Home Repos Jump 25% In South Florida In 1st Quarter

MIAMI, FL--Lenders repossessed nearly 9,200 properties in the tricounty South Florida region in the first quarter of 2010, representing a 25 percent year-over-year increase compared to the same January through March period in 2009, according to a new report from CondoVultures.com.

The first quarter surge was led by 3,707 property repossessions in Miami-Dade, Broward, and Palm Beach counties in March 2010, which established a new high for a single month in the 39 months that CondoVultures.com has tracked bank repossessions.

Prior to March 2010, the highest number of lender repossessions in any given month was 3,706 in December 2009, according to the report based on Clerk of the Court records.

South Florida bank repossessions totaled 2,900 in the month of February and 2,475 in January, according to the report.


Auction Bids Average $121 Per Foot At New Miami Tower

Individual buyers bid an average of $121 per square foot - nearly double the minimum asking price but 44 percent below the original construction loan amount - on 65 developers units in the first auction of a new Miami condo tower in more than three years, according to a new report from CondoVultures.com.

More than 300 people turned out to the Hyatt Regency Miami Hotel in Downtown Miami and an unknown number of additional investors logged in online to participate in the April 10 auction of more than five dozen individual units in the San Lorenzo condominium, (middle right photo)  which is located a few miles to the west in the Little Havana neighborhood.

It is unclear how many of the units will actually be sold to the highest bidders as the auction was contingent upon approval by the developer and the lender, which alone is owed about $216 per square foot, according to the report based on Miami-Dade County records.

Miami Heat's Dwyane Wade Loses $1.5M In Real Estate Deal

Miami Heat all-star Dwyane Wade, (bottom left photo)  who is up for a record contract this offseason when he becomes a free agent, lost nearly $1.5 million last week by reselling his 9,000-square-foot mansion in a wealthy Miami suburb for less than he originally paid, according to a new report from CondoVultures.com.

Wade, who is reportedly getting a divorce from his wife Siohvaughn Wade, sold the couple's two-story, six-bedroom mansion on nearly an acre inPinecrest on March 31 for $2.5 million, or $277 per square foot.

The Wades originally purchased the house new in 2005 for $3.98 million, or $440 per square foot, in August 2005 at the peak of the South Florida housing market, according to the report based on Miami-Dade County records.

The Wades' house on Southwest 59th Place is currently assessed for property tax purposes at $2.9 million, or $316 per square foot, according to the report.

Contact:  Peter Zalewski of Condo Vultures®, 800-750-0517,  peter@condovultures.com.