The Wall Street Journal reported December 23rd that Lennar sold half a 9 acre parcel of land they bought in 2003 for fifteen million. Half the Kendall property sold for $2.3 million last month. The paper says raw land is worthless and they were lucky to get that much ( although they acknowledge this parcel is in a prime location near Dadeland Mall which will rebound quicker than most), because of the high cost of holding land. The value of the land appears to be a third of what it was in 2003. (Written on Iphone)
1 comment:
That's a pretty staggering loss but it couldn't happen to nicer people, could it? Funny thing is that the homebuilders can't make money now with all the federal stimulus in the world, but instead of recognizing that the country is ridiculously overstocked with new houses and condos, they go out and build more, and the government's idiot wonks crow about the increase in "housing starts" as evidence of increased economic health.
Sounds like the Lennar people are simply recognizing the dismal realities for homebuilders and that there will be no "rebound" anytime soon.
Home prices will NEVER reach the bubblelicious heights of 2005, and not in our lifetimes are we likely to see the insane yearly appreciation of the wild 2000s. We're in for a long stretch of asset depreciation.
When will we get it through our heads that asset inflation and debt creation never were the foundations of a healthy economy, and instead of throwing more precious capital at obsolete industries like housing and the dying domestic auto industry, direct precious capital toward the industries we will need to survive the drawdown in fossil fuels and supply growth and jobs in the future?
Post a Comment