Report: 33 Foreclosures Valued At $1 Million Or More In South Florida

The wealthy may be immune to economic downturns but that hasn’t stopped 33 luxury properties valued at between $1 million and $5 million from going into foreclosure in South Florida, according to a new Vultures Database™ report from Condo Vultures® LLC.

Condo Vultures® is currently tracking 14 luxury condominiums and 19 single-family estates in Miami-Dade, Broward, and Palm Beach counties on or near the water that are being foreclosed upon or already owned by the lenders.

These 33 properties are valued today at a combined $58 million, or $509 per square foot, down -33 percent from a historical high of $87 million, or $763 per square foot, according to the Bal Harbour, Fla.-based consultancy that produced the report.

The bulk of the multi-million dollar distressed properties are concentrated in Miami (11), Miami Beach (8), Hollywood (4), and Coral Gables (3).

Aventura, Boca Raton, Coconut Grove, Fisher Island, Fort Lauderdale, Hallandale Beach, and Sunny Isles Beach each have one distressed property priced at $1 million or more that is in foreclosure or already owned by the bank.

“There are about 109,000 residences for sale in South Florida today, and 8,100, or 7 percent, of these residences are priced at $1 million or more,” said Peter Zalewski, a principal with Condo Vultures® LLC that produced the report. “Statistically, to have 33 luxury properties in trouble from a pool of 8,100 residences is not dramatic. Still, it is bit surprising that 33 luxury properties have been or are on the verge of being repossessed.”

Overall, there are 1,706 properties in foreclosure or owned by the bank, also known as Real Estate Owned, in the Vultures Database™, which tracks properties east of Interstate 95 in Miami-Dade, Broward, and Palm Beach counties that have fallen in price by 10 percent or $100,000.

The foreclosure and REO properties in the Vultures Database™ are down a combined -44 percent to a current value of $498 million from a historical high price of $888 million. On a price per square foot basis, the average foreclosure or REO in the Vultures Database™ is $221 compared to a historical high of $394.

The lowest price for a foreclosure or REO in the Vultures Database™ is $24,900 and the highest price is $4.3 million.

The majority of the residences in foreclosure or owned by the bank are priced at $300,000 or less. There are 535 troubled properties priced between $24,900 to $150,000, and 697 distressed properties priced at $151,000 to $300,000.

On the pricier side, there are 251 problem properties priced between $301,000 to $500,000, and 190 troubled residences priced between $501,000 and $999,000, according to the report.
The remaining foreclosure and REO inventory is priced at more than $1 million and located in several of the region's most exclusive areas, including the community of Fisher Island off the coast of Miami Beach.

“The most remarkable aspect of the foreclosure report in my opinion is that a residence in the ultra-exclusive Fisher Island community is in trouble,” said Tommy Barone, a licensed real estate agent with Condo Vultures® Realty LLC who focuses on Fisher Island. "This is not something that we are accustom to seeing on the island."

Peter Zalewski is a principal with the consulting company Condo Vultures® LLC and a licensed real estate broker with Condo Vultures® Realty LLC. Peter can be reached at 305-865-5629 or by email at peter@condovultures.com. Be sure to check out Peter’s blog at CondoDump.com. Don't forget to sign up for our weekly Market Intelligence Report. Looking for a property at a deep discount? You are encouraged to take a peek at the Vultures Database™.

Copyright © 2008, Condo Vultures® LLC

Downtown Miami’s Condo Boom Ends As Last Construction Crane Removed

The last residential construction crane of Greater Downtown Miami’s speculative condo era was disassembled last week and hauled off on flatbed trucks north on Interstate 95.

The removal of the construction crane at the 47-story, 346-unit Paramount Bay condominium tower situated in the Biscayne Boulevard Corridor just north of Downtown Miami ends a building boom period in which some 40 cranes filled the sky at the peak. (The only cranes still standing today in Greater Downtown Miami are building three new office towers under construction.)

Earlier this month, construction cranes were removed from the 51-story, 530-unit Mint condominium tower located on the north bank of the Miami River and the new 67-story, 306-unit Marquis condominium tower on Biscayne Boulevard in Downtown Miami.

Many industry watchers see the removal of the last crane as the symbolic end of vertical residential condo construction boom era in Greater Downtown Miami for at least seven years.

Greater Downtown Miami is considered by most to be the epicenter of the Florida housing crash as 74 condos with nearly 23,000 new units have been built or are under construction in a 60-block stretch between 2003 and 2010. In the 40 years prior to the boom years, developer constructed a total of 11,500 units in the same area, according to the Condo Vultures® Official Condo Buyers Guide To Miami™.

Peter Zalewski is a principal with the consulting company Condo Vultures® LLC and a licensed real estate broker with Condo Vultures® Realty LLC. Peter can be reached at 305-865-5629 or by email at peter@condovultures.com. Be sure to check out Peter’s blog at CondoDump.com. Don't forget to sign up for our weekly Market Intelligence Report. Looking for a property at a deep discount? You are encouraged to take a peek at the Vultures Database™ .

Copyright © 2008, Condo Vultures® LLC

Regulators Shut 16th Bank, 3rd In Month Of October

Regulators seized two-year-old Alpha Bank & Trust based in suburban Atlanta, marking the second Georgia institution to be shuttered within 60 days and the 16th lender to fail nationwide this year.

The Georgia Department of Banking and Finance shut Alpha Bank & Trust, a three-branch institution based in Alpharetta, Ga., on Friday, Oct. 24, and immediately named the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp as the receiver to oversee the disposition of the $354 million in assets institution.

“The transaction is the least costly resolution option, and the FDIC estimates that the cost to its Deposit Insurance Fund will be $158.1 million,” according to an FDIC statement.

In preparation of the seizure, Stearns Bank, a St. Cloud, Minn.-based institution with $1.03 billion in assets, agreed with the FDIC to purchase Alpha Bank’s $346 million in insured deposits and nearly $39 million in assets.

Stearns Bank is a 96-year-old national association that operates three locations in Minnesota and one branch in Scottsdale, Ariz. This will be the bank’s first presence in Georgia.

The FDIC plans to dispose of the remaining assets and liabilities in the upcoming months.

Created in May 2006, Alpha Bank & Trust had three locations in the Greater Atlanta area and loans of $306 million on June 30, according to the most recent FDIC data.

In the first half of 2008 ending June 30, Alpha Bank & Trust lost -$6.8 million compared to a profit of $243,000 in 2007.

Before Alpha Bank & Trust’s failure, the institution had a noncurrent loans-to-loans ratio of 18.36 percent due to a spike in nonperforming real estate construction and development financing.

Integrity Bank, also based in Alpharetta, was the other Georgia institution to be seized by regulators this year.

Alpha Bank & Trust’s failure marks the third institution to be shut in the fourth quarter, pushing the total estimated FDIC loss since October 1 to $204 million.

Nine institutions were shuttered in the third quarter at an estimated cost of between $5.7 billion and $10 billion, according to the FDIC.

Regulators shut two institutions in the second quarter at an estimated cost of $216 million and two more institutions in the first quarter at an expense of nearly $6 million, according to the FDIC, which insures deposits up to a newly increased amount of $250,000.

The deposit insurance amount was raised from $100,000 through the end of 2009 with the recent passage of the $700 billion federal bailout package officially known as the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008. The bailout program is also being referred to as the Troubled Assets Relief Program, or TARP.

Wachovia Bank, a $782 billion in assets institution based in North Carolina, avoided also being shuttered by regulators in the third quarter only when the North Carolina-based organization was able to reach a deal to be acquired.

At first Citigroup, which operates the $1.3 trillion in assets Citibank institution, was the announced suitor, but Wells Fargo Bank ultimately was the highest bidder for the Wachovia franchise.

The bank failures have been scattered throughout the United States. California, Nevada, Georgia, and Missouri lead the nation in failed institutions with two banks each. Florida, Arkansas, Minnesota, Kansas, West Virginia, Washington state, Michigan and Illinois each have had one institution shuttered this year.

Before Alpha Bank & Trust’s failure, the last time regulators seized an inistitution was on Oct. 10 when two Midwest banks were closed.

Main Street Bank, a $98 million in assets institution based in Northville, Mich., and Meridian Bank, a $39 million in assets institution headquartered in Eldred, Ill., were the 14th and 15th institutions, respectively to be closed by regulators in 2008.

In the first 24 days of the fourth quarter, regulators are on pace to shut an institution once every eight days. In the third quarter, regulators seized a bank once every 10 calendar days.

Prior to the seizure of Main Street and Meridian banks, the last institutions to be shut by regulators was Washington Mutual Bank on Sept. 25.

A week earlier on Sept. 19, regulators shut down Ameribank Inc., a 102-year-old community bank based in West Virginia with links to Florida.

Prior to the Ameribank’s closure, Silver State Bank in the Las Vegas suburb of Henderson was the last institution to be shut, that occurring on Sept. 5. Silver State Bank was the second Nevada institution to fail this year.

In July, banking regulators shut down the First National Bank of Nevada in Reno, which along with the First Heritage Bank in Newport Beach, Calif., was owned by First National Bank Holding Co. in Scottsdale, Ariz.

A host of other banks are being closely monitored by industry watchers who anticipate further failures this year, especially in Sun Belt states where the housing crisis has hit hardest.

Before regulators shuttered Ameribank and Silver State Bank, the focus of examiners was on Greater Atlanta-based Integrity Bank, a $1.1 billion in assets institution that was shut on Aug. 29.

Working down the list of failed lenders, regulators seized Columbian Bank and Trust Co., a $752 million in assets institution based in Topeka, Kansas, on Aug. 22.

Three weeks earlier on Aug. 1, regulators shut First Priority Bank of Bradenton, a six branch institution with $261 million in assets located on the state’s west coast.

First Priority’s closing marked the first Florida institution to be closed by regulators in more than four years.

On July 11, federal regulators shut down IndyMac Bank, a $32 billion institution based in Pasadena, Calif. The estimate cost of that seizure is between $4 billion and $8 billion, according to the FDIC.

Before IndyMac, regulators seized Minnesota-based First Integrity Bank with $54.7 million in total assets and $50.3 million in total deposits on May 30; Arkansas-based ANB Financial with $2.1 billion in total assets and $1.8 billion in total deposits on May 9; Missouri-based Hume Bank with total assets of $18.7 million and total deposits of $13.6 million on March 7; and Missouri-based Douglas National Bank with $58.5 million in total assets and $53.8 million in total deposits on January 25, according to the FDIC.

Peter Zalewski is a principal with the consulting company Condo Vultures® LLC and a licensed real estate broker with Condo Vultures® Realty LLC. Peter can be reached at 305-865-5629 or by email at peter@condovultures.com. Be sure to check out Peter’s blog at CondoDump.com. Don't forget to sign up for our weekly Market Intelligence Report. Looking for a property at a deep discount? You are encouraged to take a peek at the Vultures Database™ .

Copyright © 2008, Condo Vultures® LLC

Miami Developer To Pay $25,000 To Contract Holders Who Defaulted On Units

Developer Jorge Perez’s The Related Group plans to pay more than 100 former contract holders who defaulted on their 20 percent deposits at the 50 Biscayne condominium tower in Downtown Miami about $25,000 each to walk away from any future claim, according to CBS 4 in Miami.

The $25,000 payment is far less than the original deposits – some in excess of $100,000 - that were placed by preconstruction buyers who needed just a week to gobble up the 528 units in the 54-story building that opened early this year, according to the article.

The Related Group decided to pay the $25,000 even though a local judge dismissed a lawsuit this week that was brought in February on behalf of preconstruction buyers who did not want to close on their contracts at the 50 Biscayne condominium.

“Tthis is the second major lawsuit in South Florida which side with a developer,” according to CBS 4. “In August, Tibor Hollo won a landmark case where the buyers wanted their deposits back claiming the condos at Opera Tower weren't directly on the water as the advertising brochures had suggested.

“The judge in the case sided with Tibor Hollo, saying that what mattered was in the contract and not in the ads.”
 

The Greater Downtown Miami is considered by most to be the epicenter of the Florida housing crash as 74 condos with nearly 23,000 new units have been built or are under construction in a 60-block stretch between 2003 and 2010. In the 40 years prior to the boom years, developer constructed a total of 11,500 units in the same area, according to the Condo Vultures® Official Condo Buyers Guide To Miami.

Peter Zalewski is a principal with the consulting company Condo Vultures® LLC and a licensed real estate broker with Condo Vultures® Realty LLC. Peter can be reached at 305-865-5629 or by email at peter@condovultures.com. Be sure to check out Peter’s blog at CondoDump.com. Don't forget to sign up for our weekly Market Intelligence Report. Looking for a property at a deep discount? You are encouraged to take a peek at the Vultures Database™ .

Copyright © 2008, Condo Vultures® LLC

Commercial Bulk Deal Closes At Downtown Miami Condo Tower

A Miami investment group paid $368 per square foot for about 40,000 square feet of raw commercial space in the recently completed Marina Blue condominium in Greater Downtown Miami, according to the South Florida Business Journal.

A newly created entity called 888 Biscayne Enterprises LLC purchased the first three floors of commercial space which includes a mezzanine, 185 parking places, and two outdoor terrace seating areas for $14.7 million, according to the article.

Located at 888 Biscayne Boulevard immediately north of Miami’s Central Business District, the Marina Blue condominium is a 52-story, 516-unit tower situated directly across from the American Airlines Arena and the proposed Museum Park site which is scheduled to begin construction in 2009.

To get the deal closed, Kennedy Funding, a Hackensack, N.J.-based private money lender, was brought in to provide $10.14 million in financing, which works out to a loan-to-value ratio of 69 percent. The terms of the mortgage have not yet been released.

“It’s unfortunate that other lenders will completely rule out a type of development or an entire geographical area without considering specific circumstances and situations,” said Jeffrey Wolfer, President and Co-CEO of Kennedy Funding in a statement. “A closer look at this property, the buyers attracted to the residential units, the commercial spaces in the areas immediately surrounding it, and we were able to close the loan quickly. With the nearby arena, performing arts center and the site for the new Miami Art Museum, the area is really going to be spectacular.”

The Marina Blue commercial space is well suited to serve not only residence of the all-glass tower but nearby workers and passing traffic in the Greater Downtown Miami area.

The ground floor space is divided into two corner areas separated by the main entrance to the condominium tower in the middle. Both spaces are accessible from the tower's lobby.

The large space on the south side of the building has a mezzanine and floor-to-ceiling windows. This space was designed for a national restaurant chain or entertainment venue. The smaller space on the north side of the building was planned for a gourmet food store or coffee shops.

Floors two and three are suited with office space with tall ceilings and unobstructed views of the park, arena, and Biscayne Bay.

Peter Zalewski is a principal with the consulting company Condo Vultures® LLC and a licensed real estate broker with Condo Vultures® Realty LLC. Peter can be reached at 305-865-5629 or by email at peter@condovultures.com. Be sure to check out Peter’s blog at CondoDump.com. Don't forget to sign up for our weekly Market Intelligence Report. Looking for a property at a deep discount? You are encouraged to take a peek at the Vultures Database™ .

Copyright © 2008, Condo Vultures® LLC

Last Construction Crane Left Standing In Greater Downtown Miami

The construction crane used to build the new 51-story, 530-unit Mint condominium tower in Greater Downtown Miami has been disassembled and trucked off on flatbeds heading north on Interstate-95.

The removal of the Mint’s construction crane situated on the north bank of the Miami River means only one residential crane is still left standing in an area where at the peak 18 months ago some 40 cranes filled the sky. (Three office towers are under construction currently.)

The last crane related to residential construction left standing is at the 47-story, 346-unit Paramount Bay condominium site in the Biscayne Boulevard Corridor.Paramount Bay is the project where a piece of the crane fell to the ground, killing two workers in March 2008.

Earlier this month the construction crane building the new 67-story, 306-unit Marquis condominium tower on Biscayne Boulevard was removed.

Many industry watchers see the imminent removal of the last crane as the symbolic end of vertical residential condo construction era in Greater Downtown Miami for at least seven years.

The Greater Downtown Miami is considered by most to be the epicenter of the Florida housing crash as 74 condos with nearly 23,000 new units have been built or are under construction in a 60-block stretch between 2003 and 2010. In the 40 years prior to the boom years, developer constructed a total of 11,500 units in the same area, according to the Condo Vultures® Official Condo Buyers Guide To Miami.

Peter Zalewski is a principal with the consulting company Condo Vultures® LLC and a licensed real estate broker with Condo Vultures® Realty LLC. Peter can be reached at 305-865-5629 or by email at peter@condovultures.com. Be sure to check out Peter’s blog at CondoDump.com. Don't forget to sign up for our weekly Market Intelligence Report. Looking for a property at a deep discount? You are encouraged to take a peek at the Vultures Database™ .

Copyright © 2008, Condo Vultures® LLC

South Florida’s Bank-Owned Properties Spike 190% To Nearly 19,000 REOs

Lenders repossessed an average of 69 homes a day in South Florida in the first nine months of the year, according to a new report from Condo Vultures® LLC.

At that pace, the number of bank-owned properties in South Florida is skyrocketing, increasing by 134 percent to 7,100 properties in the third quarter and by 190 percent to 18,960 homes for the year, according to the report by the Bal Harbour, Fla.-based consultancy.

A year ago in 2007, lenders took back 3,035 properties in the third quarter and 6,545 properties in the first nine months of the year, according to Condo Vultures®.

“Our best guess is that in 2008 lenders have had to absorb about $750 million in expenses - legal fees, repairs, unpaid debt service – related to repossessing the nearly 19,000 bank-owned properties in South Florida,” said Peter Zalewski, a principal with Condo Vultures® LLC which produced the report. “This expense does not even factor in the write offs that many banks are deciding to stomach in hopes of quickly unloading these bank-owned properties to discount buyers.”

The foreclosure process in South Florida generally takes between six and eight months to complete, and typically costs a lender about $40,000 to $80,000 to repossess a property.

The timing and costs of the foreclosure process can vary depending upon the level of resistance of the owner/borrower and the extent of the repairs that must be performed on the home to make it rentable or saleable.

It is unclear what impact the upcoming presidential election or the $700 billion Troubled Assets Relief Program (TARP) will have on the foreclosure process in Florida for banks and owners/borrowers.

Once a property is repossessed by the lender, the troubled asset is immediately shifted by the bank into a special category classification called Real Estate Owned (REO) whereby the financial institution acknowledges that it must now act as the owner and landlord.

As the owner and landlord, a bank is responsible for all facets of the property, ranging from overseeing the rental or sales process to resolving tenant complaints, paying the maintenance fees and special assessments to writing a check for the property taxes.

“Banks are in the business of lending, not owning, managing, and maintaining homes scattered around a vast region or state,” Zalewski said. “This is why so many lenders look to dump bank-owned properties shortly after taking possession at the end of the foreclosure process.”

To understand the discounting, consider that the typical bank-owned property in the Vultures Database™, which monitors coastal properties east of Interstate 95 in Miami-Dade, Broward, and Palm Beach counties, has been reduced in price by -52 percent or about -$242,900.

On a geographical basis, Miami-Dade County accounts for 46 percent of the bank-owned properties repossessed in the tricounty South Florida region in 2008. Broward County represents 39 percent of the total REO inventory for 2008, and Palm Beach County the remaining 15 percent, according to the report.

Miami-Dade County had 8,656 bank-owned properties in the first nine months of this year, up 188 percent compared to the 3,009 REO properties during the same period in 2007, according to the report.

Broward County ranked second with 7,370 bank-owned properties through the first nine months of 2008, compared to 2,339 foreclosed properties in 2007. Palm Beach County was third in the tricounty region with 2,934 REO properties in 2008 compared to 1,197 properties in 2007, according to the report.

“Miami-Dade County experienced a spike in foreclosure actions in 2007 that eventually became bank-owned properties in 2008,” Zalewski said. “Given the current surge in foreclosure actions in Broward and Palm Beach counties right now, we would expect the number of bank-owned properties to spike in these two counties in 2009.”

Lenders have been busy filing foreclosure actions in South Florida in the first three quarters of the year, according to a recent report from Condo Vultures®.

Between January and September, lenders filed 55,737 actions valued at more than $14.2 billion on properties in Miami-Dade, Broward, and Palm Beach counties. Condominiums and townhouses account for 16,553, or 30 percent, of the actions filed, totaling $3.4 billion, according to the recent report.

In what may be a surprise to some, Broward County, not Miami-Dade County, has the highest concentration of total foreclosure actions with 24,733, or 42.2 percent, of the actions filed, totaling $5.99 billion, according to the recent report.

Palm Beach County is second with 17,065, or 29.3 percent, of the actions filed, which totals nearly $4.2 billion. Miami-Dade County, which many industry watchers consider the epicenter of the Florida housing crash, has 13,939 actions – some 28.5 percent - filed, with a value of $4 billion, according to the report.

On the condominium and townhouse front, opportunistic buyers are finding that the most foreclosure actions are in complexes scattered throughout Broward and Palm Beach counties.

Broward County is now home to 41.2 percent of the foreclosure actions for condominium and townhouse product. Broward has had foreclosure actions filed against 7,558 condominiums and townhouses worth $1.4 billion.

Palm Beach County has had 4,042 foreclosure actions filed against condos and townhouses worth $724 million. Miami-Dade County has had 4,953 foreclosure actions filed against condos and townhouses, totaling $1.2 billion, according to the report.

Peter Zalewski is a principal with the consulting company Condo Vultures® LLC and a licensed real estate broker with Condo Vultures® Realty LLC. Peter can be reached at 305-865-5629 or by email at peter@condovultures.com. Be sure to check out Peter’s blog at CondoDump.com. Don't forget to sign up for our weekly Market Intelligence Report. Looking for a property at a deep discount? You are encouraged to take a peek at the Vultures Database™ .

Copyright © 2008, Condo Vultures® LLC

Florida Mortgage Court Proposed To Deal With Foreclosures

State of South Florida Housing: 1 Property Available For Every 50 People

For every 50 people living in South Florida, there is currently one single-family house, townhouse, or condominium actively for sale in the tricounty region, according to a new report by the Bal Harbour, Fla.-based consultancy Condo Vultures® LLC.

Nearly 110,000 residences are actively for sale in Miami-Dade, Broward, and Palm Beach counties, a region where the U.S. Census Bureau estimates that 5.5 million people live, according to the report.

Condominiums and townhouses account for 56 percent, or 61,779 residences, actively available on the market. Single-family houses represent the remaining 44 percent, or 47,861 residences, of the available inventory, according to the report.

On a residents-to-product type ratio, South Florida has one condominium or townhouse for sale for every 89 people, and one single-family house for every 115 residents.

Miami-Dade County has the largest chunk of available real estate inventory with 42,172 residences, or 38 percent of the total inventory. Broward County is second with 35 percent, or 37,896 residences, of the total residential supply. Palm Beach County is third with 29,572 residences, or 27 percent of the homes actively for sale, according to the report.

On a resident-to-residences basis, Palm Beach County, with 1.3 million people, has the highest amount of inventory with one single-family house, condo, or townhouse for every 44 people. Broward County, with 1.8 million people, is second with one residence for every 47 individuals living there. Miami-Dade County, with 2.4 million people, is third with one condo, townhouse, or single-family home for sale for every 57 people.

Peter Zalewski is a principal with the consulting company Condo Vultures® LLC and a licensed real estate broker with Condo Vultures® Realty LLC. Peter can be reached at 305-865-5629 or by email at peter@condovultures.com. Be sure to check out Peter’s blog at CondoDump.com. Don't forget to sign up for our weekly Market Intelligence Report. Looking for a property at a deep discount? You are encouraged to take a peek at the Vultures Database™ .

Copyright © 2008, Condo Vultures® LLC

Regulators Seize 2 More Banks, Latest Losses Estimated At $50 Million

South Florida Properties Tumble -$1.05 Billion From Historical Highs

As the global markets tumble, nearly 4,500 coastal residential properties in Miami-Dade, Broward, and Palm Beach counties have fallen by a combined value of -$1.05 billion, or an average of -33 percent, off of their historical highs, according to a new Vultures Database™ report from Condo Vultures® LLC.
 

The average asking price in the Vultures Database™ was down by -$234,547 per property on Sept. 30 compared to a discount of -$227,330, or -32 percent, per property a month earlier on Aug. 31, according to the report by the Bal Harbour, Fla.-based consultancy.

As the discounts have deepened for coastal South Florida properties, the inventory has steadily decreased due to increased buying activity.

For September, there were 4,456 residences being tracked in the Vultures Database™, compared to 4,647 properties in August, according to the report.

“The stock market uncertainty and the strengthening U.S. dollar are prompting an increasing number of people to look more closely at brick-and-mortar investments," said Peter Zalewski, a principal with Condo Vultures® LLC that released the report . "If someone is adopting that strategy, the fundamentals – population, weather, product quality, and land constraints – of South Florida make the region a viable option for many.”

Condominiums, townhouses, and single-family houses located east of Interstate 95 in Miami-Dade, Broward, and Palm Beach counties are added to the Vultures Database™ once the asking prices are reduced by at least 10 percent or $100,000.

Condominiums represent 69.4 percent of the total inventory, with 3,093 units in the Vultures Database™. Houses and townhouses make up the remaining 30.6 percent of the inventory, or 1,363 properties, according to the report.

For August, condominiums accounted for 68.8 percent, or 3,196 units, of the total inventory in the Vultures Database™. Single-family houses and townhouses represented 31.2 percent, or 1,451 residences, of the total inventory, according to the report.

Palm Beach County is increasingly offering the deepest discounts in condominiums in the Vultures Database™, with Royal Palm Beach ranking No. 1 with an average reduction of -52 percent. Delray Beach is second with an average price drop of -51 percent.

Rounding out the top five rankings are the cities of Boca Raton in Palm Beach County, Oakland Park in Broward County, and North Miami in Miami-Dade County, which are all tied for the No. 3 ranking with an average discount of -40 percent, according to the report.

The cities with the deepest discounts in single-family houses and townhouses are scattered throughout South Florida's three counties.

Palm Beach ranks No. 1 with a -56 percent discount. Boynton Beach ranks second with a discount of -52 percent. Oakland Park is No. 3 with a -44 percent drop. Rounding out the top five rankings are Hallandale Beach in Broward County with a -39 percent drop for the No. 4 spot, and in fifth position are the cities of Bay Harbor Islands in Miami-Dade County and Lantana in Palm Beach County with an average discount of -38 percent each, according to the report.

Peter Zalewski is a principal with the consulting company Condo Vultures® LLC and a licensed real estate broker with Condo Vultures® Realty LLC. Peter can be reached at 305-865-5629 or by email at peter@condovultures.com. Be sure to check out Peter’s blog at CondoDump.com. Don't forget to sign up for our weekly Market Intelligence Report. Looking for a property at a deep discount? You are encouraged to take a peek at the Vultures Database™ .

Copyright © 2008, Condo Vultures® LLC
 

Construction Crane Comes Down At Miami Condo Tower

The construction crane building the new Marquis condominium on Biscayne Boulevard in the Greater Downtown Miami area is coming down this week, symbolizing the end of the vertical residential development era in the area for several years.

Workers are disassembling the construction crane that was instrumental in putting up the 67-story, 306-unit Marquis condominium tower located immediately south of the MacArthur Causeway with east views of the proposed Museum Park, Biscayne Bay, and barrier island.

The removal of the Marquis condominium construction crane means there will be only
two residential cranes still left standing from a peak of 40 about 18 months ago. (Three office towers are under construction currently.)

The next residential crane likely to be removed in the upcoming weeks will be at the 51-story, 530-unit Mint condominium site on the north bank of the Miami River.

The last crane expected to be disassembled will be at the 47-story, 346-unit Paramount Bay condominium site in the Biscayne Boulevard Corridor.

Paramount Bay is the project where a piece of the crane fell to the ground, killing two workers in March 2008.

The Greater Downtown Miami is considered by most to be the epicenter of the Florida housing crash as 74 condos with nearly 23,000 new units have been built or are under construction in a 60-block stretch between 2003 and 2010. In the 40 years prior to the boom years, developer constructed a total of 11,500 units in the same area, according to the Condo Vultures® Official Condo Buyers Guide To Miami.

Peter Zalewski is a principal with the consulting company Condo Vultures® LLC and a licensed real estate broker with Condo Vultures® Realty LLC. Peter can be reached at 305-865-5629 or by email at peter@condovultures.com. Be sure to check out Peter’s blog at CondoDump.com. Don't forget to sign up for our weekly Market Intelligence Report. Looking for a property at a deep discount? You are encouraged to take a peek at the Vultures Database™ .

Copyright © 2008, Condo Vultures® LLC

South Florida Foreclosures Top $14B As Lehman Brothers Pursues $91M In Problem Loans

Bankrupt investment firm Lehman Brothers is foreclosing on nearly $91 million in problem South Florida loans, an amount that represents nearly 1 percent of the regional total foreclosure value through the first three quarters of 2008, according to a new report from Condo Vultures® LLC.

Most of Lehman Brothers’ bad loan amount is in Miami-Dade County, where $90 million worth of financing is in default. An additional $596,000 in residential financing is in default in Palm Beach County, and $355,000 in residential financing in Broward County, according to the Bal Harbour, Fla.-based consultancy that generated the report based on circuit court records.

The bulk of Lehman's South Florida lending was in the commercial sector, where it has 50 commercial loans with a combined value of $2.4 billion allocated. All of these loans are greater than $10 million, and most appear to be performing, according to a previous Condo Vultures® report.

Washington, in an attempt to avoid another Lehman-like failure, is working to implement a bailout package to avoid any further financial meltdown and curb the spiking number of foreclosures.

In the meantime in South Florida, lenders have been busy foreclosing between January and September filing 55,737 actions valued at more than $14.2 billion on properties in Miami-Dade, Broward, and Palm Beach counties. Condominiums and townhouses account for 16,553, or 30 percent, of the actions filed, totaling $3.4 billion, according to the report.

In what may be a surprise to some, Broward County, not Miami-Dade County, has the highest concentration of total foreclosure actions with 24,733, or 42.2 percent, of the actions filed, totaling $5.99 billion, according to the report.

Palm Beach County is second with 17,065, or 29.3 percent, of the actions filed, which totals nearly $4.2 billion. Miami-Dade , which many industry watchers consider the epicenter of the Florida housing crash, has 13,939 actions – some 28.5 percent - filed, with a value of $4 billion, according to the report.

“Broward and Palm Beach counties are experiencing the foreclosure crisis that Miami-Dade County endured in 2007,” said Peter Zalewski, a principal in Condo Vultures® LLC. “Miami-Dade’s foreclosure actions are now leveling off steadily as many of the distressed properties have already gone through the court process and are now in the hands of the lenders as Real Estate Owned (REO) properties. Going forward, look for Miami’s REO total to fall as opportunistic buyers continue to acquire these bank-owned assets at deep discounts.

“It is a different story for Broward and Palm Beach counties. We expect the number of REO properties to spike in Broward and Palm Beach counties in 2009 once all of the 2008 foreclosures run their course through the court system.”

Condo Vultures® LLC is scheduled to release its third quarter 2008 REO properties report later this month. For an advanced copy, please be sure to register for the Condo Vultures® Market Intelligence Report.

Opportunistic buyers looking for discounted condominiums and townhouses will find that the most foreclosure actions are in complexes scattered throughout Broward and Palm Beach counties.

Broward County is now home to 41.2 percent of the foreclosure actions for condominium and townhouse product. Broward has had foreclosure actions filed against 7,558 condominiums and townhouses worth $1.4 billion. Palm Beach County has had 4,042 foreclosure actions filed against condos and townhouses worth $724 million. Miami-Dade County has had 4,953 foreclosure actions filed against condos and townhouses, totaling $1.2 billion, according to the report.

In a sign of how the foreclosure crisis is spreading north, Miami-Dade County is now home to only four of the top 20 condo buildings and complexes with the highest number of foreclosure actions filed.

A year ago, Miami’s Brickell Avenue financial district had three of the top five buildings, each of these projects were located in a four block stretch in the Greater Downtown Miami area. Today, only one Brickell Avenue condominium project – the Club at Brickell Bay – ranks as one of Miami-Dade County’s top five foreclosure buildings.

Leading Miami-Dade County in foreclosure actions is the Townhomes at Keys Cove in Homestead with 70 actions valued at $11.2 million. The Parc Central Aventura condominium ranks No. 2 with 61 actions valued at $21.4 million. The Blue Lagoon condominium conversion in Miami near the international airport ranks No. 3 with 57 actions totaling $17.9 million.

In Broward, the Edgewater complex in Coral Springs ranks at the top of the list with the highest number of foreclosure actions with 102 valued at $24.5 million. The Tides on Hollywood Beach, an oceanfront condo conversion, ranks second with 96 foreclosure actions totaling $32.8 million. The Palm-Aire Country Club complex in Pompano Beach ranks third with 94 foreclosure actions totaling $12.7 million.

Palm Beach County is home to the single complex with the highest number of foreclosure actions.

The Ponte Verde at Palm Beach Lakes has 120 actions valued at $22.6 million. The St. Andrews
Palm Beach is a distant second in the county with 74 actions filed worth $8.9 million. Cityside Condo and the Spa at Sunset Isles, both in West Palm Beach, rank Nos. 3 and 4, respectively. The 69 foreclosure actions at Cityside Condominium are valued at $19.7 million, while the 67 actions at the Spa at Sunset Isles are valued at $14.9 million, according to the report.

Peter Zalewski is a principal with the consulting company Condo Vultures® LLC and a licensed real estate broker with Condo Vultures® Realty LLC. Peter can be reached at 305-865-5629 or by email at peter@condovultures.com. Be sure to check out Peter’s blog at CondoDump.com. Don't forget to sign up for our weekly Market Intelligence Report. Looking for a property at a deep discount? You are encouraged to take a peek at the Vultures Database™ .

Copyright © 2008, Condo Vultures® LLC

Downtown Miami Casinos Proposed As Property Tax Revenue Plummets

Hampered by falling property taxes, a South Florida group is proposing a 2010 constitutional amendment to permit full-fledged casino gambling just west of Biscayne Boulevard in Downtown Miami.

Developers of the 25-acre Miami Worldcenter have established the organizational framework to put a casino amendment on the ballot in as little as two years from now, according to the Miami Herald.

The proposed Miami Worldcenter mixed-use project is to be located in the heart of Greater Downtown Miami among nine contiguous blocks situated between the American Airlines Arena west to the former Miami Arena, and the MacArthur Causeway south to Miami-Dade College.

Developers have constructed nearly 23,000 condos in a 60-block stretch of Greater Downtown Miami since 2003, including the nearby Marina Blue, 900 Biscayne, Ten Museum, and the
Marquis condos.

The Greater Downtown Miami area overall area now has more than 34,000 units, according to the Condo Vultures® Official Condo Buyers Guide To Miami™.

Before the first casino can open, organizers must overcome several obstacles, most importantly state voters who have rejected Miami casinos three times before, including the most recent attempt in 1994.

The flip side is voters in the last five years after approved Las Vegas-style slot machines at South Florida’s seven parimutual sites in an attempt to boost the struggling horse racing, dog racing, and Jai-Alai industries.

If a majority of Florida voters do suddenly approve the idea of Miami casinos given how government revenue has plummeted based on the dropping property prices, the ballot item would need to receive at least a 60 percent approval for the amendment to be implemented.

Peter Zalewski is a principal with the consulting company Condo Vultures® LLC and a licensed real estate broker with Condo Vultures® Realty LLC. Peter can be reached at 305-865-5629 or by email at peter@condovultures.com. Be sure to check out Peter’s blog at CondoDump.com. Don't forget to sign up for our weekly Market Intelligence Report. Looking for a property at a deep discount? You are encouraged to take a peek at the Vultures Database™ .

Copyright © 2008, Condo Vultures® LLC