Trump Towers buyers seek refunds
Miami-area lawyer Peter Cooper went to court in early June on behalf of 80 buyers at Trump Towers in Sunny Isles who want to walk away from their purchases and receive refunds from the sponsors, the Related Group and Dezer Development. The suit seeks the cancellation of over $100 million worth of units and claims of around $21 million in down payments already made.
The plaintiffs claim that the developers used a “fraudulent marketing ploy” to sell the units, because they did not reveal that the Trump licensing agreement may not be permanent — there is the possibility the project could be renamed once all of its units are sold. Developer Donald Trump, who was not named as a defendant, told the Daily Business Review that he is “honored” that the licensing of his name has become the subject of a lawsuit.
Palm Beach, Miami-Dade appraised property value drops
Palm Beach County’s property values dropped 7 percent as estimated for tax purposes by the county’s property appraiser at the end of May. Total taxable property values in the county fell to $157.5 billion in 2008 from $169.4 billion last year, according to the estimate — the steepest drop in at least three decades. In addition to declines in value from the housing slump, voter-mandated cuts reduced taxable value from properties by more than $8.5 billion.
In Miami-Dade County, the property appraiser’s office saw values drop for the first time in 25 years, with the exception of 1993, the year after Hurricane Andrew caused billions of dollars worth of damage. Countywide, the value of taxable property is preliminarily assessed at $238 billion, a 2.7 percent decline from last year. The drop-off in tax revenue has prompted the towns of Aventura, North Miami Beach, Sunny Isles Beach and Miami Beach to seek strategies for providing municipal services for less money.
Russian billionaire pays $100 million for Trump mansion
Russian fertilizer tycoon Dmitry Rybolovlev agreed to purchase Donald Trump’s oceanfront Palm Beach estate at 515 North County Road for $100 million, a record for a U.S. single-family home, the Wall Street Journal reported. The mansion is priced at $210,000 per square foot of ocean frontage. Trump bought the property, called Maison de l’Amitié, for $41.35 million in 2004, and listed it at $125 million in 2006, slashing the price after two years of marketing. The 41-year-old Rybolovlev made No. 59 in Forbes’ list of the world’s richest people, with a net worth of around $12.8 billion this year, up from $3.3 billion in 2007.
Office rents rise fastest in 2007, may be poised for correction
Miami showed the steepest increase in office rents of any North American market over the one-year period ending March 31, 2008, according to a report released by CB Richard Ellis at the end of May. The market had a 29 percent gain over that period, the report said. Runners-up included Panama City with a 28 percent increase, Seattle with a 26 percent increase and Houston with a 25 percent gain.
This rise could be followed by a leveling off this year, according to a market report released by Marcus & Millichap published around the same time, although the market is expected to weather the correction healthily. The report predicts that office rents will rise slower than usual in 2008 and that there will be an increase in sublet space in the market, due in part to layoffs related to the housing downturn. It also expects an increase in direct-leasing vacancy.
Florida second in U.S. for foreclosures
One in every 242 Florida households filed for foreclosure in April. That total is up a whopping 146 percent from just a year ago, according to the latest RealtyTrac U.S. Foreclosure Market Report. And it’s the second highest in the nation.
Miami-Dade County leads the way in foreclosure filings, with Broward close at its heels. Palm Beach County, meanwhile, ranked fifth in foreclosure activity in April. With home sales prices still down by double digits, experts expect the foreclosure cycle to continue.
According to a report from the Mortgage Bankers Association, at the end of the first quarter, Florida’s foreclosure rate stood at 4.61 percent of about 3.5 million loans examined, or roughly 163,000 homes, compared to 1.03 percent of 3.42 million loans in the same period a year ago. The report also said that 11.6 percent of Florida property owners were more than 30 days past due on a mortgage payment or in foreclosure. The Miami-Dade County Clerk’s office recorded 11,768 lis pendens filings in the first quarter of the year, which is nearly half the number filed in all of 2007.