South Florida Business Journal

WCI Communities has emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy as a newly reorganized, private company, eliminating more than $2 billion in debt and liabilities, according to a company press release.

The Bonita Springs-based luxury homebuilder filed for bankruptcy protection a year ago, and a Delaware bankruptcy court approved its reorganization planlate last month.

Under the plan, which was filed in June and supported by WCI’s senior secured lenders and official creditors committee, WCI eliminates more than $2 billion of debt and liabilities from its balance sheet.

The company, which was once led by billionaire investor Carl Icahn, created a new five-member board of directors:

• Patrick J. Bartels Jr. is VP of Monarch Alternative Capital LP, a private investment firm with about $2.5 billion of assets under management. Monarch is the largest shareholder of WCI following the company’s emergence from bankruptcy.
• Michelle M. Mackay is an executive VP of iStar Financial, a publicly traded finance company focused on the commercial real estate industry.
• John R. Peshkin is the managing principal of Vanguard Land LLC, a private real estate investment group focused on the acquisition and development of high-quality residential properties throughout the Southeastern U.S.
• Stephen D. Plavin is COO of Capital Trust, a commercial mortgage real estate investment trust and investment manager. He is responsible for all lending, investing and portfolio management activities of Capital Trust.
• Mark Porath is a co-founder and president of Hearthstone, which has financed more than $12 billion of development and construction in residential real estate nationwide.

“This is a great accomplishment,” President and CEO David Fry said in a news release. “Now that we have successfully completed our financial restructuring, emerging from Chapter 11 with a rational capital structure and a strong core portfolio, we look forward to implementing our business plan which has been designed to provide us a flexible foundation for operating in today’s real estate market, as well as future success.”

By J.W. ELPHINSTONE, AP Real Estate Writer

Home prices posted their first quarterly increase in three years, signaling the housing market has turned a corner.

The Standard & Poor’s/Case-Shiller’s U.S. National Home Price Index released Tuesday rose nearly 3 percent from the first quarter to 133, though that reading is still down almost 15 percent from the second quarter last year.

Home prices are at levels not seen since early 2003. Prices have fallen 30 percent from the peak in the second quarter of 2006.

The monthly index of 20 major cities increased 1.4 percent from May to June to 142, the second straight month the index registered a gain. All but two cities, Las Vegas and Detroit, saw home prices rise, andDallas and Denver clocked their fourth-straight monthly increase.

Prices, however, have a long way to go to recover completely. Every metro showed annual declines, with fifteen reporting double-digit drops.

The Case-Shiller index is a composite of home price indexes for the nine U.S. census divisions. The 20-city index measures home price increases and decreases relative to prices in January 2000. The base reading is 100; so a reading of 150 would mean that home prices increased 50 percent since the beginning of the index.

BY DICK HOGAN • Naples News • AUGUST 25, 2009

An advisory committee at Mediterra has reached a tentative agreement with Bonita Bay Group for residents to buy the community’s golf and beach clubs for $6.8 million cash or $8 million financed.  In addition, the deal would require the residents to assume $15 million in debt to the bondholders of a community development district set up to build the infrastructure of Mediterra.

The committee acknowledged that the agreement is “essentially the same” as Bonita Bay’s original offer to sell the clubs three months ago except that financing can be arranged through Key Bank – a major creditor of the financially strapped Bonita Bay Group.

Financially troubled Bonita Bay Group is negotiating with committees from its communities to sell the clubs. A committee representing members at Bonita Bay in Bonita Springs, the company’s oldest project, announced Thursday that it had failed to reach an agreement and recommended taking legal action instead.

At Mediterra, “Something over 80 percent of current members rejoining will be enough to do the deal,” according to a memorandum sent Saturday to Mediterra residents by the committee.

Naples-based Michael Lissack, a Mediterra resident, said he thinks it’s a bad deal and doesn’t expect it to get enough support to go into effect. “I think there will be more than enough (who oppose the agreement) to make sure they don’t get it.”

BY DON MANLEY • News Press • AUGUST 23, 2009

The picture may be brightening for sales of high-end houses in Lee County.

That market segment, homes priced at $1 million or more, hasn’t seen the same sales burst this year as abodes priced at $500,000 or less. But Realtors and developers say they’ve seen an upswing in interest in mansions, mini-mansions and estate homes this summer. They’re optimistic the upcoming tourist season will bring an upswing in sales for these upscale homes, as compared to the previous season.

Roughly 100 homes in the price range, excluding short sales, were sold between Aug. 1 of 2008 and Aug. 1 this year, with another seven sales pending, according to Trae Zipperer, broker for the Luxury Property Firm, a real estate agency in Fort Myers.

The Miromar Lakes Beach & Golf Club in Estero provides evidence of that market segment’s liveliness. The first two home sites have been sold this year and home construction begun at Costa Amalfi, the community’s newest waterfront neighborhood.
Costa Amalfi homes start at $800,000 and can cost as much as $1.5 million.

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With rates staying virtually unchanged today vs. last Friday, I thought it might be interesting to hear what other “experts” are predicting for rate futures.  The Bankrate.com survey is for conforming mortgages only. It does not apply to FHA mortgages, VA mortgages, jumbo mortgages, or super jumbo mortgages. Here are the most recent predictions for the next 30 days:

1. • 27% predict mortgage rates will increase

2. • 37% predict mortgage rates will decrease

3. •46% predict mortgage rates will remain unchanged

Think anyone REALLY knows which way rates are heading???

See breakdown of Rates

BY DON MANLEY • DMANLEY@NEWS-PRESS.COM • AUGUST 22, 2009

Single-family home prices are climbing in Lee County and sales continued at a torrid pace in July, although there was a slight dip from June’s record-setting pace.

Meanwhile, sales across the nation and state are up, but with a drop in the median sales price.

A total of 1,570 single-family homes were sold with the assistance of a Realtor in Lee County in July, according to statistics released today by the Florida Association of Realtors. That’s down from a record-setting 1,705 sales in June, but the July total was staggering compared with the same month in 2008 – a 104 percent increase.

The median sales price for July in Lee County was $89,000, an increase over June’s median sales price of $87,900. For most of the past 31Ú2 years, the sales price has been dropping sharply.

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By Naples Daily News staff report

Single-family home resales in Lee County increased more than 100 percent in July.

There were 1,570 sales, up from 768 in the same month a year ago, according to a report by the Florida Association of Realtors.

Of all the metro areas tracked in the report, Fort Myers-Cape Coral saw the biggest percentage increase in sales. But it also saw the largest drop in home prices.

The median home price fell 43 percent to $89,000, down from $154,900 a year ago.

Monthly numbers for Naples and Marco Island aren’t included in the report.

Condo resales were also up in Fort Myers-Cape Coral by 101 percent. There were 349, up from 174 a year ago. The median price of those sales was $133,500, down from $210,400 in the same month last year.

The numbers are based on closed transactions reported by the state’s Realtor boards and associations. The Naples and Marco Island associations no longer disclose their monthly numbers in the report. But their sales are included in statewide sales totals.

The lowest rates since 2005 may be on tap in 2010 for the typical Florida Power & Light Co. customer. FPL announced Thursday that it expects the typical 1,000-kilowatt-hour residential-customer bill to drop next year by about $9 a month, from about $109 to $100. The decrease is subject to approval by Florida’s Public Service Commission.

The estimate includes the impact of FPL’s pending request for a base-rate adjustment, the impact of lower projected fuel prices for 2009-2010 and improvements in fuel efficiency at the company’s power plants.

Courtesy of Summit Mortgage

You’ve probably heard that the Fed is buying up billions of dollars worth of Mortgage-Backed Securities. But how does this really impact home loan rates and your mortgage?

Basically, the Fed’s actions provide a demand for Mortgage-Backed Securities, which should help keep the ceiling on home loan rates from moving much higher in the foreseeable future. That’s good news for home buyers who are looking to purchase a home at a bargain price, as well as those who can benefit from a refinance.

However…the Fed’s actions do not necessarily mean home loan rates will move significantly lower.

It all depends on which Bond coupons the Fed purchases. If they purchase higher rate coupons–as they have been doing–their continued purchasing will likely keep a lid on rates, but won’t necessarily push them significantly lower.

The fact is, rates are within inches of all-time historic lows, so don’t wait to miss a great opportunity to purchase the home of your dreams, or get more money back in your budget by a smart refinance.

Courtesy of Summit Mortgage

A constriction in mortgage product offerings and the ongoing effects of the credit crunch have radically changed our business.

It’s not all doom and gloom. There is still plenty of money available to creditworthy borrowers. But lender guidelines have tightened significantly, and the days of easy credit with no down payment and no documentation are all but over.

With this in mind, it’s more important than ever for homebuyers to get pre-approved – not pre-qualified – in order to avoid the kind of painful last-minute surprises that can blow up deals.

With actual written documentation that proves the full support of a lender, pre-approved borrowers represent less risk to sellers. Of course, there is no way to guarantee a flawless transaction every time. But, by working together to bring pre-approved borrowers to the marketplace, we can preempt the major challenges and create a great experience for everyone involved.