Thursday, April 07, 2005

"Speculation Madness" In South Florida

A writer at the Miami Herald is spooked about the dark, empty condos. "I looked up at the tall new residential tower by the New River and shuddered. It was a 31-story tower of darkness. Lights shone from no more than a dozen of the 315 condos. The rest were a study in black windows and empty balconies."

"Last month, Raymond James & Associates warned that 'anecdotal reports' indicated speculators and investors accounted for 85 per cent of Miami high-rise condo sales. There are reports of condos changing ownership two or three times without an actual human being ever moving in."

The writer sees a silver lining. "When the bubble bursts, South Florida will have a ready-made solution to its affordable housing problem. After the big bust in the 1980s, a regular Joe could land himself a luxury high-rise condo on Miami's Brickell Avenue for 60 grand."

For the record, this blog has been here before.

9 Comments:

At 1:10 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Higher interest rates are going to hurt, everyone.

http://money.cnn.com/2005/04/07/news/economy/debt_consumers/index.htm?cnn=yes

 
At 1:15 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Why rent matters:

http://money.cnn.com/2005/04/05/real_estate/rentprices/index.htm

 
At 1:22 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Fannie a threat to the economy. Sensitive to interest rate exposure.

http://money.cnn.com/2005/04/07/news/economy/snow_gse.reut/index.htm

 
At 1:46 PM, Blogger Ben Jones said...

Anon,
Those are great links. CNN is working the calculator for a change.
Thx..Ben

 
At 7:26 PM, Blogger Ben Jones said...

(I may be moving there cheap in a few years.)

John,
Thats an oldie but a goodie. I had to link back to that. We may all have a FL summer condo soon!
Ben

 
At 9:22 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

It would be nice if we could set up some kind of discussion forum for those who hope to go bargain hunting after the crash. There are books on the subject, of course, but that's not the same as hearing real-life experiences, especially from people who have done this before (1987, anyone?)

 
At 10:33 PM, Blogger Ben Jones said...

Hi Deb,
(We didn't know how much longer the market would continue to be severely depressed)

You nailed it again. When the bust came in Texas in the 80's, what wore everyone down was the duration of the downturn. We got to feeling it would never turn up. The years add up.

(It would be nice if we could set up some kind of discussion forum for those who hope to go bargain hunting after the crash)

I hope to get into that more. Suggestions are appreciated.

Great posts guys and gals!.Ben

 
At 8:55 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

We looked at some lofts in downtown LA and it was the same situation. Less than 10% occupied - all of the rest of the units are owned by investors who are flipping their properties as soon as they can.

 
At 9:56 AM, Blogger Ben Jones said...

(We looked at some lofts in downtown LA and it was the same situation. Less than 10% occupied)

Wow. Please keep us updated on LA. Good luck..Ben

 

Post a Comment

<< Home