The Plummeting Florida Condo Market
The South Florida housing market has taken a turn for the worse, which is why CBS4 is kicking off a series of special reports this week dedicated to it.
Today we specifically focus on the region’s turbulent condo market.
The ever changing South Florida skyline tells it all. Huge cranes, huge towers and huge developments seem to re-shape the landscape daily.
CBS4 Consumer Reporter Al Sunshine reports if you look a little closer, you may find it is not business as usual.
Florida real estate agents say prices on condos have plummeted in some developments as more and more buyers feel the effects of overextended budgets.
A recent survey found Florida now has the second highest foreclosure rate in the country. More than 90-thousand foreclosures have been filed in the state since January, more than 10-thousand in Miami Dade County alone.
Many may ask - so what happened to South Florida’s booming condo market?
Real estate analysts told Sunshine there was simply too much supply, and not enough demand in the form of qualified Florida mortgage applicants.
Even trendy Florida condos in South Beach are not immune to this trend. Some have dropped their prices by as much as 10 percent in the last year and are still available.
“This beautiful unit at Ocean Place has been on the market for over a year now,” points out John Patrick with South Beach Investment Realty, “and we haven’t gotten a single offer on it yet.
Patrick says the only way some units will ever have a chance of being sold is if the owner is willing to cut their price by thousands more than they have already.
“If you have some who can price at 2005 levels, they have a chance to move it,” said Patrick, “otherwise they are out of luck selling their unit.”
But not everyone is a Florida home loan holder simply wringing their hands over the sagging condo market.
Peter Zalewski’s new business, CondoVultures.com, has been tracking the local condo market bust for about a year now.
“It’s a bloodbath,” said Zalewski. “It’s absolutely terrible, those sellers are willing are going out of their way to try to dump that product.”
Zalewski’s site is devoted to buyers looking for bargains.
“Now is the ideal time if you are looking for lowest possible price,” Zalewski said, “cause right now the vulture that are circling are looking for quality at a discount.”
Zalewski said there are good deals out there, especially since a Florida mortgage lender may be willing to sell foreclosed condos it has obtained for 60 0r 70 cents on the dollar.
Right now, Zalewski says, Florida real estate properties in the $300,000 to $500,000 range are the “hot” sellers.
“You gotta reduce,” said Jorge Fernandez of Caldwell Bank. “Forget about the comps from a year ago. The comps are being done right now. The sales from last month, the last six months. That’s the market right now.”
Some real estate analysts predict that the South Florida housing market could remain ‘overbuilt’ for possibly the next 2-3 years, which could translate into better “close-out deals” for buyers in the future.
SOURCE: CBS4-TV
