Cutting Their Losses And Running In Florida

[Crewleader]

The Housing Bubble

February 11, 2010


The St Petersburg Times reports from Florida. “Developer Joel Cantor proclaims it his ‘jihad mission’ to sell out his Signature Place condominium tower on the St. Petersburg waterfront. His lender, Fifth Third Bank, is putting 35 units up for auction next month at starting prices that are two-thirds less than what Cantor had been asking. Cantor is trying to put a happy face on a hurry-up sales strategy forced by the most hostile real estate climate in decades. ‘We really didn’t have a choice,’ Cantor said of the auction. ‘I’m going to look like I’ve gone under.’”

“‘It’s wildly below market value. It’s a starting point, hopefully. But who knows? That may be all the market will pay,’ said Jon Gollinger, president of auctioneer Accelerated Marketing Partners.”

“Cantor has been charging about $300 per square foot on units that cost him $417 per square foot to build. Auction prices will probably be lower. ‘This auction is not my idea,’ he said. ‘We’re for it, of course. But I feel for my customers.’”

http://thehousingbubbleblog.com/?p=5878

[alstephenson]

1. Tough luck. That's why they call real estate cyclical.

Guess he missed the cycle this time.

[dixiegrrrrl]

2. The rest of the info on that linked page is not good, either.

"the seeds exist for an increase in foreclosures in the high-end market in 2010."

"There is no sign the foreclosure crisis will ease in the next two years, several local economists and government officials said. That means property values will continue to decline...."

“‘The social and moral barriers to foreclosure are just falling all around us,’ Pittenger said. ‘People who you would never think would enter into foreclosure are doing it, just cutting their losses and running. They are thinking that, ‘I am never going to get out of this,’ and they’re probably right.’”


I keep hearing the Administration meme of " We are in slow recovery".
but I am reading many sources saying high end and commercial mortgages are facing a huge loss.

[sendero]

4. Strategic Defaults..

... are about to skyrocket IMHO. As more and more people realize that the housing market is simply never going to rebound to the heights of 2005 and that they are just throwing good money after bad.

This is turn is going to depress housing prices even more.

[liberal N proud]

3. They were in such a rush to tear down all the mom and pop motels

that once lined the beaches for these towers and private access to beaches.