The Daily Soak - April 26

Economist shares good news for Collier County real estate market


Florida economist Hank Fishkind recently spoke at a Naples Area Board of Realtors event and said six words that bottom-seekers have been waiting months to hear: “The markets are not eroding further.” Fishkind was not as optimistic about the Lee and Charlotte County markets where excess inventory issues are a bit more daunting. In summary, Fishkind said that Collier County home prices are back to where they were in 2006 and that the broader economic recovery will be slow considering the county's historic dependence on construction and tourism. Event attendees included representatives from Lely Resort where 160 units sold in the first three months of this year compared to 100 units in all of 2007.


Panhandle Housing Situation Leads to Condo Auction in Gulf Shores

Just down the road from Pensacola in Gulf Shores, AL a local developer is planning to auction 30 condominiums today. 100 of the 170 units in the 20-story Cyrstal Tower were sold from the $400's during 2004 pre-sales. The developer opted to hold on to the remaining 70 thinking prices would continue surging. That didn't work out so well. Prices in the Panhandle area peaked in the first half of 2006 (median price of $450,000) and have continued steadily downward for the past two years to a median price of $300.000. Sales activity in Baldwin County, AL peaked in early 2004 when sales exceeded 500 per month; a good month in 2008 is about 10% of that. No minimum bids are required in today's auction, so we should have a good indication of how far condo prices have dropped around the Panhandle. Check back tomorrow for an update.


Florida Housing Boom Brought Out Worst in Career Criminal

An interesting follow-up to a 2007 article on a notorious New Yorker who worked his way up from the petty ranks of grand theft to the more lucrative world of mortgage lending in Florida. The article describes how a sweetheart named Victor Clavizzao scammed dozens of homebuyers, many elderly and/or paralyzed living on Social Security income. After entering the mortgage business in 2005, Clavizzao first garnered attention after making a series of loans to relatives with the same last name. In something straight out of a Carl Hiaasen novel, Clavizzao's brother Anthony once signed a power of attorney form for two $800,000 condos while serving jail time for cocaine charges.