Southwest Florida is not looking good ! (Miami, Fort Myers: mortgage, real estate, insurance)

[firemed]

“One of the nation’s largest homebuilders is abandoning plans to develop new communities in Southwest Florida, saying it expects the Naples/Fort Myers housing market to remain ’severely depressed in the foreseeable future.’”

“Meritage Homes Corp. said year-to-date home sales in the Naples-Fort Myers area have dropped 70 percent since the same time last year.”

Area builder all dried up (broken link)

Even as you move north it's just as bad. Local Realtors are in survival mode. ‘I’ve seen the highs and the unreal in 2004-2005 and the complete crash right now,
Realtors say Ocala sales decline is steepest in the state

[tallrick]

Yet for some of us this is extremely good news. The southwest Florida area has some areas with a lot of business potential, especially those toward the center of the state. Speculation and flipping has diverted vast sums of wealth to overinflated properties, and sky-high taxes. Only a complete flop of the real estate market cound sow the seeds of a real economic expansion.

[MrTudo]

Good. Bye bye. Let the door hit you on the rear end on the way out.

Does anyone know how "Highlands" county is doing? How does one go about finding this information out?

Thanks!

[hiknapster]

Firemed: That first link isn't working?

[firemed]

Originally Posted by hiknapster

Firemed: That first link isn't working?

Area builder all dried up

Its the Naples news

[hiknapster]

Thanks, Firemed!

[House4Sale]

Mr. Tudor, I agree. They got greedy and are getting their just desserts. Let's sell off the glut before we build more. Common sense...one would think!

[Floridabound09]

It is odd to think that it's happening everywhere, not just in Florida.

Builders were smart and will continue to be smart, put it this way we all caused this, people used the fake and false prices of there homes as a way to pay off other bills, buy boats, buy thing they normally wouldnt buy and overspend. Refi's were at record numbers, people really thought there houses went up....and took advantage of it. Now those same people who went along with the fake/false prices are whining their asses off. The ones who got out when they went up were the smart ones and are laughing all the way to the bank, those who got greedy and wanted more are now stuck in homes they over borrowed on.

Its not the builders fault, not the realtors fault, its the home owners fault. People seen green and did this. The market only followed what the people were willing to buy and borrow.

Dont kid yourself, that builder is smarter then you think. A builder in Dublin Ohio seenm that the market was going soft here and then bought up huge parcels of farm land across town in New Albany Ohio, now he cannot hire enough people to build the homes.

They know what the market will bear, any smart businessman will fold up in Naples area and move to the next money maker and this one probably sees that people are looking into northern Florida more. Its only smart business.

My opinion is they overbuilt but still made a ton of money on people and will do it again in another location. Dont worry, someone with money will still buy in Naples, allot of people will see the market prices drop and buy it up. Naples and Ft Myers wont loose people when that happens, they will gain them when the prices drop to REAL levels instead of the fake ones.

Sw Florida will continue to grow no matter if this builder leaves or not. Builders leaving is NOT a sign of bad things to come, but is a sign that people with some money that are wise will run in and buy it up when the prices drop.

[sick-o-FL]

florida's biggest problem is the fact there there are NO roads to drive on! We have 2 north/south routes - 1-95 and the Florida Turnpike. They can only widen these so much. But the greedy developers, fast lining the palms of the greedy politicians, keep building these mega-friggin developments, with no new roads and no schools. Who wants to spend 50 minutes in the car to go 3 miles! The NY Times said that within 10 years, Miami traffic will be the same as LA is now. Having lived in Palm Beach County for over 40 years (my entire life) I knew FL when we HAD no 1-95, then HAD no bumper-to-bumper traffic, then HAD no bumper-to-bumper traffic in Palm Beach County, now it's all down the crapper. The rush hour traffic starts in Palm Beach Gardens and continues South to Miami. Some parts are better than others. Anyone knows that in an evacuation, the only routes OUT of FL will be a parking lot. Florida can be a great state, but there is only one way in and out - or 2, but it's the same thing. You can't go east or west. Florida is a good vacation spot, but to live here, is another thing. Unless you really utilize the wonder ful things in FL (boating, beach, golf, sweating), you and your pocket book would do better somewhere else. At least you wouldn't have the ridiculous insurance rates. The salary ranges are about the same as most states, but the housing prices prevent the average 'joe' (nurses, teachers, cops, firefighters) from owning a home. And the service industry people are totally screwed. They can't even get a decent apartment for under a grand a month, so where do the wal-mart workers live? It's really a sad situation. I"m going to be selling my house here real soon and, thankfully, the price will be in the low to mid $200's, which I'm thinking is the only good real estate market IN Florida right now because that's about the LOWEST, DECENT housing price in the State. At least MAYBE I"ll sell it, AND make a decent profit, only because I've owned it for over 20 years, not because I got greedy. AND, I live in Jupiter, one of the most saught after locations IN Florida. but, who knows........ every day the market gets worse.

[hiknapster]

Originally Posted by firemed

I would just like to know what is normal ? Don't think the sky can't fall we don't have a clue where the line is that seperates optimism and foolishness. Its all about the basic ecenomics. lending institutions have repossessed thousands of holdings yet why are the institutions holding all of them ? Do you see the big picture yet.

Lending companies are holding them because they can't get rid of them. Are you saying that you think the banks will fold? I think most banks didn't issue risky mortgages. At least I hope not. That would have implications for everyone.