Wednesday, June 27, 2007

Key West Condo Listing Prices Rapidly Declining

The residential real estate market continues to show worsening deterioration in the United States.

Statistics released Monday reveal that sales of existing homes dropped by more than expected while inventories of homes for sale have continued to increase. The inventory of homes is up 23.5% above the past year - and increased another 5% from April to a record 4,430,000 properties. According to the National Assn. of Realtors, this is equal to 8.9 months of supply at the current sales pace.

In the face of swelling inventories and dropping demand, median sales prices have fallen 2.1% nationally. This is the 10th straight price decine compared to a year ago, the longest stretch on record. Meanwhile, home prices in 10 major U.S. cities dropped at the fastest pace in 16 years during the 12 months ending in April, according to Standard & Poor's Case-Shiller home price index released Tuesday.

South Florida's housing market is especially suffering. Most notable is the overbuilt condo market - where developers are abondoning projects and prices are rapidly falling. Here in Key West, the condominium market is seeing huge price listing drops.

Here are a few condo price reductions listed in the current Key West listings for the past 14 days:
  • 3930 Roosevelt Blvd w101 - Original Price: $325,000 - Listing Price: $215,000
  • 3930 Roosevelt Blvd S-104 - Original Price: $350,000 - Listing Price: $249,900
  • 3314 Northside Dr 35 - Original Price: $499,000 - Listing Price: $299,000
  • 2521 Fogarty Ave 4 - Original Price: $324,000 - Listing Price: $299,000
  • 3314 Northside Dr 124 - Original Price: $449,000 - Listing Price: $335,000
  • 173 Golf Club Dr - Original Price: $399,000 - Listing Price: $335,000
  • 3314 Northside Dr 35 - Original Price: $499,000 - Listing Price: $299,000
  • 3314 Northside Dr 124 - Original Price: $449,000 - Listing Price: $335,000
  • 2601 Roosevelt Blvd 307 c - Original Price: $430,000 - Listing Price: $355,000
  • 11 Whistling Duck Ln - Original Price: $669,000 - Listing Price: $399,000
  • 1332 Seminary St 101 - Original Price: $525,000 - Listing Price: $410,000
  • 1402 Olivia St 4 - Original Price: $598,876 - Listing Price: $499,000
  • 21 Kestral Way - Original Price: $815,000 - Listing Price: $550,000
  • 620 Thomas St 174 - Original Price: $729,000 - Listing Price: $595,900
  • 1616 Atlantic Blvd 9 - Original Price: $1,212,500 - Listing Price: $905,000
  • 2609 Gulfview Dr - Original Price: $1,270,000 - Listing Price: $923,200
  • 31 Seaside south Ct - Original Price: $1,195,000 - Listing Price: $1,095,000
Currently there are many more condominums in development throughout the Florida Keys and Key West, and unless demand rapidly increases, prices are likely to further suffer.
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5 comments:

Rock Trueblood said...

Dave, another excellent post!

Please email me and tell me how your accessed that information? I would love to get my hands on data sets like this so that I can also write about things which the Key West Real Estate Cartel will not discuss in public.

Yours truly,

Rock Trueblood

p.s. My latest entry:

http://rocktrueblood.blogspot.com/2007/06/american-myth-about-home-ownership.html

Anonymous said...

I would love to know your contact also, but if you have to keep it under your hat to keep getting it, no problem.

I have not been keeping up on Key West real estate, other than your blogs and some skimming of the MLS. I've been researching Costa Rica real estate for a buyer and am totally disillusioned here as well. It's peaked here, everyone is an agent, everything is for sale... CR is enough behind the US there is still so much enthusiasm here. Even in the face of a rapidly declining market. Even though the evidence is overwhelming, every agent I talk to says "it's a slow spot. It'll be back."

It's not and it won't, but I am sick of being the only naysayer. Very disheartening. What good is being right when friends are suffering and losing their shirts? Yes, they put themselves there and greed drove them. But I'm not in their shoes just because I'm not greedy enough to stomach the risk!

In CR, EVERY conversation is about real estate, like KW 2003-2005. I want to run screaming from the room. I came here to escape this. But not to be.

Two Key West friends have contacted me for help with their foreclosure/bankruptcy. I don't have much advice to offer. Do either of you know what people's options are? Here's what I know so far:

- Bridge Loans
- Foreclosure
- Bankruptcy (although some people will lose their primary residence and don't realize that - plus having paychecks attached, the whole nine yards)
- Short Sales (if the bank will participate)
- Hang in there and ride it out as long as you can.
- Interest only loans for those wanting to hang in there (those who believe it will bounce back any minute which is most people)
- At least one KW bank is reducing interest rates on adjustables when the time comes
- Delaying payments and tacking them onto the rear of the loan, like lenders did after Wilma
- Refi to a 40 year loan (but not a significant difference in payment)

Good solid info would be VERY helpful for those in distress. And there are a lot of them. Any ideas?

Anonymous said...

i am not anonymous - sally o'boyle here and that's my comment above... but the blogger identity thing went a little haywire on me. oh well...

Anonymous said...

It looks like some of the condos are listed right here

http://keywestmls.com/condos/

I just typed "key west mls" into google

Still 215k for 517 square feet is stupid to me, how about the one above it that is 249k for 280 square feet, lol

That should be less then 100k in my opinion

veggiegator said...

Dave,
Home prices have dropped all over Florida because of the surplus on the market. I think it has a lot to do with the homeowners insurance rate hikes, especially in hurricane prone areas like coastal cities and islands. The vacation home buyer probably has to lower thier cost range when they see the added annual insurance premium. The sellers have to drop thier prices because of the competition and they, too, can't afford to hang on to the property with the added insurance costs. I live about 5 miles from an intercoastal (Indian River) and 6 miles from the ocean itself and my concrete block 6 yr old home still costs me $2600 a yr in homeowners insurance. I can't imagine what its like in Key West!

Looking forward to the trip though, I just committed to going to Meeting of the Minds this year. :)