By Rawls Rawk

May 25, 2007 12:58 PM | Link to this

Local home sales, prices, continue to fall

The median price of an existing single-family home in Palm Beach County fell 3 percent last month.

The median price of an existing single-family home in the Treasure Coast fell 4 percent.

Statewide, the median price fell 3 percent.

Nationwide, existing single-family home sales fell to 5.2 million annualized units, an 11 percent decline, the National Association of Realtors said Friday.

Condominium sales fell 8 percent from the previous April.

Existing condominium prices in Palm Beach County declined last month, falling 2 percent.

Prices are falling as we speak..

By Ghost of a Chance

May 25, 2007 1:24 PM | Link to this

“Rawls Rawk” repeated Linda’s lies and b******t.

Here’s the true story which anyone can verify on media.living.net :

NOTES ON FAR FIGURES:

1) Once again the Post lies and lies and lies, claiming prices are going down when they are clearly rising.

2) New median of 376,300 is up $1,200 since last month.

3) I didn’t notice a YOY figure, probably because the Post did not want you to know that YOY, we are down a miniscule 2.6% from April 2006 — most likely a statistical dead heat, depending on the confidence level employed.

4) It is nice to see prices moving up on increase volume. This April we sold more than 4 out of every 5 houses we sold last April, so even the gap in volume narrowed a bit.

5) Despite the tiny gap in median price from last April, we are a sliver ahead of April 2005. What I have said before I must reiterate: we have a normal market, and prices are virtually unchanged for April for the years 2005 through 2007 — despite all the baloney you read about bubbles, busts and all the rest of it.

6) Where do we go from here? June 2006 median of 405.5K would be tough to get near, but by September, we could possibly tie or beat 2006 median of 365.5K, and be ahead YOY.

CAN’T DECIDE WHO IS RIGHT?

SEE FOR YOURSELF AT medial.living.net

By Ghost of a Chance

May 25, 2007 1:28 PM | Link to this

BTW - When I say “see media.living.net ” I mean see the charts on the second screen.

Look at the actual numbers for this year and last year in PBC. Also check last month. You can verify everything I say for yourself.

By Max the Tard

May 25, 2007 1:38 PM | Link to this

Max the tard just made himself a fool again. He crys “good news” that prices were up about .3% from last month, but says that a 2.6% decline year over year is a statistical “dead heat.”

If .3% rise is good news, shouldn’t a 2.6% decline be a disaster?

A 20% drop in volume should have Max the Tard banging his head against the wall.

Notice that only 665 homes sold. The last time that few homes sold in April was in 1996.

We have a “normal” market for the mid-90s!

Let Max the Tard be a shining example of r/e brokers, and how you should never believe anything they have to say.

By WAKE UP

May 25, 2007 2:05 PM | Link to this

G Max,

Forgive my ignorance, but do you know FAR’s source for the monthly/annual figures? Are these strictly numbers from realtors who report in to the association? Do you know if they include any FSBO data? Do you know if we’re looking at a snapshot of the market or true figures for all sales?

Any insight you have to the process is appreciated. This is just for curiousity sake - I’ve stated before how numbers can drive me nuts. Thanks.

By saratoga bay resident

May 25, 2007 2:24 PM | Link to this

I like to update about the lawsuit story in our gated community. It has been verified that our Home Owners president, Paul Azzurro, and two other board members who are realtors, Susan Carlise of Village Realty Group and Carol Rafter of Corcoran Group, started a lawsuit against a homeowner over a For Sale Sign back in 2006. Because the homeowner is a minority, HUD is involved for possible discrimination against the HOA.

What was Paul Azzurro thinking when they started this lawsuit? There are many other For Sale signs in the neighborhood, and none of those homeowners are in a lawsuit with the HOA. The attorneys for the HOA, Gelfeld and Arpe, located on Palm Beach Lakes Blvd., have misrepresented the homeowners in the community. Homeowners received a letter from the owner stating we are violating their civil rights and fair housing discrimination.

Yesterday, we received a newsletter that was mailed to us and it was the first verification about this lawsuit from our HOA. Maybe Paul Azzurro has money running the gambling operations for the Palm Beach Princess, but many of us are on fixed income and are retired. How do the residents of Saratoga Bay get out of this mess? Will the residents be held liable for the actions of the board of directors? The lawsuit was filed under the HOA name. What would the cost be if we lose?

By chow ping

May 25, 2007 3:07 PM | Link to this

Jeff-You get chow ping job in research park? Chow ping like math, do research in park. Go to Walgreens, buy toothpaste. No drive, no problem, chow ping get ride, no drive. Rich R, Chow Ping read you everyday. you bitter man. Mad. Move to promised land. Brag about promised land. Tell everyone how bad is everywhere else. Advise on finances. Chow Ping no need help with money. Chow Ping plenty. why Rich sit inside all day, reading about Palm Beach? Reading For Sale ads in Palm Beach? Rich R bitter. Mike Fink, where you are? You buy Chow Ping car?

By BIG ROB

May 25, 2007 3:20 PM | Link to this

Max I see dead people.Do you not realize your a ghost.All I see is extreme price reductions.

By Ouch

May 25, 2007 4:04 PM | Link to this

David Wyss, chief economist at Standard & Poors, has forecast a price drop of about 8 percent for the 24-month period through the fourth quarter of 2008.”“He said its impact on areas like South Florida, where much of the buying is speculative investment in second homes, could be big. ‘You don’t need a second home,’ Wyss said.”

By Ghost of a Chance

May 25, 2007 4:09 PM | Link to this

TO “Max the Tard”:

Your stupidity is manifest in your comments, so apart from noting that, I will just say the following: Folks, remember when I said the best thing you can do with the idiots is get them talking? This guy is a perfect example. His words speak for themselves.

BTW, neither a .3 per cent rise nor a 2.7 per cednt drop is startsitically significat, but prices are still heigher now than they were last September. Overall,clearly rising.

And no, of course a mental case like this could not be right about volume numbers, nor anything else.

In fact, with the exception of last month, volume (665) has not been this heavy since July of last year.

Right now, everything looking up for real estate locally.

By Curious

May 25, 2007 4:30 PM | Link to this

“New home prices plunge, sales soar Sharpest decline in price of new homes since 1970 spurs stronger than expected sales in April.

By Chris Isidore, CNNMoney.com senior writer May 24 2007: 11:57 AM EDT

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — A big drop in the price of the typical new home sold in April spurred much better-than-expected sales, according to the latest government reading on the battered real estate and home building market released Thursday.

… .”

The REST OF THE STORY:

http://money.cnn.com/2007/05/24/news/economy/newhomesales/

It is such a simple equation — anything will sell if the price is right. Buyers have the money and the power to make things happen. Every day more and more sellers are finally realizing that, AND SELLING. Not for their Prayer Prices mind you because Prayer Prices do not make for sales. Facts is facts, reality is real, a wish is not a logical argument, A = A.

Cheers!

:-)

By Ghost of a Chance

May 25, 2007 4:57 PM | Link to this

“Simple” describes you, Curious,not the equation.

Builders have adjusted their designs to offer more modest models, so tell me about the price per square foot.

Locally, on EXISTING homes, both prices and volume are rising.

You want FACTS, Curious? Those are FACTS.

+++++++++++++++++++

Wake - So “far” as I know, FAR would have no wasy to collect FSBO data, other than from the public records like you or I would (buying a diskette, I suppose, of the data).

I would guess that applies only to sales of existing homes via realtors.

And if anyone thinks new homes are dropping in price pound per pound, try the townhouses in Delray opposite the Congress Ave. exit, from a mere 400K, or the plain-looking single family homes going up on 2nd Ave. in Boca, South of Glades, a mere 1,125,000 and up.

I like stupid, stubborn opponents like Curious, because they insist on going down with the ship. Every month the prices remain fairly steady, or rise, and every month they cut and paste more irrelevant articles. Eventually prices will be up by about 50%, when people like Curious will realize that even a crash will not get them back to where they started from.

By BIG ROB

May 25, 2007 5:17 PM | Link to this

Chris good point thats what I have been saying all along.How much does It cost to fill that TAHO these days.Big bobaroo!

By Ghost of a Chance

May 25, 2007 6:24 PM | Link to this

BIG ROB - You are a civilian. All you see is what sellers and realtors want you to see.

Asking prices on many properties had to come down 100K just to get them into the ball park of reality.

Now, would you respond to this ad?

Hurry! The price you get will be the same as you got last April or the April before!

Or this ad?

HURRY! DESPERATE SELLER, PRICE REDUCED 100K! ANY REASONABLE OFFER ACCEPTED!

Two different ads for the same house, which will sell for the same price a*s 2 years ago. To attract the idiots, the turkeys who think they are vultures, the second is what we have to use all the time.

By To Ghost

May 25, 2007 6:28 PM | Link to this

Ghost, C’mon now. I can’t believe you’re that p*d off with the Post.

Whether prices rose or fell from last month really doesn’t tell us much. I will give the Post credit that for the last 4 years that I’ve been following the monthly numbers THEY HAVE ALWAYS REFERRED TO THE CHANGE FROM PRIOR YEAR PRICE.

As much as I disagreed with this, I think it has much to do with the seasonality of the housing market.

Now, with over 2 years of inventory sitting on the market for sale, I have no doubt prices will experience further downward pressure.

I don’t believe we’ll hit the bottom until at least the end of this year, if not later.

By to Cw1900 and WAKE UP

May 25, 2007 7:00 PM | Link to this

I must say I will grant or concede to you your thoughts about our public employees in the law enoforcement, teaching, and fire fields.

Teachers I believe should make more, but what I’ve read on the benefit packages of all really is rather unbelievable.

If more people understood the cost of all this, and how it affects their tax rates, we would have a true revolt.

Good job to both of you for speaking your mind. Most of the readers here are with you on this, or they would have argued it by now, and they have not.

That’s a good sign and maybe something can get done.

The tax situation is very bad here and something needs to exercise this pig to get rid of all the extra weight.

By Ghost of a Chance

May 25, 2007 9:12 PM | Link to this

TO: “To Ghost”:

What pisses me off is the non-chalance with which they lie every month.

They refer to YOY only because that is the info posted on the FAR website, and Linda literally does not have the brains to figure out a per cent change from one month to the next on her own.

So they take some legitimate YOY snippets from FAR and put on a phony headline like: PRICES CONTINUE TO PLUNGE

Now tell me: after 11 straight months of Linda/Editor headlines that say “Prices plunged 3 per cent this month, Prices plunged 8 per cent this month,” how is it our prices are almost exactly the same as last year, YOY, after 11 months of “plunging”?

The simple truth is that prices in April have been flat for 3 years running (25 months). It’s right in the charts. Look up April for 2005, 2006, 2007, you get almost the same number, never lower than 372.3 and never higher than 386.5 .

In the past 2 years we have had a surge in June. If that does not happen this year, Lind will be proclaiming “Pricesplunge 7%.” By September, however, there is a good chance we will tie last year’s 365.5 in September, and she will have to change her b******t tactics to “Prices plunge 13% from record!!!”

All lies and jest, still a renter hears what he wants to hear and disregards the rest, mmmm mmm mmm mmm mmm mmmmmmm.

By Ghost of a Chance

May 25, 2007 10:12 PM | Link to this

Condo sales volume UP 24% YOY?

Where is that schmuck “The Tard” who was so arrogant because he thought volume was down?

By Chip Douglass

May 25, 2007 11:47 PM | Link to this

Sheesh…10 days since the last Post RE blog, and this is the best subject they can come up with?? YAWN! Some poorly plaaned remotely located research park? SMart idea in the era of $3.25 gasoline. Placing a job center close to NO one and NO thing, therefore requiring costly long commutes from every employee. Great foresight.

I agree with Ghostmax on one thing…Prices have bairly budged downward despite ever increasing inventory, and no signs of it slowing down. However, its only a matter of stubborn speculators and investors holding out under the delusion that if only they wait ‘it’ out, they will eventually rake in that big profit they had hoped for when they got into the flipping business. Sorry guys. It aint gonna happen. The party has been over for quite awhile now. Time to accept that you got in the game too late, cut your losses, and go home and earn an honest living.

Hey, dont be insulting the renters. IN today’s market in SoFla, the average renter is getting a heck of a lot more for his monthly output than a buyer. Besides, Florida is not the place to spend the prime of your life. Florida is the place for A. Spring Break revelry, or B. Retirement. C. Temporary disaster recovery work. Thats it. Anyone who moves their kids down here and puts them in local schools ought to have their kids taken away by the federal DCF.

What really cracks me up is Floridians making fun of North Carolina, or Georgia culture. Please..Is there ANY place more void of culture than South Lon Giland, or is it North Haiti? or I mean South FLorida?? Culture in South Florida consists of puking Spring Breakers, or seniors driving with stuck blinkers. And universities known for football, not academics. Culture. Please…Youll find more culture in Kansas or Idaho than here.

By Ghost of a Chance

May 26, 2007 1:56 AM | Link to this

THE RETURN OF FLIPPER

I note that the much to the chagrin of some contributors, including CW, the Flippers have by no means disappeared. They have turned to doing short sales on those foreclosures so many of you talk about. There may not be enough foeclosures around to support all the Flippers, but these folks who are active now are probably making higher profits than ever; a few minutes spent talking to the bank can seal a deal to get ahold of a discounted property — it’s getting pretty routine.

So Chip and the others who are waiting for foreclosure to have an impact on the SoFla real estate market - you are going to be waiting a long, long time.

By Ghost of a Chance

May 26, 2007 2:12 AM | Link to this

For Chip Douglas:

http://www.stanleylivingston.com/

By Ghost of a Chance

May 26, 2007 12:19 PM | Link to this

Chip Douglas a.k.a. HaveNoMoneyORCulture:

Here’s Ernie:

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0515225/

By Fred M.

May 26, 2007 1:06 PM | Link to this

Ghost,

Am I correct to assume you made a reference to an old TV sitcom called “My Three Sons?”

10! That’s hilarious.

By Ghost of a Chance

May 26, 2007 2:45 PM | Link to this

Fred M: It was actually “Chip” who brought it up. Chip is a disguise for the hapless HaveNoBrains, who can’t disguise his stupid opinions even if he changes his name.

It’s harder to find current photos of Tim Considine or Don Agrati, always credited on the show as “Don Grady.”

Historical note: In the 1950’s Italians were about as welcome in middle-America as sea lice. Despite the popularity of some people of Italian descent in NYC (such as the “Yankee Clipper,” Joe DiMaggio, or Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia), middle America had essential taken it’s image of Italians from the Sacco and Vanzetti case decades earlier. Even the graceful DiMaggio found himself in an awkward position after his failed marriage to Marilyn Monroe.

By Hmmm

May 27, 2007 10:16 AM | Link to this

Mr. Moose, care to comment?

May 22, 2007 (EIRNS)—A real estate investment and analysis firm, John Burns Real Estate Consulting, said on May 21 that it is “going public with our concerns” that the national sales information for both new and existing homes, is misleading and covering up a deep plunge of the housing sector. “The housing market has softened much more than is being reported” by the Fed, and the National Association of Realtors (NAR), says JBREC.

The firm reports that having purchased and compiled actual home sale closing data for 55% of the country, it finds existing-home sales down, not 9% as NAR reports, but: 22% in May 2006-April 2007, compared to May 2005-April 2006; and much more than that on a simple year-to-year comparison of the past couple of months. It found that existing-home sales have fallen every bit as much as the new-home sales of the biggest homebuilders D.R. Horton and Lennar, which are down 37% and 27%. It found that home brokerage transactions by Realogy Corp., the nation’s biggest realtor company which owns Century 21, Coldwell Banker, and ERA, fell 18% from 2005 to 2006. And that mortgage applications for home purchase have fallen 18%, even though many buyers now have to fill out several applications in order to get a mortgage.

Taking the states with the worst housing sales/foreclosures crises, JBREC found Florida home sales down 34%, not 28% as NAR reported; Arizona sales down 38%, not 28%; and California’s down 37%, not 24% as NAR reports. This strong underreporting of the collapse by NAR, the firm says, only dates from the middle of 2006; it doesn’t claim any intentional misrepresentation by NAR.

As for new-home sales, JBREC reports the Census Bureau is continuing not to subtract cancellations from reported sales, giving sales figures which are much rosier than the grim reality, and are reported publicly by the Federal Reserve.

“In summary, we believe that the Fed should know that the housing market correction has been quite steep, and is also not showing signs of bottoming out,” concludes JBREC.

Separately, a Wall Street firm reported May 18 that the foreclosure “shock cone” is widening: While total foreclosures, at all stages, are up 60-70% over last year so far, foreclosure notices—the front end of the process, when a mortgage is typically 90 days delinquent—are 127% higher so far than in 2006. It said that foreclosed homes being resold by banks or lenders, are hitting the housing market with an average price drop of 30% nationally.

By The Fence-Sitter component

May 27, 2007 11:14 AM | Link to this

Missing in a lot of the speculation on this board is the impact of “fence-sitters”:

Those that really want/need to buy but are waiting until June when the HIGHLY ESTEEMED public officials wave their magic wands and clear up the property tax issue (lol) and the sellers who need/want to sell.

Until the bottleneck is resolved - a little, or a lot, sale numbers are not reliable (in my NONexpert humble opinion). In other words, there is huge inventory, with predications of X number of months - but how much of that might be gone pretty quick after the June session?

I realize that little they do June 12-22 is going to be immediate, but people watching and waiting will be motivated to act based on the plan. Sellers may further lower prices to help spur the buyers. If the plan is really decent, fence-sitting buyers will jump on an opportunity to buy at the bottom or near-bottom of the curve.

So I think all the pontificators out there need to consider that “we dont know jack” about the future trends UNTIL the Session is over.

If we get the same GARBAGE as we did from the Special Session on insurance (what a joke) then F/Sitting buyers will continue to have the edge for perhaps quite a while. If they SHOCK us all and actually fix the tax problem, then FS buyers had better act quickly.

Another unknown is this: Many would be (fence sitter) sellers have been WAITING for June to put house on market. A positive outcome in June for taxes could mean a further glut of the market - as sellers may still outpace buyers.

By condomess

May 27, 2007 11:59 AM | Link to this

Many trying anything to void condo contracts . Major buying op for maxi & friends. They see 50% increase in matter of years. Go for it !

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/26/us/26condo.html?em&ex=1180411200&en=bdcc496ae08c3046&ei=5087%0A

Get em before next boom. Europeans, boomers, So americans, Canadians,Klingons, etc, etc, will really be fighting to buy here any day now. Really. They really, really like it here. Honest. Taxes and Insurance mean nothing to them. They have no other choice. They must pay us 4 times resident RE taxes to find warm climate. No fear of Hurricaines or Insurance prices will deter them. They need us. Really,really, really. Right ?

By Wrong

May 27, 2007 12:32 PM | Link to this

No, they do not need us as much as we thought. This is obvious from size of inventory. Also by huge success of other areas catering to boomers, and second home owners ticked off by FL two tier taxes and Ins Costs.

This is just ONE place of THOUSANDS around the country attracting boomers and others who had been source of buyers for SoFl.

Ignore at our own peril. Our own govt is helping other states boom.

From article :

“the growing category of “halfback” — homeowners who moved to the Sunshine State but are leaving it behind. Real estate agents report an increase in Florida homeowners buying around the lake, particularly after the turbulent hurricane season of 2005.

Mr. Otwell said hurricanes were not a factor for them, but that they missed Georgia’s distinct seasons with a relatively mild winter instead of “hot weather all the time.” They also found that most of their neighbors in Florida averaged 20 years older than they were and talked of nothing but their illnesses and ailments.

“We decided we needed to get out of God’s waiting room before we became part of it,” he said.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/25/travel/escapes/25havens.html?ref=realestate

Keep making fun of these areas. They are laughing all the way to the bank.

By Ghost of a Chance

May 27, 2007 1:06 PM | Link to this

To Hmmmm:

OK, I’ll comment.

Who the hell is John Burns?

When was the first time you learned of John Burns?

How is it you have never mentioned Mr. Burns before?

Hmmmm, it’s time for you to grow up. You don’t make decisions in life based on what some knucklehead with a $12 a month website writes on his site.

SO far s I know, Mr. Burns’ advice is equivalent in credibility to that of Charles Manson, a neighbor in California, a state known for people with er…..divergent opinions, let us say.

Yahoo today has an article on the soaring residential real estate market in places like Seattle. They got the price plunge for Florida wrong, I believe, but they did note that the Miami area is up. That’s us folks.

So once again, the “real deal” behind the mendacious reports:

SFH’s -

Broward is up YOY but only slightly, about 3K.

PBC is down YOY but only slightly, about. about 2.6 per cent. We are ahead over 2005, but again jsut a few thousand.

Despite the exaggerated reports which sell newspapers, for this time of year prices are almost unchanged in April for 3 years running, fluctuating just a tiny percentage either way.

Last time I checked, foreclosures for PBC were flat YOY, up less than 1%.

How about that inventory ? As Fence-Sitter noted, a lot of that inventory is soft. IMHO, tell people real estate is going up again at double digit rates, and 70% of that invetory will disappear overnight — cancelled. Still think FAR wants higher prices?

Anyone sane person who owns property, or is hoping to ever own property, is concerned with one thing: prices. I.E. how much is my place worth, or how much do I have to pay to get one. Since there is no price decline to talk about, Doomers have to talk about irrelevant things, like volume, inventory, foreclosures — all things that have NOT changed prices for the worse.

The bottom line is the bottom line, and the prices we see are the result of all those factors. Meantime, as time goes on, the omnipresent forces of inflation are silently at work, and will not be placated with two years of unchanged prices. The longer there is no much heralded crash, the less likely it is that there will be any — at least not when everyone is predicting one.

The Doomers’ last hurrah is coming up in two months. We had a surge in June of the two previous years. If we don’t get it this year, for one month it will look as though we are behind YOY. After that, the party is over for the folks playing games with YOY statistics.

Eventually, we will be looking at REAL record levels for prices in South Florida — not a record that lasted 4 weeks.

Meantime, we have been stable in this range, for this part of the year, for over two years.

By towrong

May 27, 2007 3:13 PM | Link to this

Not only other states are luring buyers . See article in Sun :

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/business/local/sfl-sbrepublic27may27,0,4929340.story

http://www.viviun.com/RealEstate/DominicanRepublic/Condos/

Best hope for SoFl is RE tax reform and hopefully Ins price adjustments. Do not hold your breath.

Meanwhile options elsewhere are marketed in contrast to SoFl expenses and problems.

Ease of communications via Net and cells making world shrink.

Savvier buyers increasingly say why get on a plane to SoFl when so much else available, accessable, and luxurious at better prices, less carrying costs elsewhere ?

By Ghost of a Chance

May 27, 2007 4:58 PM | Link to this

“…why get on a plane to SoFl when so much else available, accessable, and luxurious at better prices, less carrying costs elsewhere ?”

DUH…Maybe because this is friggn’ Paradise?

Enjoy Ames, Iowa in the winter.

If you build it they will….well, maybe in the movies you could sell it.

By towrong

May 27, 2007 7:32 PM | Link to this

Ghostperson, no problem, enjoy your paradise. Also take a hop to some others, you may be very surprised and actually enjoy some of the newer projects.

Spread your investments, dont stay stuck in PBC. It is nice, but dated, and a lot of younger monied folk buying elsewhere.

http://www.viviun.com/RealEstate/DominicanRepublic/http://www.viviun.com/RealEstate/DominicanRepublic/

What is referance to Ames ? Did you live there Once ?

By Ghost of a Chance

May 27, 2007 8:05 PM | Link to this

I spoke of Ames because of what it means to you, TOOwrong.

There are over 100,000 towns and cities in the US.
Anyone can go anywhere they want, it has no effect on Florida.

Florida continues to draw people from all over the world. The most useful language for me in East Boca right now is Portuguese.

Americans do not understand what the falling dollar has meant to us. Americans simply can not fathom the changes that occur when the Brazilian Real, for example, gains 37% against the dollar in ONE year.

I hate to break this to you folks — we are the poor people. We are the destination for the rest of the world to go to for a cheap vacation or cheap second home.

It is no accident that the Dow hit record highs the very days the dollar was hitting record lows against the Euro.

Our inflation is out of control because our currency is spiraling downward.

Where we can go will be determined by what is left, after it is picked over by the rest of ther world, which can now afford dollars like they were water.

By towrong

May 27, 2007 9:55 PM | Link to this

ghostperson, if you noticed I suggested you should be diversified outside of PBC. If you are trapped with only dollars or PBC RE, you indeed may be at the mercy of those better positioned.

Still not too late. Broaden your horizons, think global.

By Ghost of a Chance

May 27, 2007 11:02 PM | Link to this

I am the only person here whose life IS global. I will be leaving for Stockholm and Aix soon. Perhaps that is the reason I am the only one here who realizes that our economy does not exist in a vaccuum, and that given the deplorable condition of our dollar, the rise in both stock prices and house prices is an inevitable form of inflation.

There are people here who seriously think that a few empty chairs in county school or a few more houses on the market influence prices. These are the folks who learned the simplistic “Supply and Demand Law” for homogenous commodities in a free market, and try to apply it to unique entities in a market with myriad constraints. Perhaps if they had gotten past ECON 101 they would at least know what the gloabl currency market is, and start to realize that how much a dollar is worth, or what the value of your home is, are all complex and relative questions.

If you, Contributor, are dealing with currencies other than dollars, I would wxhort YOU to caution. I have used the example here before of the Brazlilian who bought a house in South Florida. While the Real rose 37% in one year against the dollar, house prices may have gone up “only” twenty per cent. That guy is in sorry shape. The right play was hold on to his Reals and avoid the housing “boom,” travel North America and live like a king.

By Ghost of a Chance

May 27, 2007 11:27 PM | Link to this

BTW “towrong” -

There is a chance you are one of the few here who understand how I could have been (and was) correct when I made the following statement:

As prices are going UP on a PBC house for us, they are going DOWN on the same PBC house for many people outside the U.S.

For Europeans and Brazilians and Japanese, among many others, prices are now unbelievably cheap for US real estate (and everything else in the US).

By towrong

May 28, 2007 12:47 AM | Link to this

Very ironic flip of currencies power.

I was embarressed more than once in early 60s by some US visitors in Europe loudly claiming they could buy anything because of Dollar exchange rate. I was in Venice when Nixon did his thing. Communications being what they were then, many had no idea what was going on and couldn’t believe dollars were not accepted for a while till mkts settled down.

Now spend some time in NYC where it is most obvious of power flip. Who would have believed Irish coming over for long weekend shopping in NYC because to them NYC is a bargain. There are now condo developments in Manhattan catering to Irish investors. Happily the Guiness still flows and lace curtain pretensions are minimal.

By Ghost of a Chance

May 28, 2007 2:16 AM | Link to this

Towrong:

Personally, this is the image I can’t get out of my head:

Interior of a modern home in Madras, India, everything is new, a well-groomed woman in Western garb chides her son at the breakfast table: “Eat, Vijay, There are children starving in Amreica.”

By Freddie Aguilar

May 28, 2007 4:23 PM | Link to this

greetings,

Thank You Very Much! Your posted was too nice and very knowlegeable to me and for those who already read this, as well as its really informative. Thanks for sharing this and Keep up the good work..

More power, Freddie Aguilar Real Estate Investment

By WAKE UP

May 29, 2007 9:31 AM | Link to this

Thanks Ghost, I sort of thought that was the case. So basically the FAR numbers are capturing the market trends, but aren’t reporting 100% of all sales. Just more proof that numbers are easily skewed…

By Who is Freddie Aguilar?

May 29, 2007 11:10 AM | Link to this

Who is Freddie Aguilar?

By easyasabc

May 29, 2007 11:26 AM | Link to this

Now we know where Jeff was, lost out at some industrial park……

It looks like Ghost/Madmax had no place to go over the Memorial Day weekend…..we got to get him hooked up with a woman!

That Freddie guy needs to pay for his advertising…..

Chow Ping, you are wasting your time looking for a car from Mike Fink……I think Mike Fink left the area for a job in Orlando……..Chow Ping, was that kin of yours who won Miss Universe?

CNN reported that one of the hot spots for real estate is….Orlando!

Unless you missed it, the market has slowed down across the entire nation, not just here…..but the mortgage rates are at an all time low…….just many buyers out there have poor credit rating….can’t balme the sellers for that……not even the realtors don’t want to waste their time or their gas on these “have nots”……

When the market does pick up, most buyers will be seeking larger homes……South Florida is still a bargin to the rest of the nation……

This Friday is the start of the 2007 Hurricane Season……We need to buy all of these survival supplies next week…..batteries, cans of tuna, water, bottles of bleach (we still don’t know what for), cans of spam or those little sausages(yummy), generators, gas, gas, and even more gas…exrta medicine (especially Viagra for Rich R.), ready made pudding, mini pies, blue tarps, ammo……

gas for boating…..$6.20 a gallon…..even the rich people on the island are leaving their yachts here for the summer…….

Waiting for the politicians to lower your taxes and insurance…ha ha ha ha ha ha ha…..Crist is heading towards the Holy Land…..before the rockets start to fall again…..

OK, who stole Donald’s flag ???????

The price is getting to expensive to live in Palm Beach…..

easyasabc

By cw1900

May 29, 2007 11:47 AM | Link to this

Good morning,

Hope all had a good weekend. The back and forth between Max and towrong was interesting reading.

One observation from this weekend.

Sunday night, we were out to dinner, and my wife overheard the table next to us. One little kid asked the mother if they were going to a parade tomorrow (Memorial Day) like one of the little girl’s friends was apparently going to do. The mother replied, “Oh no, honey, we don’t know anybody in the war.” The father then chimed in and said under his breath to his wife, “Yea, like I’m going to a parade on my day off.”

I think that says it all.

After all of you throw up, you can resume what you were doing.

cw

By cw1900

May 29, 2007 12:01 PM | Link to this

Actually, after reading my own post, we didn’t go to one either.

However, how many of us here did? Probably very few.

I just don’t ever want to turn into complete a-holes like that couple at dinner. If I do, somebody take me out back and have me shot.

cw

By A.P.

May 29, 2007 12:28 PM | Link to this

Is it ME or did I MISS something?

The latest commentary by my buddy Linda Rawls (a.k.a MISS CLEO) regarding the April STATISTICS DIDN’T make the FRONT PAGE!

VERY INTERESTING!

By Carolina Gal

May 29, 2007 12:57 PM | Link to this

Hey cw1900. I know someone in the war and I sure as hell wasn’t going to a dumb parade on my day off too.

So, suck on that. ;)

PS. How was the parade you went too?

Love, C Gal

By I did

May 29, 2007 1:11 PM | Link to this

The parade that i went to in north carolina i saw rich r bent over and carolina girl with a strap on.

By crazydem

May 29, 2007 1:48 PM | Link to this

Sad commentary-he probably voted for Bush so he’d feel more secure.

BTW-Speaking of patriotic, “Mr. I’m a Patriot and I live in American and you can’t tell me not to fly my flag AKA the Donald” takes down his flag on Memorial Day. What more can one say? I flew my flag-wasn’t on a 200 foot pole and it wasn’t 80x200 but it was flying.

By He Maxi, you loser

May 29, 2007 1:57 PM | Link to this

I bet the New York Times is out to get you too, you loser!

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/26/us/26condo.html?em&ex=1180584000&en=25a31aa04dc5aac7&ei=5087%0A

By To Maxi the Stump

May 29, 2007 1:58 PM | Link to this

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/26/us/26condo.html?em&ex=1180584000&en=25a31aa04dc5aac7&ei=5087%0A

Is the New York Times part of the Palm Beach Post Conspiracy?

HAHAHAHAHAHAHA

By easyasabc

May 29, 2007 2:22 PM | Link to this

TO: “I did”…..

That was disgusting….but very funny!….you might have been to a gay pride parade….I know, the YMCA sailors who began the parade mislead everyone……

Just remember to look out for those “Rainbow” flags & banners…..red, white and blue is a better combination……

Before we hear from some mothers who have sons who like to sew or play with flowers…..I have nothing against people who like to float around…..some of our greatest philosophers (bullshiters) in life like to be a fudge-packer…….and many gays make six figures in today’s society……I sometimes think that the late Rock Hudson was one of the greatest actors around…..who would have thought what he liked to do??????….and he had Doris Day ready to give him some “Pillow Talk”…..

I know if some guy made a pass at me, I would have him meet my Louisville slugger and pound his knee caps off……and then say “no thank you” and let him be on his way……

Carolina Gal does know someone in the war….in fact, she know lots of guys…..they are 82nd Airborne….Sixth Fleet…..10th Mountain Division….25th Division….all the boys from Ft. Hood, Ft. Bragg, and Ft. Carson……any pilot who landed on a flight deck, took a few bounces off of Carolina Gal…what she does love is when the Marines land on her……do I need to go on ?

I would think one way to end this war is to send Carolina Gal over to Iraq and let her infect the enemy….the enemy would walk around with soars, foamed mouths, going blind and dying with STD’s within a matter of weeks…….I think we can set her up in a trailer in the Green Zone…….I like her make it with that Al-Sadr guy first…..LOL

Yes CW & AP….we have many un-americans in this country……war is always started over for one of three elements in life….Religion, Real Estate or a Woman….

We are now in a Religious War…it is not about oil anymore……

That little kid at the dinner table might have the most sensible person there….BTW, how much did the kid’s Dad leave for a tip???…I bet only two bucks or less…….

CW - what did you have to eat ?….I am thinking it was pork chops !

hey Carolina Gal - just want to remind you that you are one big WHORE….just like DOT !……I bet you are both sisters……you sound like it !

See people what happens when you don’t use a condom….you have people in life like Carolina Gal hanging on a street lamp looking to make $5 the hard way !…….

I think we all do one thing when we read a a blog from Carolina Gal…we have to take a shower afterwards……

easyasabc

By to easyasabc

May 29, 2007 3:35 PM | Link to this

easyasabc, That was very rude.

By Max the Tard

May 29, 2007 4:01 PM | Link to this

Come on Maxi, pick one April since 1996 that has had worse numbers than last months.

You can’t, tard boy.

HAHAHAHAHAHA

If 665 is the best month since last July, what does that say about how dismal this market really is. Think about it, tard. It wasn’t long ago that 1,000+ closing per month was the norm.

What’s happening now?

It’s all coming to an end for you.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

By to Max the Tard

May 29, 2007 7:12 PM | Link to this

I’ll bet you’re one of the those gold bug geeks.

have fun with your conspiracy theory buddies at your next meeting.

what a freak.

By Ghost of a Chance

May 29, 2007 9:18 PM | Link to this

“TO”:

Don’t even bother. This has to be a junior high kid. Who else would come on here, humiliate himself with his stupid behavior, and think he accomplished something? He doesn’t even realize how people see him — as a clown. There’s no normal person over the age of 15 who sounds like that.

And there are not many who don’t understand that people who made millions of dollars flipping places don’t care about walking away from a 20K deposit.

Miami is consistently being named now as one of the hot real estate markets in the country. The NY times article is OK, some people want to get out of their condo contracts because they don’t see a n immediate profit— so what?

The condos are still going up. Prices are still going up.

I got a great email today from a guy I’ll call Mark. He says he is desperate to get rid of his preconstruction condos. Because the email targets real estate professionals, he was also honest. Know what a “desperate” seller is offering? The same price he paid in 2005.

Remember the two ads I showed big rob for the same property, which I said would sell for the same price as it did in 2005?

Hurry! Get it at the same price as two years ago.

OR:

Hurry! Desperate seller will take 150K off current builder’s prices, absolutely desperate, must sell.

Same property, same target price, different approach — audience of pro’s, or audience of boobs like this kid’s parents.

By Hola

May 29, 2007 9:25 PM | Link to this

Welcome back ghost of max.

By Ghost of a Chance

May 29, 2007 11:14 PM | Link to this

Gracias, Hola, pero no me di cuenta que no estaba aqui.

By nascarwill@ala.net

May 30, 2007 9:03 AM | Link to this

I read this post over the weekend during the rain delay and it made me cry:

“We will never really understand or figure out life completely. That’s God’s job. I can’t wait to meet him … or her. Love, Britney.”

The sun did shine on me when I moved to Alabama. Home prices are up. Did I tell you about my neighbor? That man is taking a load to the bank pretty soon. I’ve been running queries all weekend on PB County Real Estate. Focusing in on certain zip codes, researching selling/listing/ asking/dreaming/ hoping prices and then comparing them to similar properties in the neighborhood.

Did I tell you about my boat that I took out last weekend? We trailer it over to the lake. It’s close to the area where Ponch and Dan Marino are selling lots up here. Heck of a bargain, they are.

Lots of people moving up here. Lots of jobs. Nobody wants to live in South Florida anymore. Tax, insurance, gangs, people, etc. etc. etc.

Well my wife is asking me why I’ve spent the entire weekend looking at comps for an area 1,000 miles away. I guess it just makes me feel all tingly seeing other people lose money on their investments, you know, so I can say “I told you so.” Then I can come on here everyday and post about how great it is in my neck of the woods and lambast all the people still living in South Florida. Why? you ask. Not sure, just makes me feel good.

Tuscalloosa Off!

By Florida Cuban

May 30, 2007 9:28 AM | Link to this

Hola Max, cuando es el su ir a dejar este blog para el bueno. Realmente no tengo gusto de usted y pienso que usted es un windbag gordo grande. Incluso no piense del discurso en mi lengua materna otra vez.

By cw1900

May 30, 2007 9:58 AM | Link to this

Now I’m convinced our Alabama boy is a spoof, but not too bad. Could he be chow ping’s new persona?

I’m off to the lakehouse pretty soon to drop off the wife and kids for the summer. I’ll come back, work like the dog I am, and then go up for two weeks in July. It must suck for a wife to have to work a year round job and make less than a seasoned teacher with all the time off those teachers get, wow, and her poor kids stuck in day care, errr, I’m sorry, summer camp, all summer, or alone at the house doing zilch. That woman does not deserve anything special, because she is not pandered to, like the way people here pander to the chosen ones, the police, the fire, the teachers, the perfect career races. It makes some of you people feel better about yourselves knowing that you care more for our chosen ones who teach our future leaders, our men in blue who protect and serve, and our guys and gals who put out our fires. You want to give them special goodies because they are The Chosen People and it makes you feel all giddy inside that you really do care. Good for you. I’m so glad. I think that’s just dandy.

I think my wife the Palm Beach County teacher deserves some special tax breaks, maybe an affordable housing tax credit, some kind of a helping hand, after all, the cost of gas on the lake this summer is probably going to be a little higher than usual. Golf lessons and tennis schools up there do seem to increase their fees every year also, and since my wife is a teacher, and of course, that is a pandered group here just like the firefighters and our police officers with the great pensions, I’m all for a little helping hand. Call up your county commissioners and get’r done, you people.

My wife has been teaching long enough where we think she might call it quits, maybe one more year, but we’ll take it, anywho. Bring it on, you caring people of PBC.

That other woman who doesn’t work in the chosen field can work a little longer this summer to help pay for it. Her kids won’t mind. It’s just an extra hour in front of the tv, no problem.

Oh, by the way, I just had one of my tenants sign their new lease for the next year. I only increased the rent 9.375%.

cw

By WPBPD

May 30, 2007 11:10 AM | Link to this

You try and make it here on $110k a year you little pr!ck with two of us working and 4 children, you just try it.

By easyasabc

May 30, 2007 11:20 AM | Link to this

To CW…our Alabama boy sounds just like “In Georgia” character…remember him ??????

Might be some guy in a trailer park in Lantana…….

Lots of disgruntel renters here trying to bad mouth the market down…..remember folks, your rent is due this weekend!

I also said it was the older out-of-area “Baby Boomers” behind driving the market down here…..they always wanted everything their way, and they were caught off-guard when the prices skyrocketed here…..

At least Madmax and me have one thing in common, we both agree we will not see a 50-70% price drop, and will see a $400k + median price here sooner than most people think…..

I like to describe the skylines of the four major downtown areas located here…..

Miami….Big, has both architecture style and business atmosphere to it…..can be named the Third World Capital !

Ft. Lauderdale…..new, vibrant, strong financial sense to it…..has lots of promise to it….

Boca Raton….I see nothing but old ladies talking about where to eat that night and what color a room should be painted……

West Palm Beach…..Condoville…..condos, condos, and more condos……I will be shocked, just shocked if they sell out and filled in five years…..

I heard talk about Americans heading towards Costa Rico….reason for this is not about how cheap it cost to live there…it is because they can smoke all that crazy weed they want there, and/or guys who you might have seen on MSNBC, trying to pick up little kids……

Lake O at an all time low……see what expansion does to this area !…..blame your politicians for letting these developers put more people in less of an area……..we should have stuck with the min. of a 1/3 acre for each single unit here……what will be a pain to many is when they have these 30-story condo units that are being built on top of each other in the downtown area of West Palm, and the streets will be gridlock during the season……

I should also add a few more words to the water problem here……I also lay the blame on head honchos at South Florida Water Mgmt…..those Bozos created this mess years ago with that reversal Everglades water project……

But life is still good ….and will get even much better…..in South Florida.

easyasabc

p.s. to that person who said I was rude yesterday…….WELCOME to South Florida, it is the way of life down here………and try to stay away from cities like NYC or Philadelphia…..thet have more nastier people there……that is why we have Boca Raton for people who escaped places like those areas……if you want nice people who bring a pie to your door, contact Rich R. in Raliegh…..LOL

By Ghost of a Chance

May 30, 2007 11:23 AM | Link to this

Good Morning, CW.

I see the nuts are on the blog this morning.

Boxcar Willie still can’t learn to spell the neame of the town he has supposedly lived in for one years. This stupid redneck (if he is for real), still thinks a 70K profit on his neighbor’s farmhouse is a windfall. He doesn’t understand this is what most professionals in the country spend on a car they are not planning to keep long term.

Meantime, “Florida Cuban” makes the worst attempt in history to imitate a Spanish speaker. Needless to say, he didn’t even come close to making sense. This is probably an Anglo junior high school kid, maybe the “HAHA” fool.

I enjoy the shitheads who snipe at me out of jealousy, immaturity, or whatever, but I have not really attained your status as a lightning rod, CW. I still need to find people who are (without prompting) hoping I fall off a bridge. Then I’ll know my time here was well spent.

By Ghost van Winkle

May 30, 2007 11:55 AM | Link to this

There it goes again, CW. Before Easy’s post or mine even make it on the air, the hate mail pours in for you LOL.

I assume you are the “little prick.”

But I have to say I as a bit taken aback by the vitriol in the words of WPBPD, apparently a cop or the spouse of a cop (very reassuring - one of them is carrying a gun with some authority to use it).

Maybe I went to sleep and woke up in the wrong century. This gal(?) is bitter about a household income of 110K a year in a state with no income tax? And she has knocked out 4 kids (already) in this day and age? What do they have, a contract with the Pope? Maybe she is the one who has been asleep too long.

These folks need serious help if they can not make it on 110K a year in South Florida. For some reason every Bozo down here with an AA in Basket Weaving thinks he has earned a mansion to live in and two SUV’s in the driveway. In a few years the cop will retire on a bloated pension and be just another drag on our welfare economy. Somehow, in their minds they are different from the welfare recipients they spent their careers busting.

At times I think I am coming around to your way of thinking, CW. Even if these people are living way too well for civil servants, 40K should take care of their total housing expense. What do they do with the rest of it?

Maybe they would be happier if they moved to the Deep South, the cop got a job patrolling chicken farms for half the pay, and they had to pay state tax on top of it. Think that would make them less bitter?

By TO WPBPD

May 30, 2007 11:55 AM | Link to this

WPB POLICEMAN,

BE HAPPY YOU MAKE $110K, TELL YOUR WIFE TO GET A JOB, GET YOURSELF A SECOND JOB, KEEP YOUR LITTLE PR!CK ZIPPED UP, AND STOP HAVING ANYMORE KIDS. YOU SOUND LIKE A CROOKED COP ANYWAY.

By Max, you must be simple

May 30, 2007 12:25 PM | Link to this

Referring to your comment on the NY Time article, if I paid 100x for a condo two years ago, and I can (hopefully) sell it now for 100x, haven’t I lost money?

YES, b/c you would have paid closing costs. You would have paid taxes. And if you break even, the dollars that you get today are worth a lot less than they were 2 years ago. You would have had your $ stuck in a non-appreciating asset. If you had a mortgage, you just lost more money by making the monthly payments.

If you can only sell your property for the same price that you were getting two years ago, then this investment was a very very poor decision.

Max, you obviously are not bright enough to understand these things.

Either way Max, you are pathetic. You, Maxi, are a realtor, and that says it all.

By Nephew

May 30, 2007 12:26 PM | Link to this

“What do they do with the rest of it?”

My aunt and uncle retired here from Virginia Beach PD 10 years ago.

Can you say Sun Cruz, the puppies, and Beefeaters? Anybody see a 2006 Caddy STS with Broward plates driving up 95 in the middle of the afternoon, pull him over. He’s probably wasted. Look in the car. I’m sure you’ll find some illegal Cuban cigars his buddy gets through Canada.

By Ghost of a Chance

May 30, 2007 3:35 PM | Link to this

“Maxi You Must Be Simple”:

Yes, I am simple. And Rich.

You are complicated, have moods, frustrations, depression, problems you can solve, puzzles that elude you — and you are poor.

Now, when you make comments above, you make it ovbious to all the world that

1) You are not very smart

2) Most of all, you are naive.

I do own a real estate company. If that makes me a “Realtor” in your booze-besotted eyes, so be it.

I am a licensed broker. If anything happens in a real estate, I make money.

If prices go up, I make money.

If prices go down, I make money.

If prices stay the same, I make money.

Can this penetrate your dim consciousness?

Right now, many developers will pay me a 12% commission to take their units off theirs hands, so long as we don’t reflect it in PAPA (or whatever they call it in the county in question). Further, I pay no down payment or closing costs on the way in.

If I sign a contract saying I will buy a million dollar apartment, I get paid 120K at closing.

All I will ever need is to sell that apartment for close to what I paid for it, and I will make out very handsomely, even after closing costs.

OK, stupid?

Isn’t it galling how easy it is for me to make money? But it’s legal. And ethical. It’s just not for a schmoe like you.