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Florida speculators in hurricane's eye |
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MIAMI -- March 30, 2006 -- The Sunshine State has had more real estate speculators than other hot markets including Las Vegas and Los Angeles. Now that inventory of luxury condos is soaring, are property flippers in trouble? The number of half-million-dollar-and-up condos for sale in Miami is twice the number in Los Angeles, where the population is four times as large. Condo prices in Florida have gone up 63 percent since 2002, and many say speculators are the cause. The Encino, Calif. real estate firm Marcus & Millichap says more than half the mortgages in Florida are high spec. The firm compared price appreciation to income growth in markets across the U.S. and fingered West Palm Beach, Fort Lauderdale and Miami as three of the five most vulnerable to a price correction. |
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