South Florida home prices continued to drop in the third quarter, spurring an increase in condominium sales, even as single-family sales slumped, a report released Thursday by the Florida Association of Realtors found.
In Miami-Dade County, condo sales jumped to 2,527 in the third quarter, up 43 percent compared to the third quarter of last year. Single-family home sales dipped slightly to 1,812, down 1 percent from last year.
In Broward County, both condo sales and single-family home sales were down in the third quarter. Condo sales totaled 2,459 for an 8 percent drop, and single-family home sales totaled 2,076, an 18 percent drop.
Median prices dropped across the board. Single-family homes in Miami-Dade was $191,100, down 1 percent. Median-priced condos cost $104,600, a decrease of 24 percent.
In Broward, condo prices were $73,100 and single-family home prices stood at $209,600, down 10 and 2 percent, respectively.
Source: http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/11/12/1921731/for-the-quarter-home-prices-fall.html
TOLUSE OLORUNNIPA
The Criscitos has been selling South Florida luxury and commercial real estate for over a decade and has sold over $1 billion dollars of property. They work as a multi-lingual team speaking english, Spanish, Italian and Portuguese. They carved out a niche as a leading boutique real estate company with two distinct divisions -residential and commercial- both personally overseeing by Marcela and Anthony Criscito.
Showing posts with label bulk buyers. Show all posts
Showing posts with label bulk buyers. Show all posts
Monday, November 15, 2010
Friday, September 10, 2010
Investors buying South Florida condos in bulk
Attracted by plunging prices, big-time investors have begun buying South Florida condo units by the dozens, in bulk deals valued in the tens of millions of dollars.
Since July 2008, 63 sales have closed in Palm Beach, Broward and Miami-Dade counties representing 6,000 condo units worth $1.6 billion, according to CondoVultures.com, a Bal Harbour-based consulting firm. There were no such deals in 2006 or 2007.
Miami-Dade has been the site of most of the bulk sales, but available properties there are becoming scarce, leading investors to move north into Broward and Palm Beach counties, CondoVultures said.
The bulk sales are good for existing owners, who are desperate for a more vibrant lifestyle that doesn't exist in these mostly dark developments.
One of the largest deals was engineered recently by Ophir Sternberg, managing partner of Lionheart Capital, a Miami-based private equity firm.
His group paid $117.3 million for the remaining 146 oceanfront condos at 2700 North Ocean Drive on Singer Island in Riviera Beach. The cash-and-debt deal is the most expensive bulk sale in the three counties so far this year.
Lionheart paid $803,483 a unit. The condos are valued at about $1.5 million, CondoVultures said.
"The South Florida market has been hit very hard, but it's one that we think is going to bounce back and has great potential," Sternberg said.
Existing owners usually are thrilled when bulk buyers take control of a condo complex, said Mark Pordes, founder and president of an Aventura real estate brokerage. The investors will cover past-due association fees and breathe new life into the project, he said.
"If you're at the pool by yourself, it's not the best feeling in the world," Pordes said. "The reason many people buy condos is they don't like the sense of being alone."
Pordes said he has arranged eight bulk sales across South Florida and has three more in the pipeline. In some cases, his firm takes an ownership stake in projects. Pordes said investors from New York, Canada and South America have contacted him about finding them deals.
"They want to buy in now at prices below construction costs," Pordes said. "South Florida still has the beaches and the weather. It's always going to be appealing."
Condo prices across the region have tumbled by about 60 percent since the peak of the housing boom in 2005. The foreclosure crisis could keep prices depressed for three more years, forcing bulk buyers to rent the units until they can sell them, said Mark Grant, a Fort Lauderdale real estate lawyer and partner at Ruden McClosky.
"Investors realize they have a holding time," Grant said. "They'll be waiting a few years to get rid of this product."
In June, an affiliate of Dizengoff-Trading Co. paid $8.2 million for 106 units at Bermuda Cay in Boynton Beach. It's one of two bulk sales the Israeli-based firm has completed in South Florida. The other was a $6.5 million deal for 115 units at Courtney Park in Lake Worth.
Ronen Saban, Dizengoff's U.S. region manager, said the firm plans to stabilize both complexes by renting the units. "It's too early to plan for an exit in this market," he said.
Also this summer, The McKafka Group bought 64 units at Las Olas on the River for $8.6 million. The deal remains the largest bulk sale in Fort Lauderdale, said Peter Zalewski, principal at CondoVultures. His firm works with investor groups looking to buy properties at deeply discounted prices.
The 240-unit Las Olas on the River was built in 2005 at the height of the boom. The building was in foreclosure, and a short sale of the condos was approved by the lender, Bank of America, Fernando Levy-Hara, managing partner at McKafka, said at the time.
Levy-Hara could not be reached for comment this week.
The bulk sales could accelerate after a new condo reform bill took effect July 1 that limits the liability of bulk buyers, analysts say.
Florida law used to consider a developer anyone who bought more than seven units in a building of 70 units or more. Those buyers were forced to assume the same legal and financial responsibilities as developers who build condos. The new bill eliminated the title of developer for bulk buyers.
As a result, even more investors will be eager to buy, and sellers will be able to fetch more money, Grant said. Ultimately, that will help the condo market recover.
Lionheart, which bought the two-tower 2700 North Ocean condo from Catalfumo Construction in Palm Beach Gardens, plans to launch a marketing campaign this fall.
Fewer than half the units – 96 – were scooped up by individual buyers who paid roughly $900,000 to more than $3 million during the real estate run-up.
Sternberg said he expects the 146 units to start selling at about $1 million.
A spokeswoman for Lionheart said the firm is talking to Ritz-Carlton about turning the condo into resort-style residences. Sternberg was vague about the project's future.
"We're going to wait for the right buyers and have a patient approach," he said.
Source: http://www.sun-sentinel.com/business/fl-bulk-condo-sales-20100910,0,5244079.story
Paul Owers can be reached at Powers@Sunsentinel.com or 561-243-6529
Since July 2008, 63 sales have closed in Palm Beach, Broward and Miami-Dade counties representing 6,000 condo units worth $1.6 billion, according to CondoVultures.com, a Bal Harbour-based consulting firm. There were no such deals in 2006 or 2007.
Miami-Dade has been the site of most of the bulk sales, but available properties there are becoming scarce, leading investors to move north into Broward and Palm Beach counties, CondoVultures said.
The bulk sales are good for existing owners, who are desperate for a more vibrant lifestyle that doesn't exist in these mostly dark developments.
One of the largest deals was engineered recently by Ophir Sternberg, managing partner of Lionheart Capital, a Miami-based private equity firm.
His group paid $117.3 million for the remaining 146 oceanfront condos at 2700 North Ocean Drive on Singer Island in Riviera Beach. The cash-and-debt deal is the most expensive bulk sale in the three counties so far this year.
Lionheart paid $803,483 a unit. The condos are valued at about $1.5 million, CondoVultures said.
"The South Florida market has been hit very hard, but it's one that we think is going to bounce back and has great potential," Sternberg said.
Existing owners usually are thrilled when bulk buyers take control of a condo complex, said Mark Pordes, founder and president of an Aventura real estate brokerage. The investors will cover past-due association fees and breathe new life into the project, he said.
"If you're at the pool by yourself, it's not the best feeling in the world," Pordes said. "The reason many people buy condos is they don't like the sense of being alone."
Pordes said he has arranged eight bulk sales across South Florida and has three more in the pipeline. In some cases, his firm takes an ownership stake in projects. Pordes said investors from New York, Canada and South America have contacted him about finding them deals.
"They want to buy in now at prices below construction costs," Pordes said. "South Florida still has the beaches and the weather. It's always going to be appealing."
Condo prices across the region have tumbled by about 60 percent since the peak of the housing boom in 2005. The foreclosure crisis could keep prices depressed for three more years, forcing bulk buyers to rent the units until they can sell them, said Mark Grant, a Fort Lauderdale real estate lawyer and partner at Ruden McClosky.
"Investors realize they have a holding time," Grant said. "They'll be waiting a few years to get rid of this product."
In June, an affiliate of Dizengoff-Trading Co. paid $8.2 million for 106 units at Bermuda Cay in Boynton Beach. It's one of two bulk sales the Israeli-based firm has completed in South Florida. The other was a $6.5 million deal for 115 units at Courtney Park in Lake Worth.
Ronen Saban, Dizengoff's U.S. region manager, said the firm plans to stabilize both complexes by renting the units. "It's too early to plan for an exit in this market," he said.
Also this summer, The McKafka Group bought 64 units at Las Olas on the River for $8.6 million. The deal remains the largest bulk sale in Fort Lauderdale, said Peter Zalewski, principal at CondoVultures. His firm works with investor groups looking to buy properties at deeply discounted prices.
The 240-unit Las Olas on the River was built in 2005 at the height of the boom. The building was in foreclosure, and a short sale of the condos was approved by the lender, Bank of America, Fernando Levy-Hara, managing partner at McKafka, said at the time.
Levy-Hara could not be reached for comment this week.
The bulk sales could accelerate after a new condo reform bill took effect July 1 that limits the liability of bulk buyers, analysts say.
Florida law used to consider a developer anyone who bought more than seven units in a building of 70 units or more. Those buyers were forced to assume the same legal and financial responsibilities as developers who build condos. The new bill eliminated the title of developer for bulk buyers.
As a result, even more investors will be eager to buy, and sellers will be able to fetch more money, Grant said. Ultimately, that will help the condo market recover.
Lionheart, which bought the two-tower 2700 North Ocean condo from Catalfumo Construction in Palm Beach Gardens, plans to launch a marketing campaign this fall.
Fewer than half the units – 96 – were scooped up by individual buyers who paid roughly $900,000 to more than $3 million during the real estate run-up.
Sternberg said he expects the 146 units to start selling at about $1 million.
A spokeswoman for Lionheart said the firm is talking to Ritz-Carlton about turning the condo into resort-style residences. Sternberg was vague about the project's future.
"We're going to wait for the right buyers and have a patient approach," he said.
Source: http://www.sun-sentinel.com/business/fl-bulk-condo-sales-20100910,0,5244079.story
Paul Owers can be reached at Powers@Sunsentinel.com or 561-243-6529
Thursday, June 24, 2010
Bulk buyers target condo market for future profit
Miami-Dade's existing condo sales in May were up more than 70 percent compared with the same month last year. Backed by a multibillion-dollar private equity firm in New York, a team of Miami investors and strategists launched Lionheart Capital this year looking to scoop up choice South Florida condos at rock-bottom prices.
In its first deal, the firm plunked down $120 million this month to buy up 146 units at the 2700 North Ocean Drive towers on Singer Island in Palm Beach County.
It marked the 50th bulk condo purchase in South Florida in the last two years, according to analysis by Peter Zalewski, a principal of the real estate consultancy Condo Vultures.
New figures released Tuesday by the trade group Florida Realtors indicate that investors like Lionheart may be getting into South Florida's fragile condo market at an opportune time -- but they also could be in for a long wait before condo prices return to pre-recession levels.
Single-family homes prices may have already begun to rise, with prices increasing for the second month in a row in Miami-Dade and Broward counties, the Florida Realtors' report found.
Miami-Dade's existing condo sales in May were up more than 70 percent compared with the same month last year, with 972 units sold. That's an increase of 34 percent over April. But with plenty of inventory still on the market, condo prices were still down, dipping 10 percent to $126,100, the trade group's report found.
In Broward, median condo prices increased for the first time in more than three years, rising 1 percent to $81,500 in May. Year-over-year sales were up 21 percent to 965.
``We've seen a decline in inventory and increase in sales, and when you've got those two graphs going in a positive direction, it's a good sign,'' said Ron Shuffield, president of Esslinger-Wooten-Maxwell Realtors.
With signs of improvement trickling in for South Florida's beleaguered housing market, investors that have large piles of cash at their disposal are seeking bulk deals, with plans to flip condo units for a profit post-rebound.
Options are limited for prime downtown Miami and Miami Beach locations, so many bulk buyers are being pushed to consider deals farther north, with Palm Beach County in the spotlight, Zalewski said.
Ophir Sternberg, managing partner of Lionheart Capital, said the choice to buy units at 2700 North Ocean in bulk allowed the investors to get a competitive price while the market was still down. The company is looking at other bulk deal options in South Floria, Sternberg said.
``We've been intensively searching the South Florida market for about a year for a high-quality oceanfront deal,'' he said. ``When we found this one, there was nothing better in terms of quality and location.''
Lionheart paid about $250 per square foot in the bulk purchase, about $803,500 per unit.
While only 96 of the 342 units in the luxury towers have sold in the past two years, current condo owners at 2700 North Ocean paid an average of $1.47 million per unit, or $520 per square foot, the Condo Vultures report found.
Sternberg said he planned to take some time to study the property, then begin a new marketing campaign in the fall to start filling the units.
In the last two years, bulk buyers have bought up more than 4,800 units in South Florida, paying a total of about about $1.5 billion, the Condo Vultures report shows.
These bulk purchases tend to boost sales numbers but keep median prices down, since they are often bought at a discount.
In Miami-Dade, year-over-year home sales were up 22 percent at 727, and the median home price increased by 1 percent to $196,700.
In Broward, sales were down 6 percent compared to May 2009, but prices rose to $216,400, a 14 percent increase compared to last year.
Florida's single-family home sales also showed some positive signs in May, increasing 18 percent over the same month last year. Median prices, however, dipped 2 percent to $140,400.
Nationally, single-family home sales increased 19 percent over the year, and median price was $179,600 in May, up 2.7 percent from May 2009.
But Zalewski, who monitors local transactions on a weekly basis, says there is reason to be cautious about the state and national numbers, which are lagging indicators.
More recent reports by his team found that the inventory of single-family homes, town houses and condos on the market has been increasing in South Florida for the past three weeks, a strange turn after nearly two years of steadily decreasing numbers of homes for sale.
It could be a signal that homeowners who are not in foreclosure but have been waiting patiently for a rebound, may be beginning to put their homes back on the market. If inventory continues to increase over the next few weeks, it would be an ominous sign that the industry is headed for a stalled recovery, Zalewski said, emphasizing that additional inventory could keep home prices down in the months ahead.
``If we have six weeks in a row of [increasing inventory], we could be in trouble,'' he said. ``This might be a sign of a double dip.''
Source: http://www.sun-sentinel.com/business/sfl-condos-bulk-buying,0,1020170.story
By TOLUSE OLORUNNIPA
The Miami Herald
In its first deal, the firm plunked down $120 million this month to buy up 146 units at the 2700 North Ocean Drive towers on Singer Island in Palm Beach County.
It marked the 50th bulk condo purchase in South Florida in the last two years, according to analysis by Peter Zalewski, a principal of the real estate consultancy Condo Vultures.
New figures released Tuesday by the trade group Florida Realtors indicate that investors like Lionheart may be getting into South Florida's fragile condo market at an opportune time -- but they also could be in for a long wait before condo prices return to pre-recession levels.
Single-family homes prices may have already begun to rise, with prices increasing for the second month in a row in Miami-Dade and Broward counties, the Florida Realtors' report found.
Miami-Dade's existing condo sales in May were up more than 70 percent compared with the same month last year, with 972 units sold. That's an increase of 34 percent over April. But with plenty of inventory still on the market, condo prices were still down, dipping 10 percent to $126,100, the trade group's report found.
In Broward, median condo prices increased for the first time in more than three years, rising 1 percent to $81,500 in May. Year-over-year sales were up 21 percent to 965.
``We've seen a decline in inventory and increase in sales, and when you've got those two graphs going in a positive direction, it's a good sign,'' said Ron Shuffield, president of Esslinger-Wooten-Maxwell Realtors.
With signs of improvement trickling in for South Florida's beleaguered housing market, investors that have large piles of cash at their disposal are seeking bulk deals, with plans to flip condo units for a profit post-rebound.
Options are limited for prime downtown Miami and Miami Beach locations, so many bulk buyers are being pushed to consider deals farther north, with Palm Beach County in the spotlight, Zalewski said.
Ophir Sternberg, managing partner of Lionheart Capital, said the choice to buy units at 2700 North Ocean in bulk allowed the investors to get a competitive price while the market was still down. The company is looking at other bulk deal options in South Floria, Sternberg said.
``We've been intensively searching the South Florida market for about a year for a high-quality oceanfront deal,'' he said. ``When we found this one, there was nothing better in terms of quality and location.''
Lionheart paid about $250 per square foot in the bulk purchase, about $803,500 per unit.
While only 96 of the 342 units in the luxury towers have sold in the past two years, current condo owners at 2700 North Ocean paid an average of $1.47 million per unit, or $520 per square foot, the Condo Vultures report found.
Sternberg said he planned to take some time to study the property, then begin a new marketing campaign in the fall to start filling the units.
In the last two years, bulk buyers have bought up more than 4,800 units in South Florida, paying a total of about about $1.5 billion, the Condo Vultures report shows.
These bulk purchases tend to boost sales numbers but keep median prices down, since they are often bought at a discount.
In Miami-Dade, year-over-year home sales were up 22 percent at 727, and the median home price increased by 1 percent to $196,700.
In Broward, sales were down 6 percent compared to May 2009, but prices rose to $216,400, a 14 percent increase compared to last year.
Florida's single-family home sales also showed some positive signs in May, increasing 18 percent over the same month last year. Median prices, however, dipped 2 percent to $140,400.
Nationally, single-family home sales increased 19 percent over the year, and median price was $179,600 in May, up 2.7 percent from May 2009.
But Zalewski, who monitors local transactions on a weekly basis, says there is reason to be cautious about the state and national numbers, which are lagging indicators.
More recent reports by his team found that the inventory of single-family homes, town houses and condos on the market has been increasing in South Florida for the past three weeks, a strange turn after nearly two years of steadily decreasing numbers of homes for sale.
It could be a signal that homeowners who are not in foreclosure but have been waiting patiently for a rebound, may be beginning to put their homes back on the market. If inventory continues to increase over the next few weeks, it would be an ominous sign that the industry is headed for a stalled recovery, Zalewski said, emphasizing that additional inventory could keep home prices down in the months ahead.
``If we have six weeks in a row of [increasing inventory], we could be in trouble,'' he said. ``This might be a sign of a double dip.''
Source: http://www.sun-sentinel.com/business/sfl-condos-bulk-buying,0,1020170.story
By TOLUSE OLORUNNIPA
The Miami Herald
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