The Housing Bubble

Highlands Today reports from Florida. “Now that the construction industry in Highlands County is grinding slower and slower, Don Maddox spends a lot more time in his truck. ‘I’m on the computer, or looking at jobs out of town,’ said Maddox, the owner of Central Florida Glass & Mirror. To keep his installers busy, they’ve been riding to jobs from Pensacola to Miami. ‘We have 10 men less this year than we did last year,’ said Maddox. ‘We had to lay them off.’”

“Locals blame the mortgage foreclosure crisis, a slowdown in the construction industry, zooming gasoline prices, the recessionary national economy and fewer numbers of people moving to Florida and Highlands County.”

“John Minor, Highlands County’s human relations manager, said huge numbers of workers have been asking for menial jobs. ‘Last year, we advertised a custodial job, and as many as 130 applied,’ Minor said.”

“‘We get a constant flow of people. Three or four a week,’ said Maddox. ‘Subcontractors are going broke right and left, professional subcontractors who do everything right.’”

The News Press. “Dressed in a pale blue work shirt, dress pants and a tie, Cape Coral resident John Howell stood on the side of Del Prado Boulevard near the Coralwood Shopping Center on Tuesday and held up a sign. It read: ‘I NEED A JOB!!’”

“Howell said he is strapped to find work fast especially since he has a $1,700 a month mortgage and a $300-a month car payment. Howell, who was formally a car salesman, currently sells framing to construction companies. But he said his current job no longer pays the bills because of the slowdown in the construction industry.”

“He said he is mostly skilled in sales, but he will take whatever job will pay the bills. He has had about 12 interviews over the past few weeks, including a few at the Olive Garden on Pine Island Road, but none panned out.”

“‘I’m off the beaten path,’ Howell said. ‘I’m not looking for a handout. I’m looking for a job. I’m losing my home. I haven’t paid my mortgage in four months.’”

“Foreclosure actions filed in Lee County spiked up sharply to a record high of 2,160 in April - with almost a third for primary residences, according to the Southwest Florida Real Estate Investors Association.”

“Investors and homeowners alike have been hit hard as the median price of a single-family home has fallen 34 percent from a peak of $322,300 in December 2005 to $212,500 in March.”

“Joanne Long is one of the homeowners who’s facing foreclosure - she and her husband expect to lose their southwest Cape Coral home because they can’t pay off more than $236,000 they owe lender.”

“There’s little chance of selling the house to pay off that debt because it’s now worth only about $105,000, she said.”

“The straw that broke the camel’s back was having to refinance with an adjustable rate mortgage to pay the water and sewer assessment to Cape Coral in 2006, said Long, who works at the Lee County clerk of court’s office and also part time as a real estate agent.”

“‘We were paying about $1,000 a month but once that happened the payment jumped to $2,200,’ Long said.”

“Of April’s foreclosures, 692 were homesteaded primary residences: 32 percent of the total and up from 554 in March. Mortgage broker and investor Jeff Tumbarello said foreclosed houses are coming back onto the markets as the banks take them back and then sell them.”

“‘But they’re losing, on average, 50 to 60 percent of what they lent,’ he said.”

“The bank sales have had the effect of finally boosting the number of houses being sold in the county because they’re going so cheaply, he said. ‘The foreclosed homes are the pearl our market’s got to offer.’”

“The foreclosure problem is escalating throughout Southwest Florida. There were 3,267 foreclosures in Collier County last year compared to about 1,440 foreclosures from 1999 through 2005, Undersheriff Kevin Rambosk said.. The county lists 181 foreclosures this year and another 1,500 cases are pending, he said.”

“There were 10,700 foreclosures last year in Lee County and 1,784 foreclosure actions were filed in Lee Circuit Court in March.”

“The foreclosure problem has hit all areas of Collier County. ‘We are a gated community, but unfortunately, the gates didn’t keep out foreclosures,’ said Jake Sullivan, president of the Waterways of Naples Homeowners Association.”

The Naples News. “Florida’s change back to a paper ballot system will add about $500,000 to Lee County Supervisor of Elections Sharon Harrington’s budget this year. That’s a drop in the bucket compared to the at least $140 million revenue decrease County Manager Don Stilwell says county budgets face.”

“But some areas will need more employees. ‘Circuit court cases are up 84 percent since ‘05,’ said Chief Judge Keith Carey. ‘We have 16,000 foreclosures pending. Criminal division felonies are up 61 percent since ‘05.’”

From Marketplace. “Dan Grech: Celebration Point is a luxury condo development in Miami Lakes, Florida. It has a pool, a spa, a clubhouse — and a problem: 15 percent of unit owners have stopped paying their monthly maintenance fee. Now their neighbors have to foot the bill.”

“Albert Marques lives in Celebration Point and is the condo’s treasurer. He says the condo faces a $250,000 a year shortfall. To stay afloat, it’s pulling $20,000 a month from an emergency reserve funded by residents.”

“Marques: ‘I mean, it’s money that could have been used to upgrade the amenities and as a result, is going to be used for bad debt.’”

“Celebration Point is actually in better shape than many of Florida’s 25,000 condominium associations. Up to 90 percent of owners in some condos aren’t paying their maintenance fees.”

“Jeremy Resnick is with a firm that helps homeowners who owe more on their home than it’s currently worth. He said one client was just handed a bill for $40,000 to help cover an association fee shortfall. This isn’t just a problem in Florida. Resnick says 51 million people in the U.S. live under a homeowner or condo association, and nearly all of those communities face some financial fallout from foreclosures.”

“Resnick: ‘In the bigger areas, in the Miamis, in the San Diegos, in the Phoenixes of the world, these are $50,000 and $100,000 assessments.’”

“Condo boards do have a trump card: they can foreclose on past-due properties. Marques says Celebration Point just took over the property title of one delinquent owner. The board is waiting for the police to evict the owner.”

“Marques: ‘Given that we have 30 units that are just habitually not paying, we’ve only foreclosed on one, that doesn’t give me any warm, fuzzy feelings that this is about to end any time soon.’”

The News Journal. “With its English, country-like elegance, the brick house on a hill in Ormond Beach would fit on the cover of Better Homes & Gardens. But behind the walls is a vacated interior that lacks the most basic essentials, including appliances and toilets. They are gone like the owners who once lived there, a casualty of foreclosure.”

“‘We see people who vacuum and clean when they leave. And then we get other houses that are trashed, stripped,’ said Frank Cardarelli, a Port Orange real estate broker who has specialized in foreclosures for 25 years.”

“Cardarelli said he has seen air conditioning units, hot water heaters, sinks, closet doors, even heating vents ripped out and taken when owners left their homes, no longer able to pay mortgages.”

“‘It goes from mild to severe. Some people take everything. It’s incredible,’ he said. ‘But there’s not much value for what they’re taking, like a used ceiling fan or rusted water heater.’”

“Area real estate brokers say stripping of foreclosed houses to some extent occurs about a quarter of the time. Sharon Barbaro, who handles many foreclosures, said the houses run the spectrum from being left in good condition to where some former owners ‘take it or break it.’”

“‘It’s not only the lower middle class. It’s across the board,’ she said.”

“For those looking to buy, Barbaro said foreclosures often offer buyers a good deal, although some houses need sprucing up. ‘It’s a fantastic deal for people who perhaps couldn’t afford a house two years ago,’ she said. ‘I must have 40-something on the market.’”

“But real estate broker Joyce Marsh said foreclosures are not necessarily a bargain, adding the ‘deals are incredible now’ in the more traditional housing market.”

“‘People seem to feel foreclosures are a very good buy. But not always,’ she said. ‘Typically foreclosures are in poor condition and can become your worst nightmare. You could be left with a house of horrors.’”