The Daily Soak - July 11

"Paradise Lost" Redux: Time Magazine Sucker Punches Us Again

The Sunshine State last graced the cover of Time Magazine in a 1981 feature titled "Paradise Lost?" That article hit South Florida especially hard painting an accurate picture of gang violence, corruption and drug trafficking run amok. 27 years later, Time has once again decided to kick us while we're down. Michael Grunwald surveys the landscape of overbuilding and foreclosures and gloats, "now the financial and environmental bill for a century of runaway growth and exploitation is coming due." But rather than offering a balanced assessment of the state's status quo, the writer opts for Cocaine Cowboys-style hyperbole. Rather than focusing on the problems of the average Florida homeowner, he swings for the fences with Juan Puig: a Cuban immigrant with ties to Pablo Escobar who made and lost a small fortune flipping Miami condos. By focusing on Puig, Grunwald can paint anyone who owns Florida real estate with the same broad brushstroke of greed and corruption, while simultaneously pushing his own global warming agenda. Fortunately for Floridians, Time has a rich history of false prophecies both--to borrow a phrase from Grunwald--financial and environmental.


Sarasota-Bradenton and Flint, Michigan: Sister Cities?

The hyperbole continues at the state level with a piece in the Sarasota Herald-Tribune (H-T) comparing the Sarasota-Bradenton economy with Flint, Michigan. Granted, both cities ranked in the Top 5 of a recent Department of Labor job loss survey, but the similarities end right there. Sarasota-Bradenton saw phenomenal growth and job creation from 2000-2007, while Flint and the rest of Michigan have witnessed the longest stretch of job losses since the Great Depression. The jobless rate in Sarasota (5.8%) is much lower than Flint (11.1%), "But those numbers," the H-T bellows, "do not count the people who have simply packed up and moved out." Bingo! Believe it or not, not everyone is going to continue living in Florida! This isn't Koyaanisqatsi; it's simple labor supply and demand, and it will sort itself out. These alarmist comparisons don't benefit anyone, and Michigan transplants posting on the H-T website branded the article as "sensationalist BS."


South Beach Real Estate Still A Magnet for Russian Celebrities, Cash

"Lenny Kravitz!...Paris Hilton!....Irina Allegrova!" Celebrity sightings are an everyday occurrence on South Beach, and according to the Wall Street Journal, Miami's attraction is still strong for Russian celebrities and multi-millionaires. HB.com reported on this phenomenon back in April, and the Journal article focuses specifically on Russian globetrotters who are snatching up trophy homes in some of the world's most expensive real estate markets like Manhattan and London, where one neighborhood is now referred to as "Moscow on the Thames." Closer to home, three Russians purchased $5 million homes in the new-Urbanist Aqua development on Allison Island. Florida real estate brokers like Michael Valdes say they are working with individual buyers, Russian developers like Mirax Group and hedge funds looking to make bulk condo purchases in South Florida.