Opinion: This house market is falling apart

Scientific Playa

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some info/research for coli real estate investors

cliffs, the market is slowing and many of the fat cats that bought up all the properties are underwater like juan q. public


Opinion: This house market is falling apart

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/this-house-market-is-falling-apart-2014-08-26?siteid=yhoof2

Published: Aug 27, 2014 5:59 a.m. ET

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Housing recovery is an illusion, real estate expert says

By Michael Sincere

Most real estate experts believe the U.S. housing market is roaring back. Few have anything to negative to say about real estate. But what if they’re wrong?

Real estate analyst Keith Jurow, author of the Capital Preservation Real Estate Report, is warning that the real estate market is not as strong as it seems. Says Jurow: “I never bought into the idea that we had a recovery at all.” His research leads him to conclude that home prices will be heading lower.


Has rental housing become unaffordable?
Home-price growth continued to decline in June, according to the S&P/Case-Shiller index. Zillow chief economist Stan Humphries explains the struggles in the housing industry. Photo: Getty Images.

Why? Largely because home listings are going up but sale prices are not. Jurow discovered that as of June 2014, listings in Ft. Lauderdale increased by 89.3% year-over-year. In Miami, listings are up by 65.7% In Charlotte, N.C. they are up 51%, and in Riverside, Calif. they’re up 28.1%. In 10 major metro areas around the country, listings have increased. Jurow gets his data from Redfin.com and Raveis.com.

“Many people waited for prices to rise before putting their house on the market, and they have,” Jurow says. “But now listings are increasing because everyone has the same idea. Unfortunately, May and June are traditionally the strongest months for sales, and these home sellers have missed the peak season.”

Jurow points out that Redfin.com’s latest figures show that in 21 out of 29 major metro areas, sales volume is down year-over-year. “If sales are weakening and listings are going up substantially, prices will fall,” he says.

The problems in housing are much deeper than many people realize, Jurow contends. Another nagging concern is the large number of homeowners who are delinquent. “Delinquent means you haven’t paid the mortgage,” Jurow says. “The lender or servicer can file an official notice of default, which begins the foreclosure proceeding.” However, to keep prices from falling further, mortgage servicers have sharply reduced the number of homes placed into default.

Millions of homeowners are already seriously delinquent. “The average length of time that houses remain delinquent nationwide is 995 days,” Jurow says. “The worst culprit is New York State. The average delinquency period there is four years.”


Many homeowners are aware that banks are not in a rush to file foreclosures, so they stay in their houses mortgage-free. “The banks are not initiating foreclosure proceedings because once the servicer forecloses, the lender takes a hit on earnings,” Jurow says. “They also have to manage the property, and most banks don’t want to do that.”


Rent, not buy
Because so many homeowners are still “underwater,” a popular alternative is to rent out their home instead of selling it at a loss. Then they buy a second property, hoping their first house gets back to even so they can sell.

“The decision by underwater homeowners to rent out their house instead of selling it is an act of desperation,” Jurow says. “It leaves them with two mortgages. They would not have done this if they had the equity to sell their home and trade up to another.”

According to Jurow, this is creating a perfect storm. “The housing boom allowed people to sell and trade up to another house. Now that the trade-up market has essentially disappeared, investment firms who were swept up with the buy-to-rent craze are competing with the millions of underwater homeowners who decided to rent out their property.” These properties will eventually hit the market and affect housing prices, he says.

Many analysts counter Jurow’s arguments by quoting the Case-Shiller index, which has given mixed monthly results. Jurow argues that Case-Shiller is an index that gives different weight to home sales so that the raw data is distorted. Rather than relying on an index, he prefers to look at the actual data, which now suggests that sales are weakening across the country.

Time is money
What should you do if you are underwater or thinking of moving? Here are two of Jurow’s suggestions:

1. If you are underwater on your house, do not assume the house will regain its equity. In Jurow’s view, housing prices are likely to weaken further. Take the hit and sell now if you need to move. Put your house on the market at a realistic price before the market deteriorates further.

2.If you have investment properties that are underwater, consider liquidating now while markets are still liquid. Time is not on your side.

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Scientific Playa

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dude was featured in the documentary 'Capitalism: A Love Story' by Michael Moore

FORECLOSURE
South Florida condo expert faces foreclosure on his Miami Beach condo

slL2t.Em.56.JPG


FILE--Peter Zalewski who is head of CondoVultures of Bal Harbour stands on a bridge in Bal Harbour.
Alexia Fodere / For The Miami Herald

Peter Zalewski, who has made a career of tracking the ups and downs of Miami’s condominium market, is getting an up-close and personal look at distressed real estate.

On July 23, Zalewski and his wife were hit with a foreclosure suit on their oceanfront condo, a 994-square foot unit at The Collins at 6917 Collins Avenue, Miami Beach.

According to a suit filed in Miami-Dade Circuit Court, Bank of America is seeking $239,780 in principal, interest and advances owed. The suit alleges that Zalewski failed to make payments beginning Oct. 1, 2011.


Zalewski started Condo Vultures LLC, providing information on foreclosures and short sales, when the condo market was in distress. With the revival of the condo market, he switched focus to Cranespotters.com, which collects extensive data on the pre-construction condo market and operates bus and boat tours that highlight the current boom. He writes a monthly column on the condo market for the Miami Herald.

In an interview, Zalewski told the Miami Herald that he made “a business decision” to stop paying the mortgage. He said he had been marketing the condo unit privately, and after the court filing, he has put it on the Multiple Listings Service for $519,900.

“I’m confident it will be dealt with. I’m confident the lender will get paid his money,” he said. He said he has substantial equity in the unit.

On Friday, Zalewski said “I still have not been served” with notice of the suit.

Zalewski was hit with an earlier foreclosure action on the same unit in August 2009, a case filed by a predecessor of Bank of America, but he resolved the matter a year later and the suit was dismissed.


The foreclosure was first reported in the South Florida Business Journal. Zalewski said the publicity comes with the turf. “If I can comment on others, I can take others commenting on me
 

King Sun

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dude was featured in the documentary 'Capitalism: A Love Story', by Michael Moore

FORECLOSURE
South Florida condo expert faces foreclosure on his Miami Beach condo

slL2t.Em.56.JPG


FILE--Peter Zalewski who is head of CondoVultures of Bal Harbour stands on a bridge in Bal Harbour.
Alexia Fodere / For The Miami Herald

Peter Zalewski, who has made a career of tracking the ups and downs of Miami’s condominium market, is getting an up-close and personal look at distressed real estate.

On July 23, Zalewski and his wife were hit with a foreclosure suit on their oceanfront condo, a 994-square foot unit at The Collins at 6917 Collins Avenue, Miami Beach.

According to a suit filed in Miami-Dade Circuit Court, Bank of America is seeking $239,780 in principal, interest and advances owed. The suit alleges that Zalewski failed to make payments beginning Oct. 1, 2011.


Zalewski started Condo Vultures LLC, providing information on foreclosures and short sales, when the condo market was in distress. With the revival of the condo market, he switched focus to Cranespotters.com, which collects extensive data on the pre-construction condo market and operates bus and boat tours that highlight the current boom. He writes a monthly column on the condo market for the Miami Herald.

In an interview, Zalewski told the Miami Herald that he made “a business decision” to stop paying the mortgage. He said he had been marketing the condo unit privately, and after the court filing, he has put it on the Multiple Listings Service for $519,900.

“I’m confident it will be dealt with. I’m confident the lender will get paid his money,” he said. He said he has substantial equity in the unit.

On Friday, Zalewski said “I still have not been served” with notice of the suit.

Zalewski was hit with an earlier foreclosure action on the same unit in August 2009, a case filed by a predecessor of Bank of America, but he resolved the matter a year later and the suit was dismissed.


The foreclosure was first reported in the South Florida Business Journal. Zalewski said the publicity comes with the turf. “If I can comment on others, I can take others commenting on me
:ohhh:
 

TLR Is Mental Poison

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The Opposite Of Elliott Wilson's Mohawk
not everybody can try this move of not paying the banksters year after year
I feel like Im overusing :skip: but I read so many things here that warrant it

:dead: @ calling a dude in foreclosure an expert in anything RE related

Interesting that Charlotte's overlisted..... veddy intedasting :takedat: I have been watching the market here... it seems like prices jumped 10% from this time last year.... but it might all be a fluke. Gonna have to look more into transaction prices if they are available.
 

Scientific Playa

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I feel like Im overusing :skip: but I read so many things here that warrant it

:dead: @ calling a dude in foreclosure an expert in anything RE related

Interesting that Charlotte's overlisted..... veddy intedasting :takedat: I have been watching the market here... it seems like prices jumped 10% from this time last year.... but it might all be a fluke. Gonna have to look more into transaction prices if they are available.

a dude having an ocean view living on the beach without paying for 4-5 years is an expert in my opinion :lolbron:


6917 Collins Avenue, Miami Beach

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Scientific Playa

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update....projects and capital inflows are slowing

At least a dozen new South Florida condo projects in limbo amid changing market conditions

crane


BY PETER ZALEWSKI

Special to the Miami Herald
  • The future is in question for at least a dozen new condo projects that were originally proposed to be developed east of Interstate 95 in the tri-county South Florida region since this current real estate cycle began in 2011.

    A growing bearish sentiment for South Florida’s previously booming preconstruction condo market has emerged since the last winter tourism season ended and prospective domestic buyers returned north for the summer.

    In their absence, developers are dealing with international investors who increasingly find themselves priced out of the South Florida condo market as preconstruction prices have surged to reflect higher construction costs and foreign currencies have fallen against the U.S. dollar as the global economy has slowed.

    On a year-over-year basis, the dollar has risen significantly against the currencies of the countries from which the bulk of South Florida’s international buyers originate.

    For example, the dollar is up about 11 percent against Argentina’s peso, 29 percent against Brazil’s real, 30 percent against Colombia’s peso, 19 percent against the euro and 40 percent against Russia’s ruble as of July 15, according to the currency conversion website OandA.com.

    It is against this backdrop that more and more developers are opting to revise their original plans for preconstruction condo projects or even attempting to sell off their development sites.

    The latest project in limbo is the planned 27-story Gulfstream Park Tower that was slated to feature 182 units in the expansive mixed-use retail and gambling facility in Hallandale Beach just north of Aventura.

    Despite purported presales representing some “80 percent” of the project, the developer has reportedly “halted” sales, according to the South Florida Business Journal.

    News of the Gulfstream Park Tower comes just weeks after the developer of the planned Edge On Brickell project – which launched presale at the beginning of last winter tourism season in October 2014 - sold off the land where a 58-story tower with 130 units was slated to be built on the south bank of the Miami River for $18.3 million on June 30, according to the Miami-Dade County records.

    Even before this, veteran developer Ugo Colombo in May chose to list for sale the development site of what was originally envisioned to be a “companion project” to the planned 64-story Brickell Flatiron project with nearly 550 units going up two blocks away in the Brickell Avenue Area of Greater Downtown Miami, according to the Miami Herald.

    The summer of condo project revisions in South Florida got off to an early start in April when the developer of the planned 36-story Ion East Edgewater condo tower with 328 units in Greater Downtown Miami reportedly decided to reconfigure the “property for a mixed-use development,” according to The Real Deal Miami.

    Added to this, some preconstruction projects have recently opted to reduce their presale deposit requirements below 50 percent in hopes of attracting a greater pool of buyers and gain a competitive advantage.

    The series of changes is not a surprise to industry watchers given the loss of buying power for international investors combined with a surge in the number of newly proposed projects in South Florida.

    The latest count of new South Florida condo projects for this cycle stands at more than 355 towers with nearly 43,000 units even when excluding the projects in question, according to the preconstruction condo projects website CraneSpotters.com.

    (For disclosure, my firm operates the website.)

    By comparison, developers had announced 255 new condo towers with nearly 34,600 units back in July 2014. A year earlier in June 2013, developers had proposed nearly 140 new condo towers with less than 18,600 units.

    To date during this cycle, developers have completed 34 new condo towers with more than 3,200 units east of I-95 in South Florida. More than 110 new condo towers with nearly 10,900 units are currently under construction as of July 13, according to the research.

    An additional 211 new condo towers with nearly 28,900 units are currently in the planning or presale stage of development, according to the data.

    The unanswered question going forward is whether the current pullback by developers in South Florida’s condo market is a temporary pause due to changing market conditions or an inflection point for the current real estate cycle that began in 2011.

    Peter Zalewski is a principal with the Miami real estate consultancy Condo Vultures. Zalewski, a licensed Florida real estate professional since 1995 and founder of CVR Realty and Condo Vultures Realty LLC, advises developers, lenders and institutional investors. Zalewski also runs the preconstruction condo project website CraneSpotters.com in conjunction with the Miami Association Of Realtors.

    Preconstruction condo market booms

    This is an annual comparison of the number of new condo projects announced for sites east of Interstate 95 in the tricounty South Florida region of Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach since this real estate cycle began in 2011.

    JULY 2015

    Market

    Towers

    Floors

    Units

    Share of

    South Florida

    units

    South Florida

    356

    6,639

    42,967

    100%

    Miami-Dade

    224

    5,155

    31,409

    73.1%

    Broward

    83

    836

    7,901

    18.4%

    Palm Beach

    49

    648

    3,657

    8.5%

    JULY 2014

    Market

    Towers

    Floors

    Units

    Share of

    S. Florida units

    South Florida

    255

    5,115

    34,561

    100%

    Miami-Dade

    175

    4,228

    27,450

    79.4%

    Broward

    45

    461

    4,132

    12%

    Palm Beach

    35

    426

    2,979

    8.6%

    JULY 2013

    Market

    Towers

    Floors

    Units

    Share of

    S. Florida units

    South Florida

    139

    2,391

    18,550

    100%

    Miami-Dade

    90

    1,965

    14,336

    77.3%

    Broward

    26

    241

    2,121

    11.4%

    Palm Beach

    23

    185

    2,093

    11.3%

    Source: CraneSpotters.com


    Read more here: At least a dozen new South Florida condo projects in limbo amid changing market conditions
 
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