Condo crunch in S. Florida good news for bargain hunters

The glut of condominiums for sale in South Florida is attracting a legion of bargain hunters.

[Mike Fink]

Well, at least someone's stepping up to catch the falling knives. These people think they are getting deals; just wait till next year. And then the year after that.. And then...(you get the idea).

5 years of inventory? Do these people have any idea what that does to a market?? Even if another condo wasn't built in FL, we wouldn't sell them all until 2013... LOL, the deals will be there, but not for a few more years. These people buying today are next years foreclosures.

[Joe Siixpack]

Only 5 years inventory. What a deal. Wait till the end of this year and see where the prices are then. Then take another 30% off for the start of next year. I pity the poor saps that are getting deals now. Between taxes, insurance and then those pesky specials assessments and mounting HOA fees it will be interesting to see how many are left over if the market starts going up. Then throw in the possibilities of a direct hit by a hurricane. The condo market is still headed down further than the experts realize. I believe that the condo market will be down for 5 to 10 years.

[Boz]

prices are down 30%. They will fall another 20%. People who think they are getting a good deal now are suckers. The only people that are dumber than people that are buying now are the total idiots who didn't want to sell a year ago thinking that prices would go up. How can people be this stupid?

[Capt Ahab]

When you go looking for condo deals ask the management about the HOA fees. I wonder if they will fall with the prices. Some complexes are charge $1000 or more each month. I want to be in a complex that has only one other resident actually living there.

[McGruff]

Capt Ahab wrote:

When you go looking for condo deals ask the management about the HOA fees. I wonder if they will fall with the prices. Some complexes are charge $1000 or more each month. I want to be in a complex that has only one other resident actually living there.

The problem with that is with lower HOA's there is no reserve. When a hurricane hits, those are the places that get the huge assessments.

The funny thing is those foreigners buying into what they think is "paradise". That is until they get robbed , raped or murdered at the mall.

[Terri Boberi]

everything sucks

[Fish Wrap]

The "housing boom of 2000-2005"? And this is "the third year of the downturn"?

This guy should be writing for the Penny Saver. The boom lasted well into 2006, which was the peak of the market. And housing prices didn't even begin to fall until the beginning of 2007.

[Dan Maraschino]

OK, it's true that foreigners are coming in and doing some buying--but how about statistics rather than anecdotes.

People in Europe are hurting--their currency is great, but their real estate is falling, and inflation is squeezing them. The very wealthy, as always, can fly around and buy property. But middle class people are worse off than a few years ago. And I doubt it's easy for Colombians or Italians to come get a no-doc loan...

This is the beginning of the end of the housing crisis.

[Arbitrator]

The rule of thumb is that real estate appreciates about 4% per year on the average. Putting that into perspective, if someone purchased property in 2000 for $100,000, that property would be really be worth about $140,000 today. That same property would probably sell for $300,000 back in 2005 so dropping the asking price 30% from that number would still give the seller a hefty profit if sold today. The hard nut to crack is most sellers remember what the property was selling for during the peak of the boom and are having a tough time dropping the asking price. If they recieve a 50% profit over what they originally paid, they don't feel they are getting enough money for the sale even though they are actually doing just fine.

[DAS]

Dont fall for it....

[DAS]

Fish Wrap wrote:

The "housing boom of 2000-2005"? And this is "the third year of the downturn"?
This guy should be writing for the Penny Saver. The boom lasted well into 2006, which was the peak of the market. And housing prices didn't even begin to fall until the beginning of 2007.

And will fall till 2015 here in the land of HAS BEENS

[hmm]

we should at least impose a tariff on foreign buyers

[Anthony]

To all you once arrogant and now sniveling home and condo owners who saw your properties increase in value and crowed about it to anyone who would listen, may you now rot with your worthless homes. May someone abandon the home next to you, and may the swimming pool become a breeding ground for mosquitoes. Take your local lying realtor and throw her into the smelling water while you are at it. What goes around, comes around. Cry me a river.

[Trapped]

I am currently in the process of suing the real estate broker who sold me my home two years ago. In front of several witnesses she assured me that my home would appreciate fifteen to twenty percent a year, and that it was a great investment for the future. I cannot even SHORT SELL it now for half of what I paid. My attorney is filing charges ranging from misrepresentation, to fraud, to violation of a verbal contract. I know this is a long shot but I will not be deterred. Never, and I mean NEVER trust anything a real estate agent says to you, and NEVER believe anything the liars at the NAR claim.

[Bob in Boca]

Mike Fink wrote:

5 years of inventory? Do these people have any idea what that does to a market?? Even if another condo wasn't built in FL, we wouldn't sell them all until 2013... LOL, the deals will be there, but not for a few more years. These people buying today are next years foreclosures.

OTOH, we were prviously watching the prices soar out of reach in SoFlo. Far beyond a sustainable level for the average local income. Prices need to deflate and approach levels that the market will support. Right now, we're still in a "bubble" at least until we reach parity with what local buyers can afford.

More pain to come for late investors. The best advice I can give is turn off those darn infomercials!

[sarah]

As a condo buyer, currently, you are completely at the mercy of speculators, dreamers, liers, cheaters, banks with huge losses, and bankrupt developers to pay their condo fees. Most have no incentive to do so. You can’t go get running water and electricity, or even cable and internet access, on you own. The local lawn maintenance guys and their extended families are moving into rentals all around you. You are screwed.

[Oh Really]

280,000 is cheap? For a little Apartment...I mean Condo.

[Jack McCabe]

As real estate agents, mortgage lenders and developers are fond of saying, "who could have predicted how bad things could get".
This reporter in particular was fond of hyping the market and quoting David Lereah and the NAR in most articles during the kool aid drinking, feeding frenzy, sheeple days.

http://www.globest.com/news/1149_1149/ftlaude...

http://www.chicagotribune.com/classified/real...

http://www.builderonline.com :80/business/condo-glut.aspx

http://realtytimes.com/rtpages/20080502_inves...

[Just Me]

"The two-bedroom condo, once priced at $875,000, was down to $749,900 by the time Regolino and real estate agent Dolly Trotto looked at it. Regolino finally paid $660,000, thrilled to have a second home in an area so close to where many of his longtime friends live."

I wonder how thrilled he'll be when he gets his property tax bill for $12K? Not to mention $600 per month in condo fees.

That's nearly $20,000 per year for the condo without even touching the $600K mortgage, which would be about $3900 per month (30 years at 6.75%). For how many months out of the year will he actually be living in the condo? Three? Four? That works out to around $16,000 per month.

He could've rented a hell of a nice luxury condo, fully furnished, on the beach for $4 or $5K per month and not had any of the headaches associated with ownership, nor would he have had to worry about having money tied up in a depreciating asset (aka: a liability).

You'd think if this guy could qualify for a $600K mortgage, he could at least afford a calculator.

[Just Me]

Boz wrote:

prices are down 30%. They will fall another 20%. People who think they are getting a good deal now are suckers. The only people that are dumber than people that are buying now are the total idiots who didn't want to sell a year ago thinking that prices would go up. How can people be this stupid?

Apparently, about five years' worth of stupid people!