Buyers have purchased 425 condominium units a month in the tri-county South Florida area since the real estate boom began in 2003, according to the latest report from the Bal Harbour-based consulting firm CondoVultures.
At the same time, however, developers were putting up roughly 510 new apartment units a month. And the result is an oversupply that still needs to be worked off before the South Florida market can recover.
CondoVultures says nearly 35,000 new units were sold in the seven largest coastal condo markets in South Florida over the last seven years. But developers created 42,840 units during the same time period, leaving an over-supply of nearly 8,000 units.
But apparently some developers aren't worried about the unsold inventory. Consultant Peter Zalewski reports that last month, three new projects were launched – and not quietly, either. Rather, they were kicked off with the kind of lavish parties that were the hallmark of the condo boom.
Zalewski said the extravagant events were a "psychological boost" to South Florida's downtrodden real estate community. "The legendary condo launch parties, where developers battled in a real estate arms race of sorts to outdo their competitors with bigger and better events, essentially disappeared when the real estate market began to crash," he said.
Still to be determined: Will the attendees turn out to be buyers or tire kickers looking for free food and drink?
