Real estate bust turns South Dade
suburbs into modern ghost towns
Antillean Isles, a new Homestead subdivision, promised homeowners a community of elegant estate homes with the ``alluring architecture of the tropics.''But when Martha Samohano glances out the window of her four-bedroom house she doesn't see the tropics -- just dirt, gravel and weeds.
After the housing bubble burst, developers packed up their bulldozers and fled, leaving a bleak, lifeless landscape, frozen the moment things went sour.''
Everything is empty around me,'' Samohano said. ``It's very depressing to live in an area where you only have weeds growing up.''While the darkened downtown Miami condominium tower has become a symbol of the real estate bust, at least most builders stayed around to see their projects through to completion.
Things are worse in the South Florida's most far-flung subdivisions.Prices have plunged more than 53 percent over the past 12 months in Miami-Dade County's far south suburbs, including Homestead, Florida City and neighboring incorporated areas. In Miami's downtown and Brickell districts, considered ground zero for the bust, the drop has been more modest, about 30 percent.
Sunday, July 19, 2009
For builders like Silvio Cardoso, it's a big headache. Like so many suburban developers, he flocked to the expansive, agricultural lands in South Dade hoping to create Miami's new bedroom communities when the housing boom stirred earlier this decade. He launched two projects around Homestead, Riviera Grand Estates and Santa Barbara of Homestead.
Today, said Cardoso, president of United Homes, ``It's basically impossible to sell anything.''At the end of March, there were 65 percent more homes listed for sale in Miami-Dade's southern reaches than in the urban core, according to a study by real estate analyst Craig Werley.
And nearly nine out of every 10 sales in Homestead are distressed -- either banks selling foreclosed properties at rock-bottom prices or short sales, in which the lender allows the home to be sold for less than is owed on the mortgage.
For South Florida as a whole, the number is 60 percent.To some housing experts, the numbers indicate a shift.''We are seeing the limits of sprawl,'' said real estate analyst Michael Cannon.
Today, said Cardoso, president of United Homes, ``It's basically impossible to sell anything.''At the end of March, there were 65 percent more homes listed for sale in Miami-Dade's southern reaches than in the urban core, according to a study by real estate analyst Craig Werley.
And nearly nine out of every 10 sales in Homestead are distressed -- either banks selling foreclosed properties at rock-bottom prices or short sales, in which the lender allows the home to be sold for less than is owed on the mortgage.
For South Florida as a whole, the number is 60 percent.To some housing experts, the numbers indicate a shift.''We are seeing the limits of sprawl,'' said real estate analyst Michael Cannon.
DEVELOPMENT MODEL
Like much of the rest of the country after World War II, growth in South Florida followed a model of housing subdivisions, malls, and office parks -- built separately and connected only by cars fueled by cheap gas. As each new and ever more distant development sprouted, city centers emptied.
But by the 1990s, exhaustion from long commutes and clogged roads, complaints about a lack of a sense of place, and worries about strained resources prompted calls for ''smart growth'' and mixed-use developments with work, school, and homes in close proximity.''
New Urbanists'' pushed for a return to traditional neighborhood development that was both walkable and connected by public transport.Even though South Florida home buyers are still able to buy more house for their money in the remote suburbs, some are taking a pass.
Last year Brian Lee, 34, lived in a three-bedroom townhome with a yard in Homestead's Malibu Bay subdivision.''The time, tolls, gas, parking and incredibly hectic traffic, it was too much,'' said Lee, an analyst at the U.S. attorney's office in downtown Miami.Now he and his wife live in a loft apartment downtown. He has a 10-minute walk to work, instead of two and half hours in the car.
Like much of the rest of the country after World War II, growth in South Florida followed a model of housing subdivisions, malls, and office parks -- built separately and connected only by cars fueled by cheap gas. As each new and ever more distant development sprouted, city centers emptied.
But by the 1990s, exhaustion from long commutes and clogged roads, complaints about a lack of a sense of place, and worries about strained resources prompted calls for ''smart growth'' and mixed-use developments with work, school, and homes in close proximity.''
New Urbanists'' pushed for a return to traditional neighborhood development that was both walkable and connected by public transport.Even though South Florida home buyers are still able to buy more house for their money in the remote suburbs, some are taking a pass.
Last year Brian Lee, 34, lived in a three-bedroom townhome with a yard in Homestead's Malibu Bay subdivision.''The time, tolls, gas, parking and incredibly hectic traffic, it was too much,'' said Lee, an analyst at the U.S. attorney's office in downtown Miami.Now he and his wife live in a loft apartment downtown. He has a 10-minute walk to work, instead of two and half hours in the car.
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