Bankrupt investment firm Lehman Brothers is foreclosing on nearly $91 million in problem South Florida loans, an amount that represents nearly 1 percent of the regional total foreclosure value through the first three quarters of 2008, according to a new report from Condo Vultures® LLC.
Most of Lehman Brothers’ bad loan amount is in Miami-Dade County, where $90 million worth of financing is in default. An additional $596,000 in residential financing is in default in Palm Beach County, and $355,000 in residential financing in Broward County, according to the Bal Harbour, Fla.-based consultancy that generated the report based on circuit court records.
The bulk of Lehman's South Florida lending was in the commercial sector, where it has 50 commercial loans with a combined value of $2.4 billion allocated. All of these loans are greater than $10 million, and most appear to be performing, according to a previous Condo Vultures® report.
Washington, in an attempt to avoid another Lehman-like failure, is working to implement a bailout package to avoid any further financial meltdown and curb the spiking number of foreclosures.
In the meantime in South Florida, lenders have been busy foreclosing between January and September filing 55,737 actions valued at more than $14.2 billion on properties in Miami-Dade, Broward, and Palm Beach counties. Condominiums and townhouses account for 16,553, or 30 percent, of the actions filed, totaling $3.4 billion, according to the report.
In what may be a surprise to some, Broward County, not Miami-Dade County, has the highest concentration of total foreclosure actions with 24,733, or 42.2 percent, of the actions filed, totaling $5.99 billion, according to the report.
Palm Beach County is second with 17,065, or 29.3 percent, of the actions filed, which totals nearly $4.2 billion. Miami-Dade , which many industry watchers consider the epicenter of the Florida housing crash, has 13,939 actions – some 28.5 percent - filed, with a value of $4 billion, according to the report.
“Broward and Palm Beach counties are experiencing the foreclosure crisis that Miami-Dade County endured in 2007,” said Peter Zalewski, a principal in Condo Vultures® LLC. “Miami-Dade’s foreclosure actions are now leveling off steadily as many of the distressed properties have already gone through the court process and are now in the hands of the lenders as Real Estate Owned (REO) properties. Going forward, look for Miami’s REO total to fall as opportunistic buyers continue to acquire these bank-owned assets at deep discounts.
“It is a different story for Broward and Palm Beach counties. We expect the number of REO properties to spike in Broward and Palm Beach counties in 2009 once all of the 2008 foreclosures run their course through the court system.”
Condo Vultures® LLC is scheduled to release its third quarter 2008 REO properties report later this month. For an advanced copy, please be sure to register for the Condo Vultures® Market Intelligence Report.
Opportunistic buyers looking for discounted condominiums and townhouses will find that the most foreclosure actions are in complexes scattered throughout Broward and Palm Beach counties.
Broward County is now home to 41.2 percent of the foreclosure actions for condominium and townhouse product. Broward has had foreclosure actions filed against 7,558 condominiums and townhouses worth $1.4 billion. Palm Beach County has had 4,042 foreclosure actions filed against condos and townhouses worth $724 million. Miami-Dade County has had 4,953 foreclosure actions filed against condos and townhouses, totaling $1.2 billion, according to the report.
In a sign of how the foreclosure crisis is spreading north, Miami-Dade County is now home to only four of the top 20 condo buildings and complexes with the highest number of foreclosure actions filed.
A year ago, Miami’s Brickell Avenue financial district had three of the top five buildings, each of these projects were located in a four block stretch in the Greater Downtown Miami area. Today, only one Brickell Avenue condominium project – the Club at Brickell Bay – ranks as one of Miami-Dade County’s top five foreclosure buildings.
Leading Miami-Dade County in foreclosure actions is the Townhomes at Keys Cove in Homestead with 70 actions valued at $11.2 million. The Parc Central Aventura condominium ranks No. 2 with 61 actions valued at $21.4 million. The Blue Lagoon condominium conversion in Miami near the international airport ranks No. 3 with 57 actions totaling $17.9 million.
In Broward, the Edgewater complex in Coral Springs ranks at the top of the list with the highest number of foreclosure actions with 102 valued at $24.5 million. The Tides on Hollywood Beach, an oceanfront condo conversion, ranks second with 96 foreclosure actions totaling $32.8 million. The Palm-Aire Country Club complex in Pompano Beach ranks third with 94 foreclosure actions totaling $12.7 million.
Palm Beach County is home to the single complex with the highest number of foreclosure actions.
The Ponte Verde at Palm Beach Lakes has 120 actions valued at $22.6 million. The St. Andrews
Palm Beach is a distant second in the county with 74 actions filed worth $8.9 million. Cityside Condo and the Spa at Sunset Isles, both in West Palm Beach, rank Nos. 3 and 4, respectively. The 69 foreclosure actions at Cityside Condominium are valued at $19.7 million, while the 67 actions at the Spa at Sunset Isles are valued at $14.9 million, according to the report.
Peter Zalewski is a principal with the consulting company Condo Vultures® LLC and a licensed real estate broker with Condo Vultures® Realty LLC. Peter can be reached at 305-865-5629 or by email at peter@condovultures.com. Be sure to check out Peter’s blog at CondoDump.com. Don't forget to sign up for our weekly Market Intelligence Report. Looking for a property at a deep discount? You are encouraged to take a peek at the Vultures Database™ .
Copyright © 2008, Condo Vultures® LLC
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment