Is it a good time to begin building new luxury homes in South Florida yet?

Homes are getting a bit tougher to sell here in Canada now, seems like people are getting a bit picky in their purchases so sales are slowing due to unrealistic demands from builders on price consessions. So I'm seeking to go and build in other areas. With the weather about to turn colder with the coming of winter, I am looking to the warmer climates of the South, particularly the booming retirement communities like Cape Coral or Port Charlotte as retirees alway love Florida and I think that these areas could be a great boom to my business. But I don't know what the current housing conditions are like down there right now so I'm asking those who know:





What is the housing market like in the Cape Coral / Port Charlotte areas (or other areas of South Florida). I only have information from about 3 years ago (sales brochures) and from them I am just itching to rush down there and start developing! It looks like a Gold Rush of wealth in that area. Are things still supper-hot in these communities?





I heard from one fellow that things have begun to slow down a bit, that the sales market is still healthy and growing but that it takes a bit more effort and he expects sales to be back to record highs in just a few months. If sales have slowed, then how many weeks do you think it will be before they are back to full throttle? Will it be before Christmas?


I have to line up a lot of credit for land purchases. How are the lenders down there with providing credit to builders? Things are getting a bit tighter here in Canada and I don't see why I'm being squeezed so much, so I want to go to U.S. lenders instead. I remember talking to a finance expert 3 year ago in Cape Coral and from what he told me, even a pet dog could get a $2 million line of credit.Is it a good time to begin building new luxury homes in South Florida yet?
Good God NO . . .DON'T DO IT . . . Home values in South Florida are still in decline . . . right now they are about 40% off their peak and are still expected to decline another 10 to 20% . . . . Our inventory level on existing homes is about eleven months and builders are literally walking away from unfinished developments . . . you literally can't give away a home in parts of south Florida right now (carrying costs are high).





My husband works in finance and I can name two Fourtune 10 (not 500, but top 10) companies who can't get financing to meet payroll. It's just not the same game anymore . . .





The Gold Rush is over . . . We own real estate in Miami, the Florida Keys, Hollywood (FL), and Naples and our accountant can't even figure out how to value the property . . . that's how bad it is.Is it a good time to begin building new luxury homes in South Florida yet?
If you can find a building contractor who is still in business.. the whole real estate market is in the toilet....





go buy somebody else's luxury home already in foreclosure.
FL has been hit really hard by the economy. I would pick a state that is doing better. There is no super hot spot here, believe me.
Florida is one of the four regions where loans are next to impossible to get.





It sounds like you are planning to build something lavish---but even so, people will probably need some sort of financing for it. The market is glutted with unsold properties, so my guess is that you might lose your shirt if you dove in now.





I appreciate that you are looking to get in on the ground floor, but the basement on the Florida market is still flooded, so to speak.





Good luck!
Um yeah, I don't know if you have read the news or watched TV lately, but in case you are out of the loop, everybody is pretty much heading into a recession. Florida does have areas that have made real estate progress within in the last few years, but as it stands right now, it is next to impossible to get credit for a car let alone real estate. I live around the Tampa Bay area and you can drive down pretty much any street and you will see a house for sale, if not many for sale.








GO RAYS!!!