Residential real estate: Panelists assess the state of the current market

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Our annual executive roundtable discussion on residential real estate covered topics ranging from price points to construction labor to managing millennial buying habits.

Panelists

Kary Andrews, Bayshore Real Estate, president Wes Burdette, Heights Equity LLC Vince Cassidy, Tampa Developers LLC, Majesty Title Services Jim McCarthy, COO, Domain Homes Michael Moulton, Realtor, Michael Saunders & Co. Dave Traynor, vice president, real estate & developer services, Smith & Associates Brian Van Slyke,… …read more

Breaking down Tampa’s condo comeback

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Tampa’s condominium market is showing promising signs of recovery.

There’s movement at both ends of the market. Different property types will see different outcomes, but the activity is a good sign for multifamily real estate.

At the high end of the market, there’s renewed interest in buying condos — and so much activity in one downtown Tampa building that prices are rising quickly.

At the low end, a fractured condominium for sale in Carrollwood is attracting significant investor interest… …read more

Should HUD require ‘affordable housing’ in wealthy neighborhoods? The House doesn’t think so

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Republicans hope to block a proposed federal regulation that would force localities to take additional steps to integrate segregated neighborhoods and bring affordable housing to wealthy areas.

If localities fail to take such actions, they would no longer be eligible for community development block grants and other housing-related grants.

At issue is the ” Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing” (AFFH) regulation, which was proposed by the Department of Housing and Urban Development in 2013. The… …read more

BB&T Hillsborough market president joins Tampa Housing Authority board

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Mayor Bob Buckhorn named Bemetra Simmons to serve as a commissioner on the board of the Tampa Housing Authority.

Simmons is Hillsborough market president at Branch Banking & Trust and was a Tampa Bay Business Journal Up & Comer in 2013.

BB&T (NYSE: BBT) is among the largest banks in Tampa Bay, and had 14 offices and $635 million in deposits in Hillsborough County as of June 30, 2014, the most recent date for which the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. has information available.

Simmons also serves… …read more

18-story condo tower breaks ground in downtown St. Petersburg (Rendering)

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Construction is underway on an 18-story condo tower with panoramic views of the St. Petersburg waterfront.

Twenty six of 29 units in Bliss have been presold, with buyers putting down nonrefundable deposits. Site work began at 176 Fourth Ave. NE in recent weeks, and the development team will hold a groundbreaking ceremony on June 17.

The average price is around $1 million, said Dave Traynor, vice president of real estate and developer services for Smith & Associates, which is marketing the units.… …read more

Economist: Florida’s ‘Greater Recession’ receding, growth on the horizon

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Florida’s economic downturn, which was longer and more severe than the rest of the nation, is mostly in the rear-view mirror, according to University of Central Florida economist Sean Snaith.

That’s encouraging news for the estimated 800 people a day who move to the state, looking for opportunity, and the business community where many of those new residents hope to find work. It’s also a big change from just a few years ago, wrote Snaith, director of the Institute for Economic Competitiveness… …read more

Florida AG accuses Clearwater firms of fraud in property deals

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Attorney General Pam Bondi filed a complaint against two Clearwater businesses and their president, alleging the companies defrauded consumers out of thousands of dollars in a land buying scheme.

According to the complaint, Property Solutions International Corp., Premier 1 Property Inc. and Marvin Scott promised consumers they could sell their property for many times the value of the land.

The defendants, who also conducted business using the names Coast to Coast Land and FSBO Property Solutions,… …read more

Why apartment developers are betting big on an affluent renter pool in Tampa

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The upscale apartment developments in the works around Tampa’s urban core are risky propositions, no matter how you slice it — but perhaps less risky right now than ever before.

In this week’s edition of the Tampa Bay Business Journal, we take a look at Tampa’s apartment market and whether it’s heading for a peak. Read that story here.

In the luxury apartment market, developers are betting on record-high rents — numbers that Tampa only began to see last fall in the newly built Crescent Bayshore.

Data… …read more

Exclusive: Fractured condo community in Carrollwood on the market

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The South Florida investors who bought a suburban Tampa condominium community out of financial distress in 2009 are putting the units on the market for a bulk sale.

Vertica Partners LLC, based in Tampa, is marketing 218 of the 390 units in Arbors at Carrollwood for sale. Arbors at Carrollwood is a fractured condominium because the majority of the building’s units are owned by Gamla-Cedron Group and operated as apartments. The remaining units are individually owned.

Gamla-Cedron entered the community… …read more

‘More sophisticated’ buyers pushing up downtown Tampa condo prices

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Downtown Tampa’s Skypoint condominium tower is commanding impressive sales prices, but just as important as the numbers are the driving forces behind them.

A penthouse unit that sold for $650,000 two years ago recently traded for $895,000. A two-bedroom unit sold Friday for $481,000 — the highest price for a two-bedroom unit, outside of that penthouse, since the original developer was selling the units in 2007.

Brenda Daly, an agent with Smith & Associates, is seeing the beginning of a trend… …read more