Ah condos. Don't you just love them?
I mean what with all of that concrete and blacktop what's not to love?
Throw in the elevators, the creepy hallways, and that collection of busy bodies otherwise known as the condo association and its hard to see why we don't all live stacked up on one another in a neat little box.
It kind of makes you wonder how the condo market could be so down these days. After all if a 1200 sq ft condo isn't worth at least 500K what is?
In fact, as hard as it is to believe, things have gotten so bad in Miami lately that a local bank has "blacklisted" 191 new condo projects there, refusing to make any loans in any of those buildings.
Of course, if you were one of the unfortunate folks that bought one these units before the bank pulled up the ladder you're probably going to have the pool all to yourself now.
That's because it won't be long now before all of the other banks follow suit, and when they do you'll have the place all to yourself, sort of like Jack Nicholson did in "The Shining."
But at least you can solace in this as you race around the empty halls on your Big Wheel--your loss will be nothing compared to what the banks that funded these empty towers are going to lose now.
After all, how can they possibly get all of those millions back now if nobody else will make the loans needed to sell all of those units?
That's why commercial real estate is pretty much the next shoe drop in this mess.
Here's the skinny from South Beach.
From the South Florida Business Journal by Brian Bandell and Oscar Pedro Musibay entitled: BankUnited blacklists 191 condo projects
"Interested buyers looking for mortgages to buy units in Miami's Opera Tower, Everglades on the Bay or Four Ambassadors shouldn't bother approaching BankUnited. The Miami-based bank has included them on a list of 191 condo projects it won't write loans for.
The Business Journal obtained a list of "non-permissible" projects used internally at BankUnited (NASDAQ: BKUNA) and updated as of Jan. 14. Most of the forbidden properties were in Miami and were added at the last update. It wasn't clear who at the bank wrote the list, but the author stated a reason for almost every project declared off-limits.
Declining market value was the biggest culprit, followed by high investor concentration -- as much as 70 percent in one case. BankUnited also cited numerous foreclosures, delinquent homeowners association dues, structural-based litigation and the bank's existing exposure in the buildings.
BankUnited spokeswoman Melissa Gracey said the list is based a similar guidelines used by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
"We look at it more from our level of risk, and we are extremely conservative on our lending guidelines," she said. "We scaled back on condo lending a few years ago. We don't have a lot of exposure in the condo market."
"The banks don't like to lend to the end buyers of a project they feel might not have significant occupancy," Harralson said. "Mainly, there is a fear that homeowners association dues would be very high on the few people who would be in there."
Many banks have lists of forbidden condo projects, but Harralson said he has never heard of one so long.
Even buyers with good credit can't get a mortgage for a condo that has an uncertain value, said Lewis Goodkin, president of Miami-based Goodkin Research. He said because sales have been so slow and 35 percent to 40 percent of buyers could pull out of contracts in some buildings, no one knows the real value of these condos. And, if lenders don't know the value, he said, they can't set a loan-to-value ratio with any certainty.
Jack McCabe, CEO of Deerfield Beach-based McCabe Research and Consulting, said that the bank list means all presales are out the window. Buyers who had been pre-approved for mortgages may not be able to get them in the current lending market."
Here's BankUnited's non-permissible condo list:
§ 50 Biscayne in Miami
§ 600 Biscayne in Miami
§ 1650 Biscayne in Miami
§ 900 Biscayne Bay in Miami
§ 500 Brickell in Miami
§ 1390 Brickell Key in Miami
§ 1001 Center in Miami
§ 1600 Club in Miami
§ Allure in Las Vegas
§ Altas de Miami in Miami
§ Asia in Miami
§ Atlantis Condo in Miami
§ Avenue in Miami
§ Axis on Brickell in Miami
§ Bay Lofts in Miami
§ Bayshore Place in Miami
§ Beacon in Miami
§ Belle Plaza Efficiency in Miami
§ Biscayne Tower in Miami
§ Blue in Miami
§ Boulevard Condos in Miami
§ Brickell Bay Club in Miami
§ Brickell Bay Tower in Miami
§ Brickell Biscayne in Miami
§ Brickell City Center in Miami
§ Brickell Commons in Miami
§ Brickell East in Miami
§ Brickell Forest in Miami
§ Brickell Harbour in Miami
§ Brickell Key in Miami
§ Brickell Key I in Miami
§ Brickell Mar in Miami
§ Brickell on the River in Miami
§ Brickell Park in Miami
§ Brickell Place in Miami
§ Brickell Station in Miami
§ Brickell Tennis Club in Miami
§ Brickell Townhouse in Miami
§ Brickell View in Miami
§ Brickell Vista in Miami
§ Bristol Tower in Miami
§ Capital at Brickell in Miami
§ Captiva-F in Miami
§ Carboneil in Miami
§ Carriage Hills in Hollywood
§ Cima Condo in Miami
§ Cite in Miami
§ City 24 in Miami
§ Club at Brickell in Miami
§ Commodore Bay in Miami
§ Coral Station in Brickell in Miami
§ Costa Bella in Miami
§ Courts Brickell Key in Miami
§ Courvosier Courts in Miami
§ Cynergi in Miami
§ Delray Estate Condominium in Delray Beach
§ District in Green Valley in Las Vegas
§ Downtown Lofts 4 in Miami
§ Elliot House in Miami
§ Emerald at Brickell in Miami
§ Empire Towers in Miami
§ Epic-Dupont in Miami
§ Espirito Santo Plaza in Miami
§ Everglades on the Bay in Miami
§ Filling Station Lofts in Miami
§ Flagler First Condo in Miami
§ Fortune House in Miami
§ Four Ambassadors 1 in Miami
§ Four Ambassadors 2 in Miami
§ Four Ambassadors 3 in Miami
§ Four Ambassadors $ in Miami
§ Four Seasons Hotel & Tower in Miami
§ Golden Bay Club in Miami
§ Houses of Brickell in Miami
§ Ice in Miami
§ Ice 2 in Miami
§ Icon in Miami
§ Imperial in Miami
§ Infinity at Brickell in Miami
§ IOS on the Bay in Miami
§ Ivy in Miami
§ Jade Residences at Brickell in Miami
§ Kenland Bend south in Miami
§ Lake Beach Condo in Miami
§ Lakewood Village in Miami
§ Latitude on the River in Miami
§ Loft in Miami
§ Loft II in Miami
§ Lofts on Brickell 1 in Miami
§ Lofts on Brickell 2 in Miami
§ Los Suenos De Brickell in Miami
§ Lyghte Miami Condos in Miami
§ Lynx in Miami
§ Manhattan Condos in Las Vegas
§ Marina Blue in Miami
§ Mark in Miami
§ Marquis Miami in Miami
§ Mary Brickell Village in Miami
§ Mayfield in Miami
§ Meridan at Hughes Center Condo in Las Vegas
§ Met 1 in Miami
§ Met 2 in Miami
§ Met 3 in Miami
§ Metropolitan in Miami
§ Midtown Miami in Miami
§ Mint at Riverfront in Miami
§ Mirage Condominium in Las Vegas
§ Neo River Lofts in Miami
§ Neo Vertica in Miami
§ Newport Lofts in Las Vegas
§ New Wave in Miami
§ Nu River Landings in Fort Lauderdale
§ Oasis on the Bay in Miami
§ One Broadway in Miami
§ One Miami in Miami
§ One Miami West in Miami
§ One Plaza in Miami
§ One Queensridge Place in Las Vegas
§ One Riverview Square in Miami
§ One Tequesta Point in Miami
§ Onyz 2 in Miami
§ Opera Tower in Miami
§ Overtown Miami in Miami
§ Palace in Miami
§ Panorama Towers in Las Vegas
§ Paramount on the Bay in Miami
§ Paramount Park in Miami
§ Parc Lofts in Miami
§ Park Avenue Condo in Las Vegas
§ Park Place in Miami
§ Platinum in Miami
§ Plaza on Brickell in Miami
§ Point at Brickell in Miami
§ Point View in Miami
§ Pompeii in Miami
§ Premiere Towers in Miami
§ Provincial Gardens
§ Pyramids of Key Biscayne
§ Q Club Condo Hotel in Fort Lauderdale
§ Quantum on the Bay in Miami
§ Regency Towers in Las Vegas
§ River Breeze in Miami
§ River House Lofts in Miami
§ River Oaks in Miami
§ Riverfront in Miami
§ Riverfront Wind in Miami
§ Sail in Miami
§ Sail Boat Cay in Miami
§ Samari Lake East in Miami
§ Seacoast Towers in Miami
§ SIAN Ocean Residence Condo in Hollywood
§ Sky Las Vegas in Las Vegas
§ Skyline Mary Brickell Village in Miami
§ Skyline on Brickell in Miami
§ SMA in Miami
§ Soeil Miami in Miami
§ Soho Lofts in Las Vegas
§ Solaris Brickell Bay in Miami
§ South Miami Ave Condo in Miami
§ Summit Brickell in Miami
§ Star Lofts in Miami
§ Sunset Harbour
§ Ten Museum Park in Miami
§ The Carriage House
§ The Jade Condominium
§ The Mark on Brickell Bay
§ The Palace Condominium
§ The Resort at Singer Island in Riviera Beach
§ The Village of Kings Creek
§ Three Tequesta Point in Miami
§ Turnberry Place in Las Vegas
§ Turnberry Towers in Las Vegas
§ Two Tequesta Point in Miami
§ Uptown Lofts in Miami
§ Vanderbilt Gulfside
§ Venetian Bay Villages Condo in Kissimmee
§ Villa Brickell in Miami
§ Villa Magna in Miami
§ Villa Regina in Miami
§ Village at Hawk's Cay
§ Villagio Condo in Port Orange in Port Orange
§ Vue at Brickell in Miami
§ Wind by Neo in Miami
§ Yorker in Miami
Now that's one scary list, especially if you're the guy that's holding that paper.
191? That's off the charts.
