Florida Banks, Credit Unions Halt Foreclosures

Florida banks and credit unions have agreed to voluntarily halt foreclosures actions statewide on primary residences for the next 45 days under an arrangement negotiated by the state’s Gov. Charlie Crist.

The industry associations for the 312 banks and 188 credit unions based in Florida announced the decision on Monday, Dec. 1.

Gov. Crist had been lobbying industry leaders since October on such a deal, going as far as to announce Thanksgiving week the potential for a 90-day foreclosure moratorium.

In the end, the Florida Bankers Association and the Florida Credit Union League agreed to a 45-day reprieve whereby state-based institutions and credit unions will voluntarily halt new foreclosure actions and sales through the middle of January on properties that are primary residences, or homesteads.

“Foreclosure moratoriums are a short

Read entire article: Florida Banks, Credit Unions Halt Foreclosures Statewide

Report: 70% Of New Downtown Miami Condo Units Have Closed

Developers in Greater Downtown Miami have closed 70 percent of the 17,299 new condominium units built since 2003, according to a new report from Condo Vultures® LLC.

The average sales price for the 12,169 recorded closings in Greater Downtown Miami is $405,966.05 per unit for a total of $4.9 billion through Sept. 30, according to the report entitled the “Official Condo Buyers Guide To Miami.”

“Our research and intelligence gathering shows that quality condo projects with functional floor plans, desirable locations, and attractive pricing are closing at a surprisingly high rate,” said Peter Zalewski, a principal with the Bal Harbour, Fla.-based consultancy that produ

Read entire article: Report: 70% Of New Downtown Miami Condo Units Have Closed

South Florida Prices Plummet Amidst Wall Street, TARP Difficulties

Wall Street’s implosion coupled with the inability of the U.S. Treasury Department’s Troubled Assets Relief Program (TARP) to restore credit to the financial markets appears to have triggered a dramatic drop in South Florida residential real estate pricing in October, according to a new report from Condo Vultures® LLC.

Prices in the Vultures Database™ of distressed coastal South Florida properties plummeted by -3 percentage points in October, freefalling to an average discount of -36 percent. In the preceding months, the average discounts were -33 percent in September and -32 percent in August, according to the Bal Harbour, Fla.-based consultancy that produced the rep

Read entire article: South Florida Prices Tumble Amidst Wall Street, TARP Difficulties

3rd Bulk Land Deal Of 4th Quarter Closes in Downtown Miami’s Brickell Avenue Area

An investment fund has paid $22 million for an undeveloped site on Brickell Avenue in the heart of Downtown Miami’s Financial District, marking the third land deal to close in the fourth quarter, according to a report compiled by Condo Vultures® LLC.

A newly created entity called 1451 Brickell, Inc., with Jorge Hernandez as president and director paid $840 per square foot on Nov. 4 for an undeveloped 26,182-square-foot site with frontage on Brickell Avenue, Southeast 15th Road, and Southeast 14th Lane, according to state and county government records.

The seller was Fourteen Fifty One Brickell, LLC, with Walter Defortuna, who is the younger brother of condominium developer Edgardo Defortuna, who built the Jade on Brickell Bay high-end condominium in Miami’s Brickell Avenue a

Read entire article: 3rd Downtown Miami Bulk Land Deal Closes In A Month

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 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 sy

Read entire article: Downtown Miami's Skyline Changes As Last Residential Crane Removed

Report: South Florida Properties Plummet By -$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 South Florida Prices Shed -$1.05 Billion As Discounts Reach -33%

South Florida Foreclosures Top $14 billion As Lehman Pursues $91 Million 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. <

Read article: South Florida Foreclosures Top $14B As Lehman Pursues $91M In Troubled Loans

Lehman Brothers Has Nearly $2.4 Billion In Miami, South Florida Real Estate Loans

Bankrupt Wall Street investment bank Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. and its subsidiaries have nearly $2.4 billion in commercial real estate loans in Miami and South Florida, according to a new report by Condo Vultures® LLC.

Lehman (NYSE: LEHMQ.PK) has 50 outstanding loans with 22 loans in Miami-Dade County totaling $965 million, 13 in Broward County totaling $899 million, and 15 in Palm Beach County totaling $490 million, according to the report by the Bal Harbour, Fla.-based consultancy.

Lehman and its subsidiaries are the lead lender on a number of high profile South Florida real estate projects, r

Read article: Lehman Has Nearly $2.4 Billion In Miami Area Real Estate Loans

Report: Discount Discrepancy Widens Between Miami’s Mainland, Barrier Island

Discounts in Miami-Dade County’s coastal condominium markets are moving in different directions depending upon which side of Biscayne Bay a particular project is located, according to a new report from Condo Vultures® LLC.

As the average discounts in percentage terms and total dollars deepens on Miami-Dade County’s Mainland where the bulk the new construction occurred, pricing is leveling off for condo units situated on the barrier island where the beaches are located, according to the Vultures Database™ Report for August 2008.

“The growing discrepancy in discounts between Greater Miami’s Mainland and the Barrier Island is not that big of a surprise given today’s buying trends,” said Peter Zalewski, a principal with the consultancy

Read article: Discount Discrepancy Widens Between Miami’s Mainland, Barrier Island

Fannie Mae To Open Satellite Offices To Liquidate Bank-Owned Properties

Reminiscent of the Resolution Trust Corporation’s approach of the early 1990s when real estate was liquidated for a fraction of its value, mortgage giant Fannie Mae plans to unload thousands of repossessed homes by way of opening offices in South Florida and Southern California to “get the property out the door.”

Fannie Mae intends to open an office in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., in August, and a sister office in Irvine, Calif., in September.

The satellite offices are designed to streamline Fannie Mae’s efforts to unload bank-owned properties known as Real Estate Owned (REO), reduce defaults, and better manage repossessed properties until the inventory can eventually be liquidated.

Read article: Fannie Mae To Open Satellite Offices To Liquidate Bank-Owned Properties

Speculative Condo Project Begins Construction In Miami-Dade County

As the last three residential construction cranes move closer to being disassembled in the oversupplied Downtown Miami condo market, four additional cranes - against steep odds - have suddenly sprung up on a new speculative oceanfront condominium project proposed in the barrier island city of Bal Harbour in northeast Miami-Dade County.

The newly installed construction cranes have been erected to facilitate the building of the proposed St. Regis Bal Harbour Resort & Residences condominium and hotel on an 8.9-acre site where the Sheraton Bal Harbour Hotel once stood.

The planned three-tower St. Regis complex is proposed to have 268 condominium units, 36 condo-hotel units, and 24 fractional units for sale to the public plus 182 hotel rooms and a presidential suite that will be owned by the developer, 9701 Collins Avenue LLC.

Price

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Renters Filling New Miami Condos, But Will Rates Hold?

Less than 800 condo units are currently available for rent in the Greater Downtown Miami area despite nearly 21,000 new residences being built in the last five years, according to a new report from Condo Vultures® LLC.

Of the units that are currently available for lease, the rental rates being agreed to on an annual square foot basis per month in the Greater Downtown Miami area are about $1.85 for a city view and $2 for a water view, which is about 30 percent cheaper than in Miami Beach’s South Beach neighborhood, according to the report.

The Greater Downtown Miami area is defined as the Rickenbacker Causeway north to the Julia Tuttle Causeway, Interstate 95 east to Biscayne Bay. The Brickell Avenue area, Downtown Miami, and the Biscayne Boulevard Corridor toget

Read article: Renters Filling New Miami Condos, But Will Rates Hold?