one lone voice in Tallahassee talking about mitigation, but it is kind of like shutting the barn door after the cow has gotten out.
My point is, in the US, there’s almost no area that isn’t prone to natural disaster of one kind or another, whether that be flood, fire, hurricane, tornado, earthquake, drought, etc.
But when you talk about subsidies, think for a moment how each and every taxpayer subsidizes Da Boyz of Wall Street, the American corporations and the likes of Bill Gates. These are the people who scream about government regulation, but could never have developed their businesses if it weren’t for taxpayer subsidized roads, school systems, transporation systems, legal system, etc. And they make far more use of these systems and resources than any of us, yet turn around and outsource, offshore and import illegal immigrants and H1B visa workers. While avoiding taxes. And loot pension funds.
I liked you better when I thought you were implying those overleveraged FL house flippers could rot in hell
Don’t worry - never any shortage of “those overleveraged [any state] house flippers can rot in hell” sentiments around here.
Zeropoint, The Ins. model was ok when people built 50K CBS bungalows on the beach. Now they’re 600k ,and up for stucco McMansions. At some point the cost ratio would catch up…and it has.
“And that’s the betrayal that came out of Tallahassee.”
That’s called relying on politicians to regulate the private market. Many of the big carriers who aren’t lowering premiums were already buying re-insurance at reduced rates from their parent companies or through bulk purchase. What good is discounted re-insurance going to do for them?
As for the rates overall, we’re still not paying enough. If we were, the insurance companies would be lined up to take your money. They’re not. Proof positive.
If you’ve done any work to your house (new roof, hurricane shutters, …) ask about a windstorm inspection with your insurance agent. Brought my premium down by $800.
“As for the rates overall, we’re still not paying enough. If we were, the insurance companies would be lined up to take your money. They’re not. Proof positive.”
I don’t know about this, Andy. Someone posted here the other day that the cost of insurance in the equally hurricane-prone Bahamas is miniscule and relatively easy to get. I hope they see this post and can provide a link, because I’m very curious how this can be.
You don’t have the American court system in the Bahamas.
Palmetto, I posted that. All you need to do is google some of the Condo developments and links are there.
The open market was allowed to dictate rates there. Insurance companies get very efficient when they have competition out there writing business. In FL, there is no competition so there is a lot of waste and it’s not perceived as a profitable place to write business.
Pensacola SFR’s sales are down 21% and the median price is up 1% while condos sales are down 53% and the median price is down 28%.
SFR prices are hanging in there due to lagging effects of Hurricane Ivan which substantially reduced supply of available undamaged housing significantly. I am seeing inventoy going up in the MLS and some price reductions from time to time. Expect more substantial price reductions to follow the sales decline soon.
Condos are a completely different kettle of fish as far as supply and the target market is out-of-state buyers. WCI has a huge condo project over in Perdido (west Pensacola). I don’t think WCI is selling very many with condo auctions occuring on a monthly basis in Perdido.
Prices are sticky and people are stubborn.
In Florida, Prices are sticky and people are stubborn and sticky…
LOL.
“Prices are sticky and people are stubborn.”
Then, let them eat cake! Or, pound sand!
Check out the listing in Davie, FL on a man-made “lake” for $1.175 Mil that describes itself as having “ocean like lake views”. Not to mention on one side it has close-up views of high-voltage power lines and is accross the street from the location where Turnberry is planning to build the largest upscale mall in Broward. That ocean-like view will be clouded daily with construction dust for at least two years. LMAO.
“Some of Florida’s largest insurers continue to drop customers when they come up for renewal. Allstate, Nationwide, USAA and Auto Owners are among those that are shedding hundreds of thousands of policies to reduce their Florida exposure.”
Does anyone here know which major insurers are accepting new household insurance customers in Florida? Some? Any?
“Does anyone here know which major insurers are accepting new household insurance customers in Florida? Some? Any? ”
Most of the major carriers are not writing new business especially in Palm Beach, Broward, Miami-Dade, and for God’s sake Monroe counties. From what I understand, State Farm is open for limited new business in most of the state. You need to be away from the coast and have an agent with available exposure. The home must also meet other age requirements.
Some of the other majors are open for brand new homes in inland counties. Allstate agents have other markets, but I don’t believe they can actually write an Allstate policy.
That’s one of the things about an intra-Florida bailout - you will have the people in Florida who live in less hurricane-prone areas away from the coast subsidizing those nice rich people with places right on the beach.
“you will have the people in Florida who live in less hurricane-prone areas away from the coast subsidizing those nice rich people with places right on the beach. ”
Not entirely true. The people with private insurance will continue to pay for the state pool’s deficit. When there are no private companies left to charge for the deficit who will pay? That’s the real question.
Not everyone placed in the state pool lives on the coast.
Overheard this morning at the Fort Lauderdale airport… (Yeah, I’m nosy as all hell.)
“You know, it’s the real estate that really ruined things…”
“I don’t know how people can afford it anymore…”
“I had a friend who was getting into the whole condo flipping thing. He got TRAPPED!…”
Have no fear, bubbleheads, the word is a-spreadin’!
It’s always a good time to buy or sell a house…except when it isn’t.
Does this sound scenario sound eerily familiar?
http://tinyurl.com/yquhzg
“Back in the early 1980s when Ronald Reagan deregulated the savings and loan industry, Texas became the nation’s biggest cesspool of S&L crookery. At the core of their thieving strategy was a little trick they described thusly: ‘A rolling loan gathers no loss.’
“These wily Texas coyotes had figured out a win/win situation. S&L operators could help their buddies “borrow” money from their S&Ls, not pay it back, and still allow the S&L to book loan fees and other profits, upon which the S&L executives based their salaries and bonuses.
“Ah, you say, but wouldn’t bank regulators notice that the loans were in default? No. Because each time a loan came due the S&L would “roll it over” — renew it — adding all interest due into the new loan and booking it as income. The loans got bigger and bigger, and never got paid off. The bankers got rich, the borrowers got rich, American taxpayers got the bill. A classic Texas “win/win” business deal.”
“Of the 56 banks that failed in the U.S. between 1959 and 1971, 34 had passed their most recent examination in a ‘no-problem’ category, and 17 of the 34 had been given an ‘excellent’ rating.” (Rep. St Germain, qtd in Pizzo p. 475)
“Buttoned-down appraisers, plugging along in boring jobs… learned that by simply raising their opinion of a property’s value to match a borrower’s needs or desires, they could raise their own standard of living as well - and the higher the opinion, the bigger the paycheck.”
“Buttoned-down appraisers, plugging along in boring jobs… learned that by simply raising their opinion of a property’s value to match a borrower’s needs or desires, they could raise their own standard of living as well - and the higher the opinion, the bigger the paycheck.”
What?!!!!
An appraiser fudging on value?
This cannot be!
The Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice says each and every reported value must be supported by valid amd supportable market data!!!!
Don’t believe me? Just go and ask the f*cked up ivory tower DC town dweebs who drafted the worthless POS document.
The main problem with USPAP is that the Standards and Qualification Boards are Federally controlled, whereas, enforcement is entirely up to the State Appraisal Boards. In the coming years the Federal Banking officials will downplay the Appraiser’s role in all of this because this time it would be their fault. Instead they’ll go after the mortgage brokers and title companies.
The solution to appraiser fraud:
Any person has the right to sell their house to the county for the price it was appraised for.
That will fix bad appraisals instantly.
It’s a joke that Broward prices went up 1%. I bet that price per square foot dropped, and people are just getting bigger houses than last year.
Right, everybody in Florida knows prices are falling, IMO.
I don’t see them falling in prime Miami neighbourhoods, unfortunately. Still at the peak, and sales are not that slow - though the inventory is still inching up.
2 places I was tracking in Pinecrest are both sold, prices are close to Zillow estimates, i.e. those of the early-2006 peak.
Thats nothing new. Hell, even I could buy one of those houses in Pinecrest! I couldn’t “pay” for it or keep it for any length of time, but credit like it has been I could sure as hell “buy” it…
Yes, and that’s the reason why the prices are so sticky. I start to think that any significant downward correction is still 18-24 month away, and by that time inflation may kick in and stabilize the nominal prices.
I am not happy about all that - renting with a toddler is not that convenient; and I have plenty of cash in hand to buy a place to live - but the prices are insane, and stably insane.
Trust me, these are just more FB’s. I attend the Dade foreclosures every week and the investors are getting tired and we see many of these million dollar homes up for auction. A couple weeks ago we had a Coral Gables home bought last march 06 for 2.1 mill with a 80/20. The second for 535K did not even protect the loan and let it go to the 1st. The 1st mortgage judgment was 1,560K and they wanted to let it go for 1.2 mill and no takers was sold to the 1st Mortgage… Also another one,,, couple weeks ago 3rd mortgage was going for foreclosure with a bay front home in north miami,, house was purchased in 04 for 1.5 milll and the 3rd was a judgment of 360K. The first was 1.5 mill and the second was 560K so this totals 2.420K yet the home resale value via comps is 1.9 mill. Well i did a drive by and a nice 560SL and Ferrari was sitting in the driveway. the end result was the third mortgage never showed since if they did foreclose they would need to pay both the 1st and second mortgages and that makes no sense…
These 2 foreclosures show that money if just vanishing just like it showed up…
“everybody in Florida knows prices are falling,”
I wish this was true, but I still run into people who think that now is the time to buy, the prices will only go up, baby boomers moving to Florida will purchase everything in sight. You all know the party line here. The programing has been successfull and resistance is futile.
Of course I am wrong and know nothing of such things….maybe no… maybe yes
I will just wait for time to tell, as it always does.
There was a heat-map of 1-year price changes in the Miami Herald a few weeks ago. It showed most of Miami and Miami beach to be in the +10-20% category.
When you read the fine print, it said that “prices that appear to be in-family transfers and other under market sales have been removed from the data”.
That’s like the US Core-CPI. A measure of inflation, ex-inflation.
That’s what I mean, even people who see lower prices as an opportunity to buy know what the trend is.
“…I still run into people who think that now is the time to buy, the prices will only go up…”
Here in central Florida, I haven’t run into any such people, agents included, in many, many months. The cheerleading stopped a year ago or more, then there was silence. The atmosphere today remains pretty much one of silence, but the faces are a lot longer. Maybe this will be good for those face creams that erase worry lines.
Where do I find Oil of Olay futures?
I think we are beyond the Oil Of Olay fix an need to go right to plastic surgery now.
In bear markets -volume is the first thing to drop - then prices drop a few monts later.
From the Senate Banking Committee:
“Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac should work with lenders to make credit available to borrowers who have trouble refinancing out of subprime loans, the document added.”
Overstate, overpay, free money coming your way.
Summary of the American stock market: a company slices and dices the numbers so they can have an IPO. Then they do secondaries, toxic convertibles, PIPEs, etc, all so they can take that money back out of each share by diluting it’s value.
Your government, when they tell Fannie to spend tens of billions of dollars to give to criminals, is doing the same thing. They are diluting your shares, printing more stock so all existing stock is worth ever less.
Just remember, the extra dollar/gallon of gas and extra $20 at the grocery is going directly to illegals and criminals who committed fraud. If you learn anything, it’s lie, cheat, steal…the American Way!
NAR President Pat Vredevoogd Combs, and vice president of Coldwell Banker-AJS-Schmidt, said market conditions are clearly favoring buyers. ‘It’s a good time to buy,
Like, Duh when isn’t it a good time to buy?
And why does stock market continue to go up? Price of gas is getting higher, problems in Iran, iraq, Nigeria, home sales down, foreclosures are up and confidence is down and Larry cinderella Kuntlow is high on life. Something is wrong here.
They want to run it up to 13k just to say they did it.
And why does stock market continue to go up?
SJ, I was thinking about this yesterday. It is really the DOW that is at an all time high with the S&P and Nasdaq trailing quite a bit. I think with the weak dollar, these large multi nationals are having a field day with earnings. Even if the US economy slows, they’re translation of foreign currencies back to a weaker $$$ will make them look strong. If you have to be long, I’d look at companies with lots of overseas sales like a Coca Cola, or along those lines. My 2 cents.
“Delray Beach-based housing consultant David Levin said prices will continue fluctuating, with the downturn likely to continue for the balance of 2007. ‘There’s still nothing that says otherwise,’ he said.”
Fluctuating, huh?
Main Entry: fluc·tu·ate
Function: verb
1 : to shift back and forth uncertainly
2 : to ebb and flow in waves
“‘Overburdened homeowners simply can’t catch a break in this real estate market,’ said anslyst Mike Larson.
How the heck did they become “overburdened”? Could it be that they bite off more than they could chew, just knowing and hoping housing prices would stay on their rocket ride up. Now that the numbers are falling back down toward earth and the “free” money isn’t there what are they to do? Well bad choices have bad out comes in the real world, perhaps we are entering the real world. Going to hard for many to handle/grasp.
“‘The wide selection and diversity of housing choices in the Palm Beach area is a boon for buyers,’ says John Mike, president-elect of the Realtors Association of the Palm Beaches.”
I think he meant to say it’s a “boondoggle” for buyers…
Sorry for going OT, but the Greenpoint wholesale office in my building (Roseville, CA) is doing layoffs. At a guess, I’d say about 10% of a 110 person office has left with boxes this morning. No idea if it’s strictly this location or if other offices will be affected and, frankly, I’m not enough of a vulture to ask.
As one of my coworkers says, it’s good to work in an industry required by law (workers’ compensation).
Have you guys heard of this? Another, more dangerous scam.
A man arrested in December at the Kansas City airport with $70,000 in his bulging pockets while trying to board a Southwest Airlines flight claiming the money was actually Muslim prayer books, a San Francisco mortgage company executive who went on the run from the FBI in November, seven people arrested in September in Salt Lake City with ties to al-Qaeda, and a co-defendant in the Sami al-Arian/Palestinian Islamic Jihad trial all have one thing in common – the growing trend of terrorist associations with mortgage fraud rings in the US.
Financial experts say that mortgage fraud has become the fastest growing type of white-collar crime, and terrorist organizations have been quick to jump on the trend. But what concerns federal authorities is how regularly mortgage fraud is showing up in terrorism investigations.
In the past year, several high-profile mortgage fraud arrests have been tied to federal terrorism investigations, most notably a ring busted up in Salt Lake City that is alleged to have direct ties to the late al-Qaeda leader in Iraq, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. Federal agents have been trying to track the hundreds of thousands of dollars illegally obtained by Sharif Omar and his associates in the mortgage fraud ring. At least $40,000 was transferred to an account in Jordan. From there, federal officials believe that money went to Sharif’s brother, Shawqi Omar, who was seized in a raid by US forces in Iraq in October 2004 and is accused of working for al-Zarqawi’s terrorist network in Baghdad. Shawqi Omar is still in US military custody.
Add link:
http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/Printable.asp?ID=27682
Take it somewhere else, dude. If you’re still falling for the whole terrorism spiel, I’ve got a condo in Palm Beach for sale…
Didnt know i was doing anything wrong. This was the first that i heard of something like this. If the info is wrong, let me know.
At best, this belongs in the Bits Bucket since this is a Florida thread. At worst, it’s like throwing gasoline on a fire as Frontpage Magazine is a decidely neoconservative publication that focuses nearly every issue through the terrorism lens.
I dunno, it is interesting information. Al Arian, after all, taught at USF, so there’s a Florida connection. And supposedly the 9/11 hijackers trained at a Florida flight school. I like to look at information from all sources, just about every magazine and newspaper has an agenda of some sort. Somewhere in that maze of information are bits and pieces that can be put together to show an objective picture.
The point is, though, that Florida has long been a haven for scams and money laundering going way back to the day when Ponce de Leon was searching for the Fountain of Youth. Pirates used the Florida bays extensively to hide out. Slaves were brought in to Key West from Africa via the Caribbean. Miami has been a big point of entry for drug cartels with their product. Cuban paramilitary groups trained in the Everglades. So it is not a stretch to say that Florida has probably been a huge player in money laundering through mortgage fraud, with many international connections. I seem to recall Ben posting, a few weeks back, a story on a mortgage fraud scam in Florida involving an American and his Middle Eastern partner. The fellow from the Middle East fled the country, leaving his American partner holding the bag. Did it have anything to do with terrorism? Who knows. Probably the guy just wanted to buy a condo in Dubai.
Well Bob, you see here on Toast’s political blog, he gets to decide what’s acceptable and what’s not.
Got hubris?
I’ll pay you $5 for it. Ten times what your politics are worth.
You know housing is crashing when you hear this:
“Get a mortgage. Fund a terrorist”.
YNYAFB when the only person buying your house is a terrorist.
Got AK47s?
Correction
YNYAFB when the only person able to get a mortgage to buy your house is a terrorist.
Got AK47s?
I remember about 12 years ago a big Escrow company near my house in Ca. got busted for using deposit funds for their own investments.
It was really weird but I walked into that Escrow company and got a bad vibe and switched my escrow to another company .
As it turned out the defense by the Escrow Company Owners was that the husband /owner was on medication and he didn’t know what he was doing . I think the crooks ended up making a plea agreement .
One time I ran into a real estate loan where a owner of a insurance company wanted to buy a speculation house . You could not trace where he was getting the money for the down payment . It became clear after a while that this jerk planned to take the money from his Insurance Company deposit funds and just slip it back in once he flipped the property ,(people wonder why lenders use to trace the down payment funds ).
The Insurance Company owner got a turn down on his loan request (but maybe some other lender made the loan ). As it turned out the market crashed within a short while of this insurance guy wanting this spec. property . I really can’t imagine that he got the price with the flip he was going to do .The guy was also stupid in that the property he wanted was not underpriced like he thought it was either.
It’s amazing sometimes what people will do to get rich quick . I’m sure this Insurance guy just felt he would borrow the money for a little while and it wasn’t going to hurt anyone . I often wonder what happened to that insurance guy once the market turned . People that steal from clients/public deposit accounts not only commit a serious crime but this has to be the height of greed and gambling .
I also have had some concerns about renters getting taken by FB’s that are suppose to keep deposits in neutral accounts . When a FB steals from a renter, it’s also a crime as far as I’m concerned .
Look at the one Builder dealing with Coast Bank in Florida who didn’t use deposit /loan money toward construction and God knows where that money went .
As I see it ,the more desperate people become because of the turn in the RE market the more they will resort to criminal activity .
I am always surprised that no one takes those guys out for good.
Now I understand your user name - ha!
“Florida ranked No. 2 in the nation for total number of foreclosures filed in March, 14,303, behind California’s stunning 31,434 filings, according to RealtyTrac.”
We’re number one!
Of course, it takes a Florida MSM to point out how dire California is.
But Florida is in deep trouble. As bad as flipping is in California, Florida had a far higher fraction. Also, Florida is far more dependent economically on construction than California.
Remember, as prices go down nationwide, “all real estate is local.” NOT! Once upon a time yes, now in the global economy… we’ll all get to hold hands as the boat sinks. Florida real estate defaults will create layoffs in California (mortgages), Georgia (wood), Illinois (stone products), Detroit (Big pickup trucks that contractors can no longer afford to gas), Mississippi (Viking stoves), Iowa (Maytag layoffs), etc. Eventually, even NYC will be hit (MBS defaults shifting investments to London and other ’safe heavens.” I think forign investors will get a little spooked.) I laugh when I hear contained. Only the warren act has kept this from propogating fully to retail. When it does, it will snowball.
Got popcorn?
Neil
Well its about time. Florida has been doing all the heavy lifting/popping to date!
My take is that California is the flipper equity lair and therefore high foreclosure numbers coming out of California are much more critical to putting this bubble into the dust bin of history than foreclosures in other states.
Take the baton California and run like the wind!
It’s interesting that Florida’s and California’s housing profiles are so different in nature, yet the markets are so similarly in trouble. I’d imagine that we (Florida) have a noticeably higher percentage of condos; that we have a way higher percentage of 2nd homes; and that we may have a higher percentage of unoccupied flip properties. Don’t know what California’s property taxes are like, but ours now are notorious. Finally, I suppose that after the Big One, Cali insurance rates will rival ours.
I was always priced out of California. Now I’m priced out of owning in my home state of Florida. But at least I sold in time and have a great lease while I wait for prices to fall in the states I’m looking in.
People usually do not default this early in the game unless they have a job loss or medical bills /car accident etc. I think the fraud factor with these defaults are very high . I think the FBI /lenders should be trying to find out if these so-called sub-prime buyers are really just straw buyers that were paid to buy a property with no-down payment .The numbers are way to high to be just stupid buyers reacting to a mania IMHO .
Bingo.
I don’t know who bought that many houses here in Polk County last month.
Every Realtor(tm) I have talked to has told me things have “fallen off a cliff” since January.
I wonder if all those “sales” were pending or actually closed.
I believe when a lender buys a house it has financed at auction, that counts as a sale.
Ben, does this mean that a lot of these so called sales are, in effect, re-repossessions after a few minutes? This would explain the high numbers, and the fact that realtors say they aren’t selling anything.
Yeah, because my initial thought was surprise that anyone is buying anything at all in the current market. I guess you’ve always got people transferring jobs, etc., but I expected an even bigger decline. I guess there are still a boatload of greater fools pulling the trigger on condos of all things in FL.
Like a evenly matched soccer game, this is a game of position and timing. Then suddenly…Goooooaallll! The effect of the sub-p contraction are as yet limited, and the overall credit tightening is just now working into the system. Neil’s popcorn is appropriate: it’s a long, long show with bursts of action.
Advice please, I agree the housing market is in deep trouble in the u.s.,however I live in alberta and even though we don’t quite have the debt problem as the u.s. I believe any problems in the u.s. will drag canada down with it. My problem is I live in an area that is doing very well because of oil (its an oil town) so my property value soly realizes on the price of oil.My question is what would most likely happen to the price of oil in a bad housing market?
Oil is fine. High Oil prices will help inflate the costs of most things and give FB’s less disposable income.
Grand Junction, Colorado is in a similar extractive-industry boom (oil, gas, oilshale), though a much smaller town than similar places in Canada (am thinking of Calgary). The rental vacancy rate in G.J. a few months ago was really low (2.4%, if I remember right), and they said housing prices would be immune to a meltdown because of the demand from the oil industry workers.
Guess what - Grand Junction is seeing the effects of the bubble, houses not selling, etc. No place is immune. In the mid 1980s you could buy about any place in town for almost nothing after “Black Monday,” when, in 1982, Exxon shut down their oilshale production. It literally happened overnight. The area has only really began to recover with this new housing bubble (and is now going back down).
I was driving around Lehigh Acres, FL, yesterday. Very interesting trip. I was visiting my clients and listened to their stories of homes being built with nobody living in them. The homes are too far away to have public water and sewer. So here you have these completed homes, but no well or septic tank in place. My clients lived in the country. After my visit, I paid attention to the empty homes. There were too many empty duplexes (in the sticks?) to count. It seems like any piece of vacant land there was, someone bought it with the intention of building a duplex. Very strange day.
My grandparents bought a lot in Leigh Acres back in the 60’s or 70’s for a few hundred dollars. They were originally going to build their dream retirement home there. It was billed as a fantastic boating community with tons of amenities. Their lot was on a canal. Sadly they both got very sick and died young (in the mid 80’s) and never got the chance. The lot was passed to my mom who forgot about it for years. In the early 90’s she looked into building a house there and they still hadn’t put water or sewer lines in. There was also nothing in the area. She finally sold it in 2004 for $3500 (net after paying a few hundred in back taxes) and there still weren’t sewer or water lines. According to the county appraiser in 1997-2002 it was worth $1400, 2003 $2000, 2004 $4400, 2005 $20,000 and in 2006 $42,000. I am guessing sewer and water lines are in for that jump in price. The new owner is paying the taxes ( about $730).. he owns a few lots down there. The address is 421 Paulcrest ave if anyone ever is in that area. I would love to know what “windfall” my parents missed out on. I am guessing they didnt miss out on a thing and pretty soon it will be valued at $4400 again. Its still listed as a vacant lot according to the property appraiser.
We are rapidly approaching the end of “Spring Buying Season”. Once Memorial day comes and goes, what will the FAR say? They have stopped touting the Spring Buying Season. I don’t hear a word. Remember how all of the FB’s pulled their listings back in ‘06 in the hopes of relisting them when the ‘07 strong Spring Buying Season came?
Did I miss it?
I think the spring buying season already ended here in Florida. Right after Easter.
You mean the superbowl…Ha. It ended then….
and this oft repeated gem.
” Then everybody simultaneously saw the writing on the wall, and panic selling ensued. With thousands of sellers and very few buyers, prices came down with a sickening thud, twitched a bit, and then crawled down even lower. ”
http://www.investopedia.com/features/crashes/crashes4.asp
Often repeated , but I still never get tired of it…
Palmetto — exactly. My out-of-state friends have a hard time comprehending how dead our market is right now.
The Florida realtors report on March sales. “Sales of existing homes in Florida remained at a sustainable pace in March, with buyers continuing to see favorable mortgage rates and a range of housing options available across the state, according to FAR. Statewide, sales of single-family existing homes totaled 13,469 last month compared to 18,751 homes sold in March 2006 for a 28 percent decrease.”
Sales in March of 05 were 24,500, for a whopping 45% decrease. How is a Realtor to survive at this sustainable pace.
“‘The wide selection and diversity of housing choices in the Palm Beach area is a boon for buyers,’ says John Mike, president-elect of the Realtors Association of the Palm Beaches.”
Yes, the choices are so numerous, It will take me at least 2 years to view them all, and make a choice.
“‘Moreover, recent news regarding foreclosures and the subprime situation had an adverse impact on the market psychology of many buyers, leading some to delay their home-purchase decisions,’ Badagliacco said.”
Market psychology? That is what the Realtors, Mortgage Brokers, Greenspan and foolish investors created.
Because this psychology was created, the buyers that did not jump on the bandwagon are still holding out because they know they can’t afford the current prices in the Bay Area. Until their incomes go up (which wont go up enough to match the inflated increase in housing) the real estate can only go down.
Do a quick flip on any F. metro ,and it’s real apparent there are a bunch of flippers trying to bail, such as this guy…He has 6 houses, and needs to move him so he can get back in the band. He had bad credit, and so bought 6 houses??? Now apperently needs to dump them so..?, he won’t make his credit worse? Fl. is really gonna’ be hurtin’.
http://jacksonville.craigslist.org/rfs/317585235.html
East — do you get the feeling that the one at the top left is “already gone” (but we have others)?
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