Miami Real Estate Review FaceBook Fan Page
May 27, 2010 by Lucas Lechuga
Yesterday afternoon, we launched the Miami Real Estate Review FaceBook Fan Page. We have big plans for the fan page so be sure to add us. Starting next week, we will provide daily updates in regards to the Miami real estate market. Important market news, recently closed sales and the best real estate deals currently on the market will be highlighted. The information will be provided in an abridged, concise manner to allow daily updates to be made possible. Of particular note to some, the Miami Real Estate Review Fan Page will have a discussion forum. Participants will be able to create discussion topics and provide their input.
Foreign buyers are flocking to Florida condos again
Canadians, Brazilians — even some Chinese — are buying up Florida condos, sometimes in bulk. The lure: rock-bottom prices.
Nearly 800 Canadians will jam a hotel ballroom near the Toronto airport Sunday to hear the gospel of Florida real estate.
High-end Brazilian buyers prefer to be wooed more intimately — perhaps at a cocktail party or a small private dinner — but they are just as pumped.
Lured by rock-bottom prices, international buyers are now flocking to buy Florida properties. It’s especially true in countries where the currency is strong against the dollar.
“We’re telling Canadians this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity — the perfect storm,” said Brian Ellis, who heads Toronto-based Florida Home Finders of Canada. “The prices are just incredible and the Canadian dollar has been so strong.”
At least three of five buyers in the Greater Downtown Miami condo market are coming from abroad, estimates Jenny Huertas, international sales director for Condo Vultures, a real estate advisory and research firm.
The stampede from overseas is “kind of like a foreign subsidy helping us resolve our real estate problems,” said Peter Zalewski, a Condo Vultures principal. “This time the assistance isn’t coming from Washington. It’s coming from Caracas, London, Milan, Bogotá.”
The buying frenzy was set off by developers lowering prices on new units to below what it cost to build in today’s market, Huertas said.
“There were many people on the sidelines watching for the floor. In the last three or four months there’s the perception that we’re there,” said developer Edgardo Defortuna, president and chief executive of Fortune International.
“We’re telling Canadians this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity — the perfect storm,” said Brian Ellis, who heads Toronto-based Florida Home Finders of Canada. “The prices are just incredible and the Canadian dollar has been so strong.”
— Gee, where have we heard that before? Brian Ellis sounds like a transplanted Miami r.e. salesman.
For 5 years all I’ve heard is how Miami’s r.e. boom was going to be great for locals. I still don’t see it. If 3 out of 5 buyers are foreigners and a large number of the rest are wealthy investors, I don’t see how the average Miami resident has benefitted from the so-called boom.
Joe said “I don’t see how the average Miami resident has benefitted from the so-called boom.”
who said the boom is for the benefit of the miami residents!? pulling out some new theories ?
These condos were never meant for the $27K/year earning miami residents who are mostly servicing the wealthy outsiders. These are made as 2nd homes or retirement homes for the rich folks from everywhere. They are the only ones who can afford to buy them and absorb their carrying costs.
why bother said: “who said the boom is for the benefit of the miami residents!? pulling out some new theories ?”
— Um, if you actually read my last comment before posting a snarky reply, you would have noticed I said: “For 5 years all I’ve heard is how Miami’s r.e. boom was going to be great for locals. …” Are you claiming you never heard this as a Miami resident back when every sort of tax break and zoning waiver, etc., was being doled out to the developers?
joe you said
I don’t see how the average Miami resident has benefitted from the so-called boom
—> I did
owneratinfinity — Didn’t you say you bought a $600,000 condo? If so, that doesn’t make you an “average” Miami resident.
Joe you said
owneratinfinity — Didn’t you say you bought a $600,000 condo? If so, that doesn’t make you an “average” Miami resident.
—->I agree, but i never said how much I paid for my condo in total, I only said that I paid $220 per sqaure foot.
—–> I said in my previous posts that I bought the smallest condo in the buiilding facing east (with my azaming bay, ocean and city view) on the higest floor (50 and 50th) for the least amount of money, so i paid ALOT less then $600k for my condo,
—> I feel that what I paid and what I pay per month is very effortable to many one person professionals and two persons non-professionals in Miami.
—-> Especially peolpe like myself who have no kids and that have zero debits and have very very low expenses.
Interesting article on Barry Sternlicht (Paramount Bay Owner) in the NYT yesterday:
http://dealbook.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/06/01/barry-sternlicht-real-estate-bargain-hunter/?src=busln
Money quote is this:
“We are going to be like the Saudis in all these markets,” he says. “We have the lowest cost of production and all the oil. There’s nothing else new under construction. In three years, when all the debris, all the clutter is done, we’ll be the guys. We will have price control.”
They really seem intent on mothballing this project and waiting for sunnier days…..in my opion this really hinges on two things:
1. What the world and general economy look like in three years &
2. What happens to the US Dollar
By keeping this large project off the market he is helping the exisiting luxury buildings close their units….
I also benefited from the boom/bust. I don’t see what there is to complaint about. You can get some great places for awesome deals these days.
swiss, great piece.
DJ, When joe said average miamians, it did not include you and infinity owner. You guys are the well to do relatively speaking, compared to the average $30K salaried miamians. The only way I can see that the average joe (pun intended) from miami benefitted is that they are able to live in these condos on a subsidized rent at least for the first 3 years of the bust. If not for the condo boom, living in a luxury condo like these would have been unthinkable for all these average Joes.
Lenders get unsold Everglades on the Bay condos
Under a bankruptcy deal, unsold units in a downtown Miami condominium project will be handed back to lenders — the latest in a string of condo turnovers since mid-April.
BY INA PAIVA CORDLE
[email protected]
A pair of 49-story towers in downtown Miami will go back to the banks, says the developer, which will remain on-site manager for the Everglades on the Bay condominium.
If approved by the bankruptcy court, the deal would settle the Chapter 11 bankruptcy case of project developer Cabi Downtown LLC by turning over hundreds of unsold units to its lenders, a syndicate of banks led by Bank of America. An attorney for Bank of America declined to comment.
Everglades on the Bay is the latest among similar agreements announced in the past 45 days, in which lenders have taken control of a total 1,900 new unsold Miami condos in six skyscrapers, said Peter Zalewski, a principal of the real estate consultancy Condo Vultures. Other such deals involved ICON Brickell in downtown Miami and Terrazas Riverpark Village near Miami International Airport.
At Everglades by the Bay, 137 of the 849 units have been sold to date, and 712 remain unsold, said Zalewski. Of the unsold units, about 300 are occupied as part of Cabi’s rental program, according to Cabi Developers General Counsel Cara Yablon.
The agreement will be incorporated into a reorganization plan that still must be approved by the bankruptcy court.
A hearing is expected sometime this month, Yablon said.
Ana Alfonso, an attorney with New York-based Willkie, Farr & Gallagher, who represents Bank of America, declined to comment.
Bank of America filed to foreclose on a $209 million construction loan for Everglades on the Bay on Aug. 18, 2009, about nine months after the project was mostly completed. That same day, Cabi filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.
Cabi had previously proposed a reorganization plan that would have restructured its debt, allowing Cabi’s owners — a group of Mexican investors controlled by Grupo Gicsa — to retain ownership in the project.
DJ you said
I also benefited from the boom/bust. I don’t see what there is to complaint about. You can get some great places for awesome deals these days.
—-> 100% agree –
—-> EXAMPLE – since I purchased my conde from the developer 5 – 6 months ago, the developer sold 9 units (smilar to mine) to investors for $30,000 to $40,000 more then I paid for my unit. And most of these 9 units where on lower floors then mine.
—> so there are good deals out there , you just need to look for them and when you see a great deal move quickly on them.
why bother you said,
DJ, When joe said average miamians, it did not include you and infinity owner. You guys are the well to do relatively speaking, compared to the average $30K salaried miamians. The only way I can see that the average joe (pun intended) from miami benefitted is that they are able to live in these condos on a subsidized rent at least for the first 3 years of the bust. If not for the condo boom, living in a luxury condo like these would have been unthinkable for all these average Joes.
—> I see your point and you are right about if not for the condo boom, living in a luxury condo like these would have been unthinkable for all these average Joes.
joe- “I don’t see how the average Miami resident has benefitted from the so-called boom.”
boom or bust? I’m assuming you mean the decline in housing prices.
The average Miami resident who still has a job and decent credit are finally able to purchase a home they can afford to pay.
There are many young couples who for the first time are able to combine their 30K salary and savings to qualify for foreclosed home or condo that they never imagined they would be able to afford just a few short years ago. Who do you think are taking advantage of the govt $8,000 tax credit?
Incredible, but coming from conservative WSJ, who can challenge this or call it a puff piece?
Luxury Sales Bounce Back
Bidding wars for a $2 million house? In some markets, sales of high-end homes return to levels not seen since the boom
By JULIET CHUNG and JAMES R. HAGERTY
For years, Jennifer Metz and her husband John yearned for a bigger home in San Francisco. Three months ago, the couple started looking, figuring that in this shaky economy, their $3 million budget should provide them a pick of attractive homes and accommodating sellers.
Luxury Going Fast
A Cambridge, Massachusetts home
They were wrong. Hours after seeing a 5,000-square-foot fixer-upper in Presidio Heights with an asking price around $2.7 million, the Metzes put in a bid—and lost. Soon after, they made another offer on a four-bedroom in Russian Hill. Their bid was rejected.
Last week, the Metzes rushed over to a large, dilapidated home in Pacific Heights that needed a lot of work but was asking the (relatively) low price of $2.25 million. The Metzes put in their over-ask bid the next day, but lost that one too: There were nine offers; the winning bid was $2.56 million.
“It’s frustrating,” says Ms. Metz, a 44-year-old stay-at-home mom whose husband works in finance. “You think you put in a good offer but, no.”
After a near-disastrous 2009, the luxury market appears to be making a comeback, driven by growing buyer confidence, improved financing conditions and more-realistic seller pricing. Despite the housing downturn, attractively priced homes in some of the nation’s most coveted neighborhoods are selling, sometimes fast and sometimes with multiple offers. Nationwide, sales of homes selling for $2 million to $5 million in the first quarter totaled 2,461, up 32% from a year before, says CoreLogic.
* Ordinary Joes Still Can’t Afford Luxury
That sales are up from last year shouldn’t come as a big surprise. The shock of the financial panic in the fall of 2008 left many potential buyers too nervous to bid, and those who were willing to wade in found it hard to get financing. But a study for The Wall Street Journal by MDA DataQuick, a real-estate data provider, found that in some areas of the country, sales of homes over $2 million in the first quarter were actually on par with the levels of 2005, the peak year for existing-home sales volume nationwide.
In San Francisco, 49 homes sold for $2 million or more in this year’s first quarter, according to the study, compared to 47 in 2005. In Manhattan, there were 402 sales of $2 million or more in the latest quarter, compared with 311 in the first quarter of 2005, according to the appraisal firm Miller Samuel Inc. Other areas with strong rebounds included New York’s Hamptons, Menlo Park, Calif., and Beverly Hills.
Even a couple of troubled housing markets experienced a strong uptick. In Las Vegas, there were 21 such sales in the first quarter, up from 15 in the first quarter of 2005, according to DataQuick. In Miami, 21 such sales of $2 million or more were recorded in the first quarter, up from 15 last year and close to the 23 that sold in that time five years earlier.
Of course, many markets including Greenwich, Conn. and parts of New Jersey are still ailing. Brokers say pricey homes in outlying suburbs are more likely to sit than sell. Miami-Dade County still has enough homes priced at $2 million or more to last 41 months at the current sales pace, though down from 116 months a year earlier, says Ron Shuffield, president of EWM Realtors, a large local brokerage.
The recent stock market tumble could unravel the turnaround. Unlike the rest of the housing market, which is driven largely by employment trends, housing analysts say high-end buyers are much more sensitive to changes in the stock market, which for the first quarter was helping them feel even wealthier. “If the markets don’t recover soon, it will scare people” and hurt demand for high-end homes, says Kenneth Rosen, chairman of the Fisher Center for Real Estate and Urban Economics at the University of California, Berkeley.
In the meantime, some high-end renovators are making quick sales. Koby Kempel bought a colonial in Brookline, a posh suburb of Boston, last year for $1.45 million. He raised the ceilings, rebuilt the interior, expanded the home by about 50% and added a heated garage. The six-bedroom home was listed by Mona Wiener of Hammond Residential on a Friday in early May and was under contract the next day for the asking price of nearly $3.5 million.
Back in San Francisco’s Pacific Heights neighborhood, a four-bedroom home on Broadway, with a spa and views of the Golden Gate Bridge, was renovated by Gregory Malin. It went on the market in late January and sold two weeks later for $13.5 million, compared with the $14 million asking price. The listing agent, Val Steele of Sotheby’s International Realty, says the sale, at $2,146 per square foot, marked the first time a home in San Francisco topped $2,000 a square foot since early September 2008.
Write to Juliet Chung at [email protected] and James R. Hagerty at [email protected]
Full Story: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704717004575268573660359734.html
Joe, looks like WSJ read your comments on MCI and wrote this article especially for you. If you are waiting for that crash to happen in SOFI, just fuggedaboutit
Despite Bust, Ordinary Joes Still Can’t Afford Stately Homes
By James R. Hagerty
Kimberly Hallen/Boston Virtual Imaging
In Brookline this colonial home with three fireplaces went on the market on a Friday and was under contract the next day for the listing price of nearly $3.5 million.
One of the disappointing aspects of a housing bust is that it doesn’t actually mean ordinary Joes can now afford stately homes with views of the Golden Gate Bridge or luxury apartments overlooking Central Park in Manhattan.
As we report in Friday’s Journal, prices have come down on nearly all types of homes, but there is still pretty fierce competition for homes in coveted neighborhoods with décor that would make the editors of Architectural Digest drool. That proves there are still more wealthy people than there are great homes in the best neighborhoods. The homes that are selling for peanuts generally are in places where the well-heeled don’t wish to bed down.
So far, indeed, the biggest price cuts have come at the lower end of the market. The S&P/Case-Shiller indexes show that home prices in the lower tier of the market in the Miami area are down 61% from the peak, while the upper tier is down 42%. In the Las Vegas area, the lower tier is down 64% and the upper tier 52%. In the New York area, prices are down 27% for the hoi polloi and 17% for the hoity-toity. In Los Angeles, they’re down 53% for the riffraff and 28% for the stars.
Now, some experts say that’s merely because the low end has already adjusted to reality while the high end is still in the clouds. And it is quite possible that prices on poorly located McMansions will have to come down hard to attract buyers. But in the ritziest neighborhoods, don’t look for prices to crash.
*Note: Sales for homes prices between $2 million and $5 million. Excludes sales $5.1 million and higher. Data through March 2010.
Last year, sales of luxury homes were unusually slow, but the market appears to be making a comeback, driven by growing buyer confidence, improved financing conditions and more-realistic seller pricing. Intelligently priced homes in some of the nation’s most coveted neighborhoods are selling, sometimes fast and sometimes with multiple offers. Nationwide, sales of homes selling for $2 million to $5 million in the first quarter totaled 2,461, up 32% from a year before, says CoreLogic. That was still down from a peak of 5,777 in the first quarter of 2006.
The shock of the financial panic in the fall of 2008 left many potential buyers too nervous to bid, and those who were willing to wade in found it hard to get financing. But a study for The Wall Street Journal by MDA DataQuick, a real-estate data provider, found that in some areas of the country, sales of homes over $2 million in the first quarter were actually on par with the levels of 2005, the peak year for existing-home sales volume nationwide.
In San Francisco, 49 homes sold for $2 million or more in this year’s first quarter, according to the study, compared to 47 in 2005. In Manhattan, there were 402 sales of $2 million or more in the latest quarter, compared with 311 in the first quarter of 2005, according to the appraisal firm Miller Samuel Inc. Other areas with strong rebounds included New York’s Hamptons, Menlo Park, Calif., and Beverly Hills.
The recent stock market tumble could chill demand at the high end. Unlike the rest of the housing market, which is driven largely by employment trends, housing analysts say high-end buyers are much more sensitive to changes in the stock market, which for the first quarter was helping them feel even wealthier. “If the markets don’t recover soon, it will scare people” and hurt demand for high-end homes, says Kenneth Rosen, chairman of the Fisher Center for Real Estate and Urban Economics at the University of California, Berkeley.
Over the past few months, however, buyers have been increasingly prone to pounce when they sense a bargain. A four-bedroom ocean front home on Calle Ariana in the Cypress Shores neighborhood of San Clemente, Calif., languished on the market for six months last year at an asking price of $5 million. After it was re-listed in March at $4.3 million, it sold within a couple of weeks to an investment banker for just under $4 million, says Jerry Barbanell of Altera Real Estate, the listing agent. There were two good offers, Mr. Barbanell said, and the seller chose the one that was all cash.
“The good properties — the ones where someone can move right in, that are well priced — are selling very quickly,” says Patrick Barber, president of the San Francisco region for Pacific Union International, a broker.
In Brookline, a posh suburb of Boston, a freshly renovated and expanded colonial home with three fireplaces went on the market on a Friday in early May and was under contract the next day for the listing price of nearly $3.5 million. Brookline has held up better than most other towns in the Boston area because of its location, near the Longwood medical area and only about three miles from downtown, and excellent schools, says Matthew Montgomery, an agent at Hammond Residential Real Estate. He says suburbs further out are still glutted with high-end homes.
Some buyers are getting huge price cuts. In April, a home on the Hawaiian island of Maui sold for $19.9 million, down from the original asking price of $38 million. Nancy Callahan of Island Sotheby’s International Realty, the listing agent, declines to name the buyers but says they are from Wyoming.
New Jersey has a 35-month supply of homes priced at $2.5 million or more, says Jeffrey Otteau, president of Otteau Valuation Group Inc., an appraisal firm in East Brunswick, N.J. That compares with a seven-month supply for the New Jersey housing market as a whole. Mr. Otteau says luxury sales are recovering more slowly than the rest of the market, partly because the state has lost many high-paying jobs in recent years.
Though Mr. Otteau expects the luxury market in New Jersey to improve in the near term, he says it faces another slump within about five years as baby boomers are forced to sell big homes to cut their living expenses and fund retirement. “We’ve got another wave of houses coming on the market over the next five years,” he says.
Full Story: http://blogs.wsj.com/developments/2010/05/27/ordinary-joes-still-cant-afford-stately-homes/
why bother, they won’t call it a puff piece, they will ask about the impending double dip. Many nay sayers are waiting for the double dip, below last year’s low.
I love these golden words so much, I just want to repeat it,
One of the disappointing aspects of a housing bust is that it doesn’t actually mean ordinary Joes can now afford stately homes with views of the Golden Gate Bridge or luxury apartments overlooking Central Park in Manhattan.
As we report in Friday’s Journal, prices have come down on nearly all types of homes, but there is still pretty fierce competition for homes in coveted neighborhoods with décor that would make the editors of Architectural Digest drool. That proves there are still more wealthy people than there are great homes in the best neighborhoods. The homes that are selling for peanuts generally are in places where the well-heeled don’t wish to bed down.
So far, indeed, the biggest price cuts have come at the lower end of the market. The S&P/Case-Shiller indexes show that home prices in the lower tier of the market in the Miami area are down 61% from the peak, while the upper tier is down 42%. In the Las Vegas area, the lower tier is down 64% and the upper tier 52%. In the New York area, prices are down 27% for the hoi polloi and 17% for the hoity-toity. In Los Angeles, they’re down 53% for the riffraff and 28% for the stars.
Makes me think, LOL it is true.
Also I would like to say, there is so much money lying all over the World, wealthy people do not know what to do with it. Can you actually believe, even in this sucky economy of ours, the World wants to park their money in anything USA? The Dollar which people dismissed as worthless toilet paper not too long ago is shooting through the roof. It is up 16% against some currencies. No matter what our woes are, people love anything America and that includes the safety of our Real Estate. That is why I am not surprised that SOFI, Bal Harbor, Venetian Island, Golden Beach Homes etc are holding on to their values despite the fact that Homestead and other far flung areas lost 60-70% of their value. There are more rich people in the World than there are high end homes in super locations.
Case Shiller is a single family home based index so it doesn’t include data on condos or co-op’s.
LOL. “why bother” spouts off, and then gets shot down by the fact his numbers don’t even include condos. What a tool.
why bother – I do agree those areas have held up better than others….BUT there has also been VERY FEW transactions. The high end is taking a hit, it is just behind the lower end markets. With respect to the dollar, it may be worth more compared to other currencies but it will end up being worth less over real things. We are in a unique spot right now (wrt to monetary and fiscal policies and positions and it ain’t a good thing)…and there is a lot of uncertainty regarding US $$$. Our federal debt per person is more than a lot of people in other parts of the world make in a lifetime. The adjustments are coming but that is a long term play. Foreigners should flock to Canada and buy some nice warm clothes to go with it!
-“The adjustments are coming but that is a long term play. Foreigners should flock to Canada and buy some nice warm clothes to go with it”
yeah right, I heard Detroit is a much better bargin than Canada and really close too. I doubt you will convince anyone to go there though even if they will save a boat load on housing.
RT, there is a reason why people from Cnada are buying homes in US. How many Americans have you heard of buying vacation homes in Canada? Like I tried to tell you and others over a year ago who called for the dollar to go the way of Zimbabawe’s. Trees don’t grow to the sky and every thing is relative. The Dollar is not going to zero because there will always be other factors to counteract the effect of a low dollar. We will always be able to count on the european and South American countries (like the PIIGS, throw Japan in there too occasionally) to make the dollar look good. We still enjoy a much higher standard of living compared to rest of the world so America is still the place they aspire to be. I think you guys are just alarmist. After all we know one day the earth will get hit by a giant asteroid possibly killing millions of people ( the history of the earth tells us as much). I don’t hear anyone coming on this blog crying about that and if there was someone we would write him off as a nut. Somehow it is acceptable for people to cry about the financial doom of america even though there is no evidence of such doom. Even if there is an impending collapse of the American way, there are many steps we can take to mitigate the impact. How many steps can we take to prevent an Asteroid? Crazy analogy, I know.
just a reminder on the reality of these numbers. Percentage drops are one thing. But a 25% drop on a $2 million dollar home is a much bigger loss than a 50% drop on a $300k home. Keep it in perspective.
Everyone has a point except Joe.
Joe, Case Schiller is relative and subjective. You can quote CS as it nearly mirrors condo behaviour if not to the exact T. And BTW, you and your frineds extensively quoted CS as a bible all these months and years. Today you are singing a different tune. According to you, CS is irrelevant and does not matter to Miami Condos……………. your words, not mine. So don’t ever use CS to drive your point again lest you look foolish.
Makes Me Think – I was being a bit tough in cheek about buying in Canada…lighten up man.
why bother — Sorry, but you’ve never seen me quote Case Schiller re: condos. Nice try, though.
——
RT makes a good point; one we were discussing a week or two ago. For an allegedly rebounding, “strong” high-end market, there sure as hell aren’t many sales in those price segments in Miami. As I’ve been saying all year, some of the newest and best buildings on SoBe haven’t had more than 2-3 sales all year, including buildings that are still 50-plus percent investor-owned. In fact, some of the developers have been pulling units off the market just so Day 450 on the MLS doesn’t turn into Day 451.
——
Makes Me Think — No one said the U.S. dollar would fall to $0. Again, why does everything have to be so over the top with you?
If you don’t think the U.S. has VERY tough financial times ahead, go check out the balance sheets and problems in Europe. Go check out Drudge Report right now, where there’s a story that says the daily rate of U.S. debt under Obama is TRIPLE what it was under Bush just 2 years ago. Government spending is massively out of control and unsustainable. If you don’t believe this will affect the U.S. economy, the U.S. dollar, and the U.S. standard of living, you’re very naive.
——
Here’s another little tidbit about Miami and its piss-poor job market: The new Chik-fil-A that’s opening in Miami received over *6,000* applications for just 65 jobs. And these are low-wage service jobs in a restaurant. Amazing.
joe – If you don’t think the U.S. has VERY tough financial times ahead, go check out the balance sheets and problems in Europe. Go check out Drudge Report right now, where there’s a story that says the daily rate of U.S. debt under Obama is TRIPLE what it was under Bush just 2 years ago.
sorry don’t read that report, I like objective news without obvious agendas.
That’s your problem man, you let these people with agendas form your opinion for you. Some comments about Drudge Report;
“Richard Siklos, an editor of Fortune magazine, called the Drudge Report
a “conservative bullhorn”,[39] the Los Angeles Times labelled Drudge a “well-
known conservative warrior”,[40] the New York Times referred to him as
a “conservative muckraker”,[41] and Glenn Greenwald called him a “right-wing
hack”.[42] Greenwald also wrote that the Drudge Report (inter alia) is part of
the “Bush/Cheney right-wing noise machine”,[43] adding: “Allowing [websites like
Drudge Report, inter alia] to dominate our political debates and drive media
coverage guarantees a decrepit, rotted, and deeply corrupt country. … Their
endless lynch mob crusades supplant rational and substantive political
debates.”[44]……wikipedia”
Let us assume the report is right (and I don’t trust these numbers unless i can verify it myself because there are too many ways it can be skewed.) Is it really a surprise to you that the deficit is up significantly? The deficit was going to increase regardless of who was in office because the recession is a severe one and tax rolls are down dramatically. Quick question for you is how much more was the deficit under Bush than it was under Clinton? Does the drudge report have some info on that?
Joe -Again, why does everything have to be so over the top with you?
funny, why don’t you ask that of others when they come here talking crazy about the dollar being on par with Zimbabwe, moving money out of the US, housing market, Miami RE , inflation or any other host of topics we get here? I don’t hear you questioning them, instead you cheer-lead. Don’t be a fucking hypocrite! I go over the top to let you know how silly you sound. somehow it get to you when I (an opposing view) do it, when you do the same it sounds totally logical. At least I know and mention my comments are out there hence – “Crazy analogy, I know”
RT, was just trying to point out that even though some places have problems, sometimes serious problems they are still desireable places, more so than places that may have obvous advantages. These cities are like the crazy, high maint., hot chicks. Every guy want’s to be with her even though he knows she is crazy as hell and full of drama. Miami is like that crazy hot chick, people will always gravitate to her. They are always willing to give her the benefit of doubt.
makes me think — Did you skip your meds today or what?
First of all, except in very rare cases, the Drudge Report doesn’t actually report anything; it’s simply a repository of links, sort of like Google News.
Second, no one here is more over the top on a constant basis than you. Just a few hours ago, RT cracked a joke about moving to Canada and you flew off the handle, as if he was serious. Lighten up, man. Life’s too short to be such a crank all the time.
Makes me think, Very objective regarding #28. But don’t waste your breath with the incorrigible Joe. He cannot be cured.
I completely agree with the hot chick analysis. You go with her fully knowing that it is going to cost you money and she is high maintenance. But that has not stopped millions of men drooling after the likes of Scarlett Johanssen or Cameron Diaz look alikes. Miami or specifically, a condo or a home in Miami is like a trophy wife or a trophy girl friend. If you want to go to bed with her, then do not compare costs. If you want someone who is low maintenance and also cook and clean for you, go with a homely plain Jane (in this analogy any other non glamorous city in America other than NY-LA-Miami).
Very Interesting;
Condo developers have sky-high dreams for Brickell area
Construction on a 35-story condo tower is set to begin in July in Miami’s Brickell corridor. SkyPalace developers hope it will pump new life into the area’s real estate market.
Isos Stamelos-Monroe, vice president of sales and managing broker of Skyline Equities Realty, stands on a balcony that faces the future site of a 35-story luxury condo, SkyPalace at Mary Brickell Village.
MARSHA HALPER / MIAMI HERALD STAFF
BY INA PAIVA CORDLE
[email protected]
Picture a lobby adorned with Roman columns, statues and a Swarovski crystal chandelier. Eleven stories above, a pool deck offers panoramic views of Brickell Avenue skyscrapers.
Perching atop Publix at Mary Brickell Village, construction on SkyPalace, a new 35-story condominium tower, is slated to begin next month after three years of delay.
Pending financing, Miami’s overheated condo market will get its latest infusion when the Mediterranean-style building is completed at the end of 2011. As the first residential building built in the Brickell corridor since the condo glut began, its developers hope it will pump new life into the area’s real estate market.
“We want to be one of the only products available in the market upon delivery that’s new,” said Isos Stamelos-Monroe, 30, SkyPalace’s vice president of sales.
To date, buyers — mostly foreign investors and second-home purchasers — have put contracts on 190 of the 369 units, priced from $249,000 to $2.5 million, he said.
That’s a positive step for both the project and the market, said real estate analyst Michael Y. Cannon.
“This is a sign that if they are successful in getting presales, and the construction lender lends, hopefully the market has made its turn,” said Cannon, executive director of Integra Realty Resources-Miami.
Stamelos-Monroe is counting on existing condo inventory in the area to be absorbed and mortgages to be more readily available by the time buyers close on SkyPalace units.
A March report by Goodkin Consulting and Focus Real Estate Advisors shows that 22,079 new condos were delivered in Miami’s downtown corridor, including Brickell, from 2003 through early 2010. More than 70 percent of that inventory has now been absorbed, leaving 7,500 new condos available in the downtown corridor.
Joe – First of all, except in very rare cases, the Drudge Report doesn’t actually report anything; it’s simply a repository of links, sort of like Google News.
Yeah, sort of like Google News and Renter Tom. I guess he does not have political leanings. your comment shows how Naive you are.
with regards to Canada I never flew off the handle, you sound like you were sitting in my living room when I wrote the comment. Please read my comment #23 again and explain where I flew off the handle. Talk about over the top, can you be more of a hypocrite?
Makes Me Think said: “Miami is like that crazy hot chick, people will always gravitate to her. They are always willing to give her the benefit of doubt.”
— Which people? The 6,000 people applying for a job at Chik-fil-A? I don’t see huge numbers of good jobs or independently wealthy people flocking into Miami.
Makes Me Think said: “with regards to Canada I never flew off the handle, you sound like you were sitting in my living room when I wrote the comment. Please read my comment #23 again and explain where I flew off the handle. Talk about over the top, can you be more of a hypocrite?”
— Um, RT simply cracked a joke about moving to Canada, but you CLEARLY thought it was a serious comment. Lighten up. You, “why bother,” Gixxer 1000, and F-35 need to relax little.
(And how am I a hypocrite? I’ve never said the dollar would be worthless, etc., etc. Get real. If you’re going to hurl insults, at least mix in a little honesty and accuracy.)
Wellllllll……..the chicken sandwich really is that good at Chick-fil-A. Perhaps they thought the store was open for business! Just kidding…tasty sandwich though. 🙂
I just can’t get exited at all about the real estate market…at least for a place I want to actually live in. I guess we need a bit more pain for things to finally bottom and we start to clear the market. With high unemployment…even if paying with chicken sandwiches…the real estate market is simply NOT poised for appreciation.
A commenter on another blog said:
“I don’t know the polo pony market very well, but I do know the horse market, from being a trainer and breeder for over 20 years. I do know that it is very hard to sell a horse in the US right now, you can buy a $30-$40,000. horse for $10K, and cannot give away a $10K horse.”
– That should tell you something about the second home luxury condo market. Like a horse, you don’t need it and it costs a lot to feed for very little use. At some point at least, the horse does and you can sell to the glue and jello factory, with condos you just get higher taxes…. LOL