Tales from Florida
Lehigh Acres, Florida is a far cry from New York City but the apocalyptic scenerio described in The Times this weekend was enough to send shivers down the spine of even the most optimistic gotham dweller: Trinkets for $1 were an early sign of trouble. Early last year, garage sales and estate auctions became more…
Lehigh Acres, Florida is a far cry from New York City but the apocalyptic scenerio described in The Times this weekend was enough to send shivers down the spine of even the most optimistic gotham dweller:
Trinkets for $1 were an early sign of trouble. Early last year, garage sales and estate auctions became more common in Lehigh Acres as families sold what they could to survive. No one seemed interested in buying whole houses, and foreclosures soon gave way to empty homes that became magnets for crime. Thieves stole air conditioner parts for scrap. And on distant roads with only a few new homes and faded blue street signs from the ’50s — on Narcissus Boulevard, on Prospect Avenue — drug dealers moved in. In 2007 and 2008, the Lee County Sheriff’s Department shut down more than 100 houses in Lehigh Acres where marijuana was being grown. In 2008, the police confiscated nearly 3,000 plants valued at nearly $7 million.
Gulp.
The Bears went from making some pretty good points a couple months ago to now just sounding more and more ridiculous as the days go on.
I agree Dave. That advice was some of the worst I’ve read.
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Agreed. It’s not.
The bubble was caused by lax lending that occurred over the past 10 years or so. More people in the marketplace then ever before created more demand then ever and potentially THE LARGEST asset bubble in human history.
My point is that urban migration over the past 20 years or more is no match for this boom/bust that is now occurring. Sure, cities are more desirable then they were in 1988, but the continued influx of people won’t keep this bubble from popping in New York.
Maybe the city will be able to place all of the homeless families in the soon-to-be vacant condos in Wburg and downtown brooklyn.
“Prices must adjust and will. Sell now, buy back after Obama’s first term. You’ll be happy you did!!!”
Simply the most assinine bit of advice I’ve ever heard on this blog.
Obviously sizzle has no concept of closing costs, time value of money, etc, etc, etc.
i just got back from visiting my mom in florida and one of the more disturbing trends i noticed was multiple new condos using the homeless to stand on the street wearing sandwich boards and ringing bells to advertise their price reductions. i think we will continue to fall here but things seem way more bleak down there.
Er, when did I say prices wouldn’t go down? I didn’t. I’m just saying a trend that started in the late 1980’s to migrate back to cities is NOT “the bubble”. As I remember it there was a recession at the time in fact.
traditionalmod.
This is a bubble:
http://www.zillow.com/local-info/NY-New-York/Park-Slope-home-value/
Hit the 10 year chart for even more fun.
Prices must adjust and will. Sell now, buy back after Obama’s first term. You’ll be happy you did!!!
NYC and Florida are quite different. That’s for sure. But… when it comes to the housing bubble and home valuations they are more similar than most here want to recognize. Look at when the prices in NYC starting to accelerate irrationally! It’s the same exact time that prices started accelerating irrationally in Florida! And in Las Vegas! And in Phoenix! And in many parts of the country! Why weren’t people shouting New York is different when the prices went up lockstep with the rest of the country?? The only important difference between NYC real estate and elsewhere is that people lost confidence in those areas much faster. They’re starting to lose confidence here pretty fast too. Look out below.
Nope, Brownstones-Half-Off, the increase in interest, enthusiasm and values in centrally located, older neighborhoods inside cities all over the country not just here, started well well well before the bubble due to a whole other factor — the migration back to cities from suburbs. That migration started in the late 80’s. And over that time prices were actually driven by demand when you’re talking about historic houses and properties which have a limited supply. Whereas in a place like Florida, literally the one and only thing they based pricing on was the bubble; the values were not driven by demand as there were tons of properties on the market in Florida at any given time.