- Orlando's Vue Awaits Bankruptcy Ruling
- New York City and Connecticut Condo Sales Rise
- Myrtle Beach September Sales Up by 10%
- Dallas-Fort Worth Fights Glut of Unsold Units But Ritz-Carlton's Tower Residences Nearly Sold Out
- 2 Tucson Conversions Go Belly-Up
(ORLANDO, FL) -- The Vue, a $100 million, 36-story, half-sold 375-unit Downtown Orlando condominium community, is in the middle of a federal Bankruptcy Court battle between the lenders and the developer-owner.
The lenders want the court to place the two-year-old property into Chapter 7 so that they can sell the 210 unsold units at an auction sale and recoup part or all of their construction loan. A total 165 units have been sold to date.
The developer is asking for a Chapter 11 status so that he can still own the property and try to work out a better loan repayment plan with the lenders. The amount owed on the loan is $82 million, according to court documents.
The developer is Westminster Partners of Lake Forest, IL. The lenders are Sovereign Bank, Comerica Bank, Charter One bank NA, Mega International Commercial Bank Co., Great American Insurance Co. and Great American Financial Resources.
(NEW YORK, NY) -- Good news on the New York City condo front but only fair news for the New London County market in neighboring Connecticut.
Condo sales in New York City jumped by 45.6 percent from the second quarter to the third quarter, according to a report prepared by Miller Samuel Inc. appraisers for Prudential Douglas Elliman Real Estate.
Although sales volume increased by 7 percent in New London County, prices fell from a median $173,250 in August 2008 to $160,000 this year.
(MYRTLE BEACH, SC) -- All smiles in the Myrtle Beach condo market these days. September sales up 10 percent over same 2008 period; August, up 27 percent; June, up 2 percent.
"We are on the road to recovery," says Tom Maeser, an analyst for the Coastal Carolina Association of Realtors. However, Maeser cautions, "Seeing some of these month-to-month increases is very encouraging but the problem is - it's not increasing on a consistent basis, and that shows the volatility in the marketplace."
The June median condo price was down 18 percent from June 2008, to $130,000, according to the Multiple Listing Service in Myrtle Beach.
(DALLAS-FORT WORTH, TX) -- The twin Texas metro markets of Dallas and Fort Worth are fighting a glut of unsold condominiums, largely due from an overbuilt inventory by aggressive and too-optimistic developers.
The Fort Worth Star Telegram reports Dallas alone has about 400 unsold condos on the market with one of every four postings in foreclosure. Sales in Austin, a big college town, surprisingly are among the slowest in the metro area.
The big bright spot on the Dallas condo horizon is the hot sales performance at the $300 million, 23-story Tower Residences at Ritz-Carlton Dallas. All 70 units in Phase I have been sold out.
Over 65 percent of the units in Phase II are pre-sold with 30 units left to sell, according to Steve Farmer, sales manager for the project. Prices range from $700,000 to $8 million. The developer is Fort Worth-based Crescent Real Estate Equities Co.
(TUCSON, AZ) -- A San Francisco developer's gamble on converting two apartment buildings into condominiums on Tucson's northwest and east sides has flopped.
New York-based UBS Real Estate Investment Inc. has scheduled a trustee sale for Dec. 23 on the properties. The bank is owed $47 million, the original amount of the construction loan.
The Arizona Daily Star reports 105 of the 344 units at Condominiums at Williams Centre are sold. The remaining 239 units belong to developer Terry Brown who is renting most of them.
However, conversion of the 200-unit Tierra Vida Apartments, 92 percent occupied by renters, was shelved by the Recession and no renovation was done.
Only 314 condo sales were recorded in August 2009 by the Tucson Association of Realtors Multiple Listing Service, the Daily Star reports. In August 2007, sales totaled 1,013.
The median condo sale price in August was $93,000 compared to the $162,575 million price for all homes that month.
John Strobeck, a Tucson housing analyst with Bright Future Business Consultants tells the Daily Star, apartment conversions to condominiums in today's market makes no economic sense.
"Why in the world would (a buyer) want to invest in (a condo conversion) when you can get a home now (in metro Tucson) for $130,000?"
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