Bad Credit Mortgage Surge to Slow Consumer Spending
The International Conference of Shopping Centers chief told area developers and retailers that the meltdown in the bad credit mortgage market will reverberate to Florida, but there is no need for hysteria.
“You better fasten your seat belts. We’re in for a little turbulence, as this thing begins to shake itself out,” said Michael Kercheval, executive officer and president of the New York-based group.
“But it’s just a little bit of turbulence,” Kercheval said. “It’s not a disaster.”
Kercheval’s comments kicked off the opening session of the International Council of Shopping Centers’ Florida conference, a gathering of retailers, developers and economic-development officials.
Representatives from at least four Brevard County municipalities - Cocoa, Palm Bay, Rockledge and Titusville - also are attending, and talking up communities to developers, in hopes of luring projects back to the Space Coast.
Many people attending Monday’s session echoed Kercheval, believing that the bad credit Florida mortgage lending market might cause a hiccup in developing shopping centers and other commercial projects.
However, it’s only likely to be a pause, not a roadblock.
Wayne Archer, a Wachovia Fellow Professor at the University of Florida’s Center for Real Estate Studies, said, while the subprime market “is a mess,” the effect on retail shouldn’t be “all that bad.”
After all, even consumers with Florida mortgage problems aren’t going to close their purses and wallets permanently.
“They’re still going to be spending money,” Archer said. “They have to live.”
Considering a Wall Street gone jittery because of a slumping housing market and credit woes, the mood of the three-day conference was generally upbeat.
The Miami-based Adler Group, a commercial Florida real estate firm looking at developing retail projects in Brevard County and other parts of Central Florida, is guardedly optimistic.
“Right now, the market is very strong, and moving along well in the retail development world, said Adam Rasken, the Adler Group’s acquisitions director.
“Retailers are continuing to grow, and we don’t see a slowdown so far but as the housing slowdown continues, commercial real estate and/or retail development could be affected,” he said.
SOURCE: Florida Today
